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diff --git a/37502-8.txt b/37502-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae0ce93 --- /dev/null +++ b/37502-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5758 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II, by +W. P. Haskett Smith and H. C. Hart + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II + Wales and Ireland + +Author: W. P. Haskett Smith + H. C. Hart + +Illustrator: Ellis Carr + +Release Date: September 21, 2011 [EBook #37502] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLIMBING IN BRITISH ISLES, VOL II *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Anna Hall and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + + CLIMBING IN THE BRITISH ISLES + _WALES AND IRELAND_ + + + + + CLIMBING IN THE BRITISH ISLES + + _3 vols. 16mo. Sold separately._ + + + I.--ENGLAND. By W. P. HASKETT SMITH, M.A., + Member of the Alpine Club. With 23 + Illustrations by Ellis Carr, Member of the + Alpine Club, and 5 Plans. 3_s._ 6_d._ + + + II.--WALES AND IRELAND. By W. P. HASKETT SMITH, + M.A., and H. C. HART, Members of the Alpine + Club. With 31 Illustrations by ELLIS CARR and + others, and 9 Plans. 3_s._ 6_d._ + + + III.--SCOTLAND. + +[_In preparation._] + + +London and New York: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. + + + + + CLIMBING + IN + THE BRITISH ISLES + + _II--WALES AND IRELAND_ + + =WALES= + + BY W. P. HASKETT SMITH, M.A. + Member of the Alpine Club + + =IRELAND= + + BY H. C. HART + Member of the Alpine Club; Fellow of the Linnean Society + Member of the Royal Irish Academy, etc. + + WITH THIRTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS BY + ELLIS CARR + Member of the Alpine Club + _and others_ + AND NINE PLANS + + + LONDON + LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + AND NEW YORK + 1895 + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present volume is intended to deal with all parts of the British +Isles except England, which was the subject of Vol. I., and Scotland, to +which Vol. III. will be devoted. Nothing is here said about the _Isle of +Man_ or the Channel Islands, because it would, no doubt, be considered +absurd to advise anyone to visit those islands whose main object was the +acquisition of mountaineering skill. Pretty as the former island is, its +hills are nothing more than hills, except where they are also railways +or tea gardens; and even on its cliffs, which are especially fine at the +southern end, comparatively little climbing will be found. + +In the _Channel Islands_, on the other hand, the granite cliffs, though +very low, being usually only 100-200 ft. high, abound in instructive +scrambles. Many such will be found in Guernsey, Jersey, and especially +in Sark, but the granite is not everywhere of equally good quality. + +The _Scilly Isles_, again, are by no means to be despised by climbers, +especially by such of them as can enjoy knocking about in a small boat, +which is almost the only means of getting from climb to climb. The +granite forms are somewhat wilder and more fantastic than those in the +Channel Islands. Peninnis Head is only one of many capital scrambling +grounds. An article by Dr. Treves[1] gives a very good idea of the kind +of thing which may be expected. If anyone should think of proceeding, +under the guidance of this volume, to regions with which he is so far +unacquainted, he will naturally ask how the climbing here described +compares with the climbing in other parts of Britain or of Europe. How +does Wales, for instance, stand with regard to Cumberland or the Alps? +On this point some good remarks will be found in the _Penny Magazine_, +vii., p. 161 (1838), where the writer assigns to the more northern hills +a slight superiority over Wales. An impression prevails among those who +know both that the weather of N. Wales is, if possible, more changeable +than that of the Lakes. Climbers will notice this chiefly in winter, +when the snow on the Welsh mountains less frequently settles into sound +condition. Perhaps sudden changes of temperature are partly to blame for +the greater frequency in Wales of deaths from exposure. Winter climbing +is very enjoyable, but proper precautions must be taken against the +cold. A writer on Wales some 300 years ago observes that 'the cold Aire +of these Mountainous Regions by an Antiperistasis keeps in and +strengthens the internall heat;' but a good woollen sweater, a warm cap +to turn down over the ears and neck, and three pairs of gloves, two +pairs on and one pair dry in the pocket, will be found quite as +effectual. Dangers, however, cease not with the setting sun, and many +who have defied frost-bite during the day fall an easy prey to +rheumatism in bed at night. A groundless terror of the Welsh language +keeps many away from Wales. The names are certainly of formidable +appearance, and Barham's lines are hardly an exaggeration. + + [1] _Boy's Own Paper_, May 5, 1894. + + For the vowels made use of in Welsh are so few + That the A and the E and the I, O, and U + Have really but little or nothing to do. + And the duty, of course, falls the heavier by far + On the L and the H, and the N and the R. + The first syllable PEN is pronounceable; then + Come two LL and two HH, two FF, and an N. + +But appalling words like 'Slwch Twmp' or 'Cwmtrwsgl' lose half their +venom when it is explained that W is only a way of writing OO. In spite +of its apparent complication the language is so simple and systematic +that anyone can learn enough in a quarter of an hour to enable him to +pronounce