Mountains, Mulled Wine & Mince Pies in the Mist

90% chance of clear summits in Snowdonia the Mountain Forecast said. No rain (yey!), no snow (boo!) and mild temps (in December?!) with minimal winds were forecasted for the area, so when the original plans of wildcamping in the Lake District fell through last minute I loaded the car and headed for the Moelwyns, where I planned to do a multi-day route with a wild camp on the summit in-between.

With promise of good weather, mild temperatures and clear skies I envisaged the usual ‘sat on summit under stars’ scenario that I have been blessed with the majority of times I've been on the hills this year. I even thought I’d catch the last of the Geminids meteor shower. But alas, as I approached Croesor it would seem that my luck had run out as I looked across to the claggy summits fed by the rolling mist and clouds coming from the sea, accumulating in the valley and driving up to the summits of Cnict and Moelwyn Mawr. Bugger, I thought.

Not one to let weather stop play I parked up, grabbed my Bergen and headed out to the hills taking the direct route up Cnict, surrounded by a thick fog along the way. With the views obsolete it made me look in more detail at the area I could see and I came across some beautiful and weird sights as I headed up to Cnict. As I approached the climb to the summit I noticed a brief break in the mist that showed me the clear summits of Snowdon and her surrounding peaks. It would seem that of the 90% clear summits in the area, I was on the 10% of the not so clear summits!

Continuing upwards at the last steep ascent the cloud began to dissipate and with a further few feet ascent I looked around to be met by a truly mind-blowing view. There I stood, above the clouds looking out to the sun as it began to set in the west.

Now I have seen many an amazing cloud inversions over the years but this one was something else. The clouds that rolled in from the coast were huge, the type you see from out of a plane window. They seemed to bubble up into huge masses before tumbling toward me like a sandstorm, only to be drawn out to the valley to my left at what felt like the last moment. Here a fellow walker caught up to me and we both stood there in absolute awe, taking in the beauty of our surroundings. Looking over to the north I was now met with a good view of the Snowdon massif standing proudly above the clouds.

What a reward for a couple of hours sifting through the mist! Mother Nature certainly had me on my toes this time!

I spent about an hour or so leaving the summit of Cnict to drop down to the Llyn to pick up some water and decided rather than head to Moelwyn Mawr, which was still shrouded, I’d pitch up on Cnict as the clag would come and go. I had pretty much resigned to the idea of stargazing but thought it was a good a spot as any so put up my tent and made dinner. Here I enjoyed some mulled wine that I had brought up in my flask and some mince pies and gingerbread men to feel festive.

It became quite apparent that the clag was not planning on clearing and after a while looking at the Venus and the stars through short breaks in the cloud I headed into the tent to read ‘Conquistadors of the Useless’, a book I have been meaning to finish for a while. It is a brilliant book about the memoirs and adventures of the incredible climber Lionel Terray, one which I highly recommend. With no wind or rain to interrupt my slumber.

I popped out of the tent at around 10.30pm to be met with an ethereal sight of the moon shining brightly through a break in the clouds whilst everything around me was completely clagged in, with a visibility only up to 4m. When I am on the hills on a clear night I can sit up to the early hours watching the night sky so it made a change to head to bed and be asleep for 11pm!

I awoke at 7am and stuck my head out of the tent to see what the day had planned for me. Pretty much the same sight as the night before! Head back in I decided to have a lie-in as no sunrise would be witnessed from this summit this morning!

Once up and breakfast done I was just about to get up to pack away when a couple of walkers passed by. This is the thing about lie-ins on popular peaks – there is generally always going to be someone on the hill at 9am! After a brief chat I bid them adieu before packing away the tent. Assessing the situation I decided to headed back down the way I had ascended and explore the old quarry areas before heading back to Croesor. The mist hung in until I dropped down an adequate amount so before then a spot of navigation with the old map & compass was required as I left the path to explore the area to the north of Cnict. I then picked up the path that led back to the village. Looking back the summits and surrounding flanks were still shrouded and I thought that I could have easily sacked it off yesterday but would not have experienced that incredible view from the top.

Sometimes, it's good to have a naff weather day as you just don’t know what you might be blessed with!