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Route Snowdon Summit via the Pyg Track County Gwynedd Difficulty Hard Distance 13km (8 miles) Typical time Five hours OS grid reference SH572602, Explorer OL 17 and Explorer 263 Starting point The car park at Pen-y-Pass

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Blister rating: 5/5 View rating: 5/5

Why I love this walk

The walk that I most want to do again is one I last did at the age of 13, on August 26, 1967. Just after the war my mother, a young single mum, had gone to live on a farm near Snowdon. She’d been happy there, so from time to time we’d return to North Wales, and on this day she took my 11-year-old brother and me to climb the great mountain using the Pyg Track.

I recall the gradual but strenuous ascent from the car park at Pen-y-Pass, toiling over a high hill and then taking the middle of three tracks, the one that passed above the copper-blue of Llyn Llydaw down to our left. To our right was the serrated ridge of Crib Goch and in front of us the surely impossible height of Snowdon itself.

We climbed above the lake of Glaslyn (this I recall as being tiring but exciting), and reached the café on the summit of Snowdon and drank tea. My mother’s diary recalls that the weather changed and it was “difficult to find way down as cloud v. dense but once it cleared we had lovely views”. I want to see those views at least once more.

The route

1 From the information centre, café and toilet block at Pen-y-Pass, pass through a gate in the far left corner of the car park.

2 Take the broad stony track.

3 You will reach a fork by a green building.

4 Take the righ-hand track for 500m to the causeway over Llyn Llydaw.

5 Cross by the causeway and follow the track as it bears left alongside the lake. It is 1.5km to the next Waymark. The track steepens, with waterfalls to the left. The path levels towards Glaslyn.

6 From here you have a good view of the next stage of the route. You can see a well-worn route going over the rocks, and the line of the Pyg Track above.

7 This is Glaslyn. The track leads round to the far side, where there are grassy areas by the lakeside and a gravel shore. The route goes up the worn rocks above, starting by a cairn near the ruins of the barracks. The path has been widened with use: pick what seems the easiest route through the maze. They all come to a track traversing the mountainside: the Pyg Track, 160m above.

8 Turn left and follow this track. You come to a well-constructed section: the zigzags.

9 Follow the yellowbrick road. You will then reach

the main ridge near the railway, marked by a stone pillar.

10 Remember this spot for your return journey. Just a few metres away is the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Turn left on the track, which follows it to the summit station, about 15 minutes away.

11 The café is straight in front, the summit cairn just above and to the left.

12 To return, go back down the railway line to the stone pillar. It will probably take not much less time than it did to come up.

13 Notice how different it looks from this direction. You must go down at this place, so be careful not to miss it, especially if the weather has turned. You are now back on the Pyg Track. Instead of dropping down to Glaslyn, stay up high. The track improves and when you have gone 3km you come to a double stile.

14 Go over and keep going. In another 1.5km you will see the youth hostel and the buildings by the car park, just beyond a little gap in the wall.

15 The tarmac leads you through and hopefully you will have dropped below any mist, if you were unfortunate enough to have met some.

Source: walkingworld.com

Contributor: Jim Grindle. Walk: No 267

Things to see

Some of the UK’s rawest scenery — scree slopes, giant boulders, moutain lakes and glacier-gouged valleys. Your reward is tea at the top, and stunning views.

Pub rating: 3/5

Pub: The Vaynol Arms, Nant Peris
Two miles up the road from Llanberis, this pub, complete with a log fire, a fine selection of ales and good food, is widely regarded as the best in the area.

Where to stay

The Lion Inn
A Victorian inn that is worth the detour if you enjoy seclusion and a cosy, warm welcome. The restaurant serves good-value food.

Pen Y Gwryd Hotel
Situated in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park, the 1953 Everest team used this historic hotel as a training base before their expedition.

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