with ease and moderate accuracy any place-name with which he +is likely to meet. Irish is less regular, but wonderfully rich in +expressions for slightly varying physical features, while the Manx names +are more interesting than the hills by which they are borne. + +In comparison with the Alps what was said in Vol. I. of Cumberland +applies equally well to Wales, and nearly as well to Kerry or Donegal. +The most striking peculiarity of Irish mountains is, next to the size of +the bogs, the large amount of car-driving which has to be done before +and after the day's work. But this is an intrusion on the province of +another. Old Thomas Fuller, on sitting down to write a detailed account +of Wales, which he had never seen, genially remarked that 'it matters +not how meanly skilled a writer is so long as he hath knowing and +communicative friends.' That precisely describes the Editor's position, +especially with regard to Ireland, to the treatment of which no other +man could have brought knowledge at once so wide and so accurate as Mr. +Hart. Unfortunately he, like his own 'carrabuncle,' was somewhat +elusive. After months of mysterious silence he would glide into sight, +great with solid mountaineering matter, gleaming with pearls of botany +and gems of geologic lore; but, alas! in another moment the waters of +bronchitis, or influenza, or inertia would close over the mysterious +monster's back, and he would glide away into unknown depths where the +harpoon of the penny post was harmless and telegrams tickled him in +vain. Now the carrabuncle is caught at last, and readers will be well +repaid for a few months' delay. They will be astonished that one pair of +eyes could take in so much, and that one pair of legs could cover so +much ground. + +Among many other 'knowing and communicative friends' the Editor would +especially dwell on his indebtedness to Mr. F. H. Bowring and to Mr. O. +G. Jones. The latter has contributed the whole of the section dealing +with the Arans and Cader Idris, and his minute knowledge of that region +will be evident from the fact that the quantity which our space has +allowed us to print represents less than half of the matter originally +supplied by him. + +For most of the sketches we are again indebted to Mr. Ellis Carr, for a +striking view of Tryfaen to Mr. Colin Phillips, and for the remainder +(taken under most cruel conditions of weather) to Mr. Harold Hughes of +Bangor. + + W. P. H. S. + + _August 1895._ + + + + +CLIMBING IN THE BRITISH ISLES + + + + +WALES + +WHERE TO STAY + + +=Aber.=--This station on the Chester and Holyhead Railway is in no sense +a centre for mountaineers, though a good deal of work _may_ be done from +it. We ourselves 'in our hot youth, when George the Third was King,' and +a dozen miles extra tramping at the end of a day was a mere trifle, +managed to do many of the mountains of North Wales from it. + +Its only attraction is a pretty valley, at the head of which are some +not very striking waterfalls. The surrounding rocks have, however, been +the scene of a surprising number of accidents. Most of these have been +caused by slipping on the path which crosses the steep slope of the +eastern bank and leads to the head of the main fall. Such was the fatal +accident on April 13, 1873, to Mr. F. T. Payne, a barrister. His sight +was very defective, and this fact goes far towards accounting for the +accident.[2] + + [2] The _Times_, April 16, 1873, p. 6. + +In 1876 a very similar case occurred. A young man called Empson, who was +staying at Llanfairfechan, was killed in descending, apparently at the +very same spot.[3] + + [3] The _Times_, September 9, 1876, p. 8. + +In April 1885 Mr. Maitland Wills, described as an expert mountaineer, +while walking with two friends from Capel Curig to Aber, fell near the +same spot, and was instantly killed.[4] + + [4] _Ibid._ April 7, 1885, p. 7. + +In August of the same year Mr. Paget, the Hammersmith Police Magistrate, +fell and was severely hurt.[5] And these by no means exhaust the list of +casualties, which is, perhaps, only second in length to that of Snowdon +itself. It may be mentioned that there is a climb or two on the west and +steeper side of the falls. + + [5] _Ibid._ August 3, 1885, p. 10. + + * * * * * + +=Bala=, reached from London in about 7 hours by the Great Western line, +is a very pleasant place to stop at on entering Wales, being situated at +the foot of the finest natural sheet of water in the Principality, and +having railway facilities in three directions. By the aid of the rail +Cader Idris, the Arans, and the Rhinogs can be easily got at. For the +first mountains Dolgelly, for the second Drwsynant and Llanuwchllyn, for +the third Maentwrog would be the best stations. This is also the best +place for Arenig Fawr, which can be done on foot all the way, or better +by taking the train to Arenig station and returning by rail from +Llanuwchllyn after crossing the hill. Lord Lyttelton made Bala famous +last century. What he said of it will sufficiently appear from some +lines (long since erased by the indignant ladies of Bala) which were +once to be seen in a visitors' book here:-- + + Lord Lyttelton of old gave out + To all the world that Bala trout + Have all the sweetness that pervades + The laughing lips of Bala's maids. + Which did his Lordship mean to flout? + For fact it is that Bala trout + (Ask any fisherman you meet) + Are bad to catch, but worse to eat. + O Maid of Bala, ere we part, + 'Tis mine to bind thy wounded heart; + And in thy favour testify-- + Though seldom sweet, thou'rt never shy! + +There is, however, one objection to this epigram, for the poet talks of +trout and the peer of Gwyniad; let us, therefore, hope that in regard to +the fair as well as the fish the poet's harsh judgment was equally +unsound. + + * * * * * + +=Barmouth=, a capital place from which to visit the Rhinog range and +Cader Idris; and the Cambrian Railway extends the range of operations in +three directions, so that even Snowdon is within the possibilities of a +single day's excursion. There is excellent climbing practice to be had, +not only just outside the town, but actually within it. + + * * * * * + +=Beddgelert= (i.e. 'Gelert's Grave') is one of the gates of Snowdonia, +and it is the gate by which the judicious will enter. It is, moreover, +perhaps the prettiest mountain resort in Wales. Penygwrhyd is more +central for climbers pure--and simple--but has no pretensions to beauty +of situation; Llanberis has its railway facilities, its quarries, and +its trippers; Bettws y Coed is delicious, but it is right away from the +mountains. For combination of the beauties of mountain, water, and +wooded plain Dolgelly is the only rival of Beddgelert. Snowdon on the +north, Moel Hebog on the west, and Cynicht and Moelwyn on the east are +enough to make the fortune of any place as a mountaineer's abode, even +if there were no Pass of Aberglaslyn close by. + +The nearest station is Rhyd-ddu, on the Snowdon Ranger line, nearly 4 +miles off, and it is uphill nearly all the way. To Portmadoc, on the +other hand, the distance is greater, 6 or 7 miles, but the road is +fairly level, and nearly every step of it is beautiful, both in winter +and in summer. Indeed, there was a time when winter in this romantic +village was more enjoyable than summer, for in warm weather the eye was +much obstructed by the hand which held the nose; but that was many years +ago. The ascent of Snowdon from this side used to be the most +frequented, but in the race for popularity it has long been distanced by +Llanberis. It is a good path, and easily found. The start is made along +the Carnarvon road for some three miles to the Pitt's Head; then up the +hill to the right to Llechog, and across the once dreaded Bwlch y Maen. +A more direct and very fine route leads straight up and over the ridge +of Yr Aran, joining the regular path just short of Bwlch-y-Maen. By +going up the Capel Curig some 3½ miles, and taking the turn to the +left more than half a mile beyond Llyn y Ddinas, Sir Edward Watkin's +path up Cwmyllan may be utilised; but at the cost of 3½ miles' extra +walking along the same road the far finer ascent by Cwm Dyli may be +made. This is the same as that from Penygwrhyd, but with the advantage +of including the lowest portion and waterfalls of Cwm Dyli, which are +extremely fine. The classical climbs of Snowdonia are within reach for +good walkers, but others will find abundance of opportunities for +practice within a mile or two, and for the Garnedd Goch range (which has +in it some choice bits) there is no better base. The road to Portmadoc +on the south and to Penygwrhyd on the north are not only among the most +beautiful in the kingdom, but present the most alluring of problems to +the rock climber within a stone's throw. There is a corner of the road +about 6 miles from Beddgelert where Crib Goch shows over a foot-hill of +Lliwedd, and a rocky ridge runs down from the east almost on to the +road. This ridge, though broken, bears some very choice bits, including +a certain wide, short chimney facing south. + +A separate guide-book to this place (by J. H. Bransby) appeared in 1840, +and there have been several since, among the best being one published at +the modest price of one penny by Abel Heywood. + +The place plays a great part in Charles Kingsley's _Two Years Ago_, and +it was at the 'Goat' Inn here that George Borrow was so furious at the +want of deference with which his utterances were received by the +company. + + * * * * * + +=Benglog=, at the foot of Llyn Ogwen and the head of Nant Ffrancon, is +only second to Penygwrhyd as a climbing centre, but, unfortunately, the +accommodation is so very scanty--Ogwen Cottage, the only house, having +no more than two bedrooms--that the place is little used. For Tryfaen, +the Glyders, the Carnedds, Twll Du, and the Elider range it is +preferable to any other place, and beautiful problems are to be found by +the climber literally within a stone's throw of the door. It is about 5 +miles from Bethesda station on the north and the same distance from +Capel Curig on the east, all three places being on the great Holyhead +Road. Penygwrhyd is 2 hours away, whether by road (9 miles) or over the +hill. In the latter case the shortest route is by the col which +separates Tryfaen and Glyder Fach, and then over the shoulder east of +the latter mountain. To Llanberis the way lies by Twll Du and Cwm +Patric, and though much longer than the last could probably be done in +nearly as short a time. + + * * * * * + +=Bethesda= is 5 miles from Benglog, and that much further from all the +best climbing. See, however, p. 18. + + * * * * * + +=Capel Curig= (600 ft. above sea level) is 5½ miles from Bettws y +Coed railway station, 4 miles from Penygwrhyd, and 5 from Benglog, is a +very good centre for strong walkers. Most of the best climbs are within +reach, but none very near. For Snowdon Penygwrhyd is much nearer; +Benglog is better for the Glyders and the Carnedds; so that, while being +pretty good for nearly all, Capel Curig is not the best starting-place +for any. It has no exclusive rights, except over Moel Siabod on the +south and the wild unfrequented district in the opposite direction, +which lies at the back of Carnedd Llewelyn. + +Hutton, who visited it at the beginning of the century, calls it 'an +excellent inn in a desert.' + +The Alpine Club had a meeting here in 1879. + + * * * * * + +=Dinas Mawddwy=, reached by rail from Machynlleth, is a pleasant, +secluded spot amid mountainous surroundings, but not conveniently +situated for climbing anything but Aran Mawddwy. All the advantages of +the place may be equally well enjoyed from Machynlleth. Old Pennant +records how in his rash youth he used to toboggan down the peat paths of +Craig y Dinas, 'which,' says he, 'I now survey with horror.' A Welsh +bard, whose poems must have been neglected in the place, declares that +it was notable for three things--blue earth, constant rain, and hateful +people. + + * * * * * + +=Dolgelly=, which ends in _-eu_ in many old books, in _-ey_ on the one +side and in _-y_ on the other of the modern railway station, and is +commonly pronounced by the residents as if it ended in _-a_, is said to +mean 'hazel dale,' a name which the place can hardly be said to live up +to. There is, however, no doubt that it is one of the prettiest places +in Wales and one of the pleasantest to stop at. In the first place the +communications are very good, for by the Great Western Railway there is +a capital service to Shrewsbury and London, while on the seaward side +the Cambrian Railway puts Barmouth and Portmadoc on the one side, and +Machynlleth and Aberystwith on the other, within easy reach. There is +good scenery on all sides of it, while for Cader Idris, the Aran +Mountains, and the Rhinog range there is no better centre. Many people +have an objection to going up and down a mountain by the same route, and +have an equal horror of the long grind round the foot of it, which is +the result of going down a different side of the mountain if you want +to return to your starting-point. At Dolgelly you enjoy the advantage of +being able to take a train to the far side of your mountain, so as to +come back over the top and straight on down to your sleeping-place. For +instance, a very fine way of doing Aran Benllyn and Aran Mawddwy is to +go by the Great Western to Llanuwchllyn and then come back along the +ridge of both mountains. In the same way one can begin a day on the +Rhinogs by rail, walking from Llanbedr or Harlech to Cwm Bychan, and so +over the Rhinogs and Llethr, and down to Dolgelly again. Even Cader +Idris is rendered more enjoyable if the train be taken to Towyn and +Abergynolwyn, whence the walk by Talyllyn and up to the summit by way of +Llyn y Cae is in turn pretty and impressive. As a rule it is far better +to go out by train and come back on foot than to reverse the process, +and for two reasons--first, by taking the train at once you make sure of +your ride, and have the remainder of the day freed from anxiety and the +fear of just missing the last train a dozen miles from home, with less +than an hour of daylight remaining; secondly, if you don't miss the +train it is because you have come along at racing pace. You are in +consequence very hot, and have to stand about in a draughty station till +the train (which is twenty minutes late) arrives and then follows half +an hour's journey with wet feet, for wet feet and walking on Welsh hills +are very close friends indeed. + +There used to be a saying about Dolgelly that the town walls there are +six miles high. Of course this refers mainly to the long mural +precipice which forms the north point of Cader Idris. Abundant climbing +is to be found on this 'wall,' which, with a small part of Aran Mawddwy +and a few short, steep bits along the course of the river Mawddach, +constitutes the best rock-work in the immediate vicinity of Dolgelly. + + * * * * * + +=Ffestiniog=, a very pleasant place to stay at, with good communications +by rail with Bala, Bettws y Coed, and Portmadoc. There are climbs +near--e.g. on the Manods and on Moelwyn--but on a small scale, the good +ones being mostly destroyed by the colossal slate quarries. + +_Blaenau Ffestiniog_ is the more central and less beautiful; the old +village (3 miles away) is far pleasanter. The Cynfael Falls, about a +mile off, include the well-known 'Hugh Lloyd's Pulpit,' and are very +pretty, but have been almost as fatal as those at Aber. Readers will +probably remember the death of Miss Marzials at this spot.[6] + + [6] The _Times_, August 25, 1885, p. 6, and August 27, p. 8. See + also the _Times_, October 2, 1837, p. 3. + + * * * * * + +=Llanberis= (i.e. 'Church of Peris'), being a station on a railway which +has a good service from England, is the most accessible of all the +mountain resorts in Wales. As a consequence of these facilities the +place is often intolerably overrun, especially during the late summer +and autumn. The true lover of the mountains flees the spot, for the +day-tripper is a burden and desire fails. Whether the railway will have +the power to make things worse in this respect we cannot yet decide, but +it seems unlikely. It is only of late years that Llanberis has possessed +the most popular road up Snowdon. The opening of the road over the pass +in 1818 did a great deal, and the visit of H.M. the Queen in 1832 did +still more to make the place popular, and the pony path up Snowdon and +the railway settled the matter. The other mountains which may readily be +ascended from here are those in the Elider and Glyder ranges, while +climbing is nearly confined to the rocks on both sides of the pass, +which includes some work of great excellence. + +As early as 1845 a separate guide-book for this place was published by +J. H. Bransby. Now there are several. + + * * * * * + +=Machynlleth= (pronounced roughly like 'Mahuntly,' and by the rustics +very like 'Monkley') lies midway between Plynlimon and Cader Idris, and +within reach of both, yet can hardly claim to be a centre for +mountaineers. Of submontane walks and scenery it commands a surprising +variety, having railway facilities in half a dozen directions. This +makes it a capital place for a long stay, varied by an occasional night +or two at places like Rhayader, Dolgelly, Barmouth, or Beddgelert. The +best way of doing Aran Mawddwy is by way of Dinas Mawddwy, and the +ascent of Cader Idris from Corris railway station, returning by way of +Abergynolwyn, makes a most enjoyable day. + + * * * * * + +=Nantlle=, once a very pretty place, is now little more than an +intricate system of slate quarries. A low pass (Drws y Coed) separates +it from Snowdon, of which Wilson took a celebrated picture from this +side. There are some nice little climbs on both sides of the pass and on +Garnedd Goch, which runs away to the southward of it. + +Nantlle has a station, but Penygroes, the junction, is so near as to +make it a more convenient stopping-place. Anyone staying at Criccieth +can make a good day by taking the train to Nantlle, and returning along +Garnedd Goch or over Moel Hebog. Snowdon too is within easy reach. + + * * * * * + +=Penygwrhyd.=--In Beddgelert Church is a monument 'to the memory of +Harry Owen, for forty-four years landlord of the inn at Penygwrhyd and +guide to Snowdon: born April 2, 1822; died May 5, 1891.' + +Harry Owen it was who did for Penygwrhyd what Will Ritson did for +Wastdale Head and Seiler for Zermatt. Intellectually, perhaps, he was +not the equal of either of the other two, but there was a +straightforward cordiality about him which made all lovers of the +mountains feel at once that in his house they had a home to which they +could return again and again with ever renewed pleasure. + +The house stands at the foot of the east side of the Llanberis Pass, at +the junction of the roads from Capel Curig (4 miles), Beddgelert (8 +miles), and Llanberis (6 miles), and at the central point of three +mountain groups--Snowdon (the finest and boldest side), the Glyders, and +Moel Siabod. The last is of small account, but the other two groups +contain some--one may almost say most--of the best climbing and finest +scenery in Wales. Most people come to the inn by way of Bettws y Coed +and many from Llanberis; but by far the finest approach is that from +Beddgelert, and by this way the first approach at any rate ought always +to be made. Ascents and climbs innumerable may be made from here, and +many valuable notes on climbs may be found here in a certain volume +secured from the profane mob by lock and key. + +In the same volume also several sets of verses occur much above the +ordinary tourist level, among them being a very smart study of the +climbing class in the style of Walt Whitman, and a few telling +alphabetic distichs of which _habitués_ will recognise the force. + + K--for the Kitchen, where garments are dried; + L--for the Language we use when they're fried; + O--for the Owens, whom long may we see; + P--for the Pudding we call P.Y.G. + S is for Snowdon, that's seen from afar; + T--for the Tarts on the shelf in the bar. + +The visitors' book proper also contains entries of some interest, +including some lines (given at length in the _Gossiping Guide_) written +by Charles Kingsley, Tom Taylor, and Tom Hughes, chiefly remarkable for +their breezy good temper. The lines are printed, together with a mass of +very poor stuff taken from the same source, in a little book called +_Offerings at the Foot of Snowdon_.[7] The inn and the Owens play an +important part in Kingsley's novel _Two Years Ago_. Forty or fifty years +ago there was a constant visitor at this inn who might have claimed the +invention of the place as a climbing centre. He corresponded in +profession, and also in age, to the Rev. James Jackson, the Cumbrian +'Patriarch.' He had a mania for ridge-walking, or, as he termed it, +'following the sky line.' His name I could never learn. + + [7] Tremadoc, 1875. + + * * * * * + +=Rhayader= (_The Waterfall_, i.e. of the river Wye, pronounced here +'Rhay-' and not 'Rhy-,' as in North Wales) is a very convenient centre +for much scenery which is of great interest to the geologically-minded +mountaineer, though the hills are of no great height. The Cambrian +Railway has a station here, and makes an expedition to the Brecon +Beacons or to the very interesting Black Mountains a very simple matter, +while on the way a good deal may be seen of two of the most beautiful +rivers in Britain, the Wye and the Usk. Aberedw Rocks and Cwm Elan are +quite near, and so is Nant Guillt, with its memories of Shelley, beloved +of all who love the mountains, though perhaps few would have cared to be +on the same rope with that somewhat erratic genius. Where the Wye enters +the Vale of Rhayader there are some remarkably fine rocks (chiefly in +the 'Lower Llandovery' formation). Mackintosh calls it 'a deep basin +surrounded by very precipitous slopes, which on the side most distant +from the river channel present one of the finest and loftiest rocky +cliffs in the principality.' The Birmingham Water Works have influenced +the town for good in one respect only: they have introduced a barber, +who at the end of each week mows navvies' cheeks by the acre. + + * * * * * + +=Snowdon Ranger=, a small inn on the west side of Snowdon, readily +reached by rail from Carnarvon or coach from Beddgelert, or again by an +easy and interesting walk over the low pass of Drws y Coed from +Penygroes station. It commands one of the simplest ascents of Snowdon, +but by no means the most interesting. Good climbing may be found near +it on Clogwyndurarddu, on Mynydd Mawr, on both sides of Drws y Coed, and +on the Garnedd Goch range, but none are on a very large scale. + +In the history of Welsh mountaineering it holds a place, having long +been the most usual starting-point for the ascent of Snowdon, and all +the early travellers came here. Cradock (1770) calls it 'a small +thatched hut at the foot of the mountain (Snowdon), near a lake which +they call Llyn Cychwhechlyn (i.e. Quellyn), which I leave you to +pronounce as well as you are able. We procured a number of blooming +country girls to divert us with their music and dancing.' Even these +delights, however, could not keep travellers from drifting away towards +Beddgelert--a change which, as readers of _Wild Wales_ will remember, +had already become marked when Borrow had his interview with the Snowdon +guide forty years ago. The early accounts often speak of this place as +Bronyfedw (a name which still survives), and for many years there used +to be a kind of 'personally conducted' (Hamer's) ascent of Snowdon from +Carnarvon once a week by this route. + + * * * * * + +=Tanybwlch.=--Wyndham, Pennant, and, indeed, nearly all the early +explorers of Wales stayed at this very pleasant place. At that time the +highroad from Dolgelly to Beddgelert and Carnarvon passed the door; but +the railway having now superseded the post chaise has left the place +somewhat out in the cold. It has, however, some assistance from the +'toy' line to Ffestiniog, and is a pretty little place, though Moelwyn, +Cynicht, Moel Siabod, and the Rhinogs are all the mountains which it +can command. For those coming from England the best station is Maentwrog +Road, on the G.W.R. line from Bala. + + + + +WHERE TO CLIMB + + +=Anglesey.=--The extreme flatness of the island perhaps gives an +increased effect to its fine rock scenery about the Stacks, which will +be respected by climbers as perhaps the earliest school of their art in +Wales. An old description of the egg-takers here contains some +interesting sentences which are not wholly devoid of point even for +climbers of the present day. 'The gains bear no tolerable proportion to +the danger incurred. The adventurers, having furnished themselves with +every necessary implement, enter on the terrific undertaking. Two--for +this is a trade in which co-partnership is absolutely necessary--take a +station. He whose superior agility renders it eligible prepares for the +rupestrian expedition. Dangerous employ! a slip of the foot or the hand +would in an instant be fatal to both. To a stranger this occupation +appears more dangerous than it really is. In persons habituated to +bodily difficulty the nervous system becomes gradually braced, and the +solids attain that state of rigidity which banishes irritability, while +the mind, accustomed to danger, loses that timidity which frequently +leads to the dreaded disaster. Fact demonstrates to what an extent +difficulty and danger may be made subordinate to art and perseverance.' + +This is the voice of truth, but the solids nowadays (owing possibly to +the fluids or to the want of them) do not banish their irritability +completely. + + * * * * * + +=Carnarvonshire.=--Both in the quality and the quantity of its climbs +this county leaves the rest of Wales far behind. Its superiority is even +more marked than that of Cumberland over the rest of England. + +Snowdon, the Glyders, and the Carnedds would alone be sufficient to +establish this; but there are numbers of less important elevations which +would have a great reputation in almost any other county. + +The chief mountain centres are Penygwrhyd, Beddgelert, Llanberis, and +Snowdon Ranger, all four lying at the foot of Snowdon, Benglog (Ogwen +Cottage), Capel Curig, and Ffestiniog. + +The appearance of the county must be greatly changed since Leland's +time. He tells us that 'the best wood of Caernarvonshire is by Glinne +Kledder and by Glin Llughy and by Capel Kiryk and at Llanperis. More +upwarde be Eryri Hilles, and in them ys very little corne. If there were +the Deere would destroy it.' The destruction of this wood has greatly +injured the beauty of the valleys round Snowdon, Nant Gwynant being the +only one where it remains in any quantity. + + * * * * * + +=Penmaenmawr= (1,553 ft.) is far from being a difficult mountain. The +ancient Britons had a fort on the top of it, and it was ascended 'by a +person of quality in the reign of Charles II.,' but it is scarcely a +paradox to say that it was the greatest obstacle to knowledge of Welsh +mountains during last century. The highroad from Chester crossed it, +and our ancestors used to go rolling off it down into the sea, and did +not like it. Therefore a journey to Wales was a great and a rare feat. +All the early travellers dilate upon its terrors. In 1795 Mr. T. Hucks, +B.A., gives a ludicrous account of his ascent, which was actually made +without a guide. 'We rashly took the resolution to venture up this +stupendous mountain without a guide, and therefore unknowingly fixed +upon the most difficult part to ascend, and consequently were +continually impeded by a vast number of unexpected obstructions. At +length we surmounted every danger and difficulty, and safely arrived at +the top.... In the midst of my melancholy cogitations I fully expected +that the genius of the mountain would have appeared to me in some +formidable shape and have reproached me with rashly presuming to disturb +the sacred silence of his solitary reign.' Penmaenmawr was not a +frequented tourist resort in those days. The genius would not expect +much sacred silence now. The writer knows of no continuous climb on the +mountain, though he has often had a scramble on it. + + * * * * * + +=The Carnedd Group.=--=Carnedd Dafydd= (3,426 ft.), said to have been +named after David the brother of Prince Llewelyn, rises on the north of +Llyn Ogwen and on the west of the river which flows from it. The view, +looking southward across Llyn Ogwen at the bold northern front of the +Glyder group, is one of the grandest in Wales. That to the north-west is +to a great extent cut off by Carnedd Llewelyn. The usual +starting-points are Bethesda, Ogwen Cottage, and Capel Curig, though +strong walkers occasionally attack the mountain from the Conway valley +on the west and from Aber on the sea coast. + +From Bethesda the most direct way to the summit is to steer south-east +and straight at the mountain, which is full in view. The distance is +3½ miles, and an active traveller, if by any accident he extricates +himself speedily from Bethesda, may reach the summit in two hours. On +the other hand he is quite as likely to find himself, at the end of the +two hours, still wandering sadly up and down the by-lanes of that +maze-like village. The natives are polite, and would willingly give any +information; but they cannot speak English, and they do not possess the +information. + +There is only one street which leads anywhere in particular, only one +which can be known at sight and followed fearlessly when known. It is +the Holyhead road, and to get from one house in Bethesda to another it +is said that even the inhabitants find it safest to make for the +Holyhead road at once, and thus secure an intelligible base of +operations. + +The route up Carnedd Dafydd by way of Penyroleuwen begins with over two +miles of this road, and is, consequently, a very sound opening. It is +only necessary to turn off at Tynymaes, on the left hand, and strike up +the hill and along the ridge to Braichddu, overlooking the tarn of +Ffynnon y Lloer. A sharp turn is now made to the left along the +shoulder, and the great cairn which marks the summit is soon reached. + +The route from Capel Curig is very easily found. Three and a half miles +along the Bangor road, after crossing the river Llugwy, and just before +a chapel, a path strikes off on the right-hand side towards a farmhouse. +Half a mile along this path strike up the hill to the left, travelling +at first about north by compass, and afterwards, as the hill is mounted, +inclining more to the west. + +A less popular route, but perhaps shorter and more easily found in mist, +and certainly more effective in point of scenery, leaves the highroad +about a furlong short of Ogwen Lake. Pass a farm and follow a stream for +a mile up to Ffynnon Lloer; from the head of the pool pick your way +through some rough ground to the left hand up on to Braichddu, when the +view of the Glyders bursts upon you suddenly with great effect, and, on +turning to the right to make the final mount to the Carnedd, some good +peeps may be had down the confused rocks of Craig yr Ysfa. + +From Ogwen Cottage the last route is often the best, especially when the +party contains some weak members, as the direct line from the foot of +the lake is exceedingly steep. + +The climbs on this mountain are practically limited to Cefnysgolion Duon +on the north and Craig yr Ysfa on the west, overlooking Nantffrancon. + +_Cefnysgolion Duon_--i.e. 'The Black Ladders,' by which name it is +commonly known--might be forced into meaning 'The Black Schools,' and +this sense greatly bewildered a learned native, who observes, 'It is +impossible to imagine a spot less suited to the operations of the +school-master.' But we can assure him that as a school for climbers it +leaves little to be desired. + +Perhaps 'Black Pinnacles' would be a better rendering, 'ysgol' being +often used in that sense, the comparison referring to a step-ladder, +seen sideways, so as to present the shape of an isosceles triangle. + +The crags are on the south side of Cwm Llafar, the great hollow between +the two Carnedds, and there is nothing to do but to follow up from +Bethesda the stream which flows down it. In other words, the true line +is almost parallel to and about half a mile north of the most direct +route to the top of Carnedd Dafydd. As advance is made the slope between +the two routes becomes more and more rocky, and when the Ladders +themselves come fairly in view the scene is a very grand one. There are +two conspicuous gullies, divided by a stretch of rock which looks almost +unclimbable. The right-hand or western gully is very steep, and having +often quite a stream in it, is then decidedly hard, and requires +considerable care in winter. The other gully slopes away sharply to the +left, behind a slight projection, and has only one pitch in it, but that +is really good. Two ways here present themselves of climbing along the +left-hand wall at two different levels, neither of them too easy, or +else the gully may be deserted altogether, as the left bank forms a +ridge which offers easy but delightful climbing all over it, the hold +suddenly becoming magnificent. East of this ridge the hold is still +good, but the rocks dwindle in size, until, in the centre of the col +between the Carnedds, they wholly disappear. + +This noble crag has never been much frequented by climbers, though in +1879 about a dozen members of the Alpine Club took it on their way from +Bangor to Capel Curig.[8] + + [8] _Alpine Journal_, vol. ix. p. 384. + +Some years before 1869[9] a Birmingham Scripture Reader fell over it, +and was, of course, killed. + + [9] Mackintosh, p. 809. + +_Craig yr Ysfa._--These rugged and in parts highly romantic rocks have +attracted but few climbers. A hardworking group of Bangor enthusiasts +have done about all the work that has been done here. In November 1894 +J. M. A. T., H. H., H. E., and J. S., quitting the road just beyond the +eighth milestone from Bangor, reached, in twenty minutes, the mouth of a +gully, broad except where it narrows into a gorge, about half-way up. +The climbing on the left of the stream is quite easy, on its right less +so; but in either case the stream has to be abandoned at the first +waterfall, which is quite impracticable when there is any quantity of +water falling. One may climb out to the right by a small tributary +gully, or up the buttress of rock to the right, and thus turn the lower +fall as well as the upper fall, which is a small edition of the Devil's +Kitchen. Near the edge of the cliff, on the left of the gorge, is a +large tabular rock, which forms the postern to a narrow passage back +into the gully, which soon broadens out and leaves a choice of routes; +the left-hand branch should be taken by preference, as it contains a +rather difficult pitch, above which the ascent to the top of the ridge +is simple. + +[Illustration: A GULLY ON CRAIG YR YSFA] + +A second gully lies a few hundred yards nearer Ogwen Lake, and +contains, besides cascades, two distinct waterfalls, of which the first +may be surmounted by a small but not easy chimney close to it on the +left, which is also the side for attacking the second difficulty. Here a +necessary grass ledge above the level of the top of the fall was +loosened by heavy rain, and stopped the progress of the above party, who +completed the ascent by climbing out to the left. + +The craggy portion is just over one mile long. Towards the head of Nant +Ffrancon the rocks come lower, and are more fantastic, affording a great +variety of fine problems, though few continuous climbs. + + * * * * * + +=Carnedd Llewelyn= (3,484 ft.) is the second highest of the Welsh +mountains. The last Government Survey gave it a slight lift, and at the +same time slightly reduced Snowdon, causing a rumour to go abroad, +alarming to conservative minds, that the latter had forfeited its pride +of place. This would have been a real misfortune, as the old-established +favourite is beyond all question the finest mountain of the two. Only +imagine the feelings of a poor peak abandoned in its old age, without +cheap trippers, without huts, without a railway, without Sir Edward +Watkin. The blow would have been too cruel! The near views from Carnedd +Llewelyn are not remarkable. They consist mainly of the crags of Yr Elen +and those of the grand north face of Carnedd Dafydd, which, however, +practically conceal the Glyders, and these again cut off most of +Snowdon. But the seaward view is very fine, and with regard to the very +distant places, such as the Cumberland Fells, this mountain has a great +advantage over Snowdon both 'to see and to be seen.' Perhaps the extra +7½ miles make the difference, but it is a fact that for once that +Snowdon is to be made out from Scafell or Great Gable, Carnedd Llewelyn +can be seen half a dozen times. + +For the ascent Bethesda is the nearest. Several ways present themselves, +and whichever the traveller takes he will think that he has taken the +boggiest. One way is straight up Cwm Llafar to the ridge +(Bwlchcyfrwydrum) between the two Carnedds, or inclining left one mile +short of this ridge one soon reaches the ridge connecting our mountain +with Yr Elen, on the other side of which are some fine crags. The ascent +by way of Cwm Caseg, the next valley to the north, is equally simple and +affords a good view of these crags from below. In thick weather the long +lonely walk from Aber is an education in itself to the mountain rambler, +while from Talycafn station, on the north-west, a good road comes to +within a mile and a half E.S.E. of the summit. The Capel Curig ascent is +perhaps the least interesting of all; by it the two Carnedds are usually +combined. Either the ascent or the return should be made along the Pen +Helig ridge, with regard to the terrors of which the guide-books have +used language as exaggerated as the descriptions of Striding Edge on +Helvellyn. In winter, however, there is sometimes pretty work here. + +_Climbs._--A few rocks will be found round the remarkable tarns of +Llyndulyn and Melynllyn, on the north-east side of the mountain, and on +the west side of Llyn Eigiau. Better still are the rocks near where the +Talycafn road ends by a slate quarry in the rocks of Elicydu +(apparently marked as Pen Helig by the Ordnance Surveyors); but best of +all is the north-east side of Yr Elen, where there is a sort of small +edition of the Black Ladders, with the same sunless aspect, so that it +often keeps its snow in the same way till quite late in the year. In +winter, however, the grand cwm which lies due east of the Carnedd offers +splendid snow scenes and snow work. + +Some years ago a quarryman was lost in the snow, and an upright stone on +the north ridge of the mountain marks the spot. One of the earliest +ascents of the mountain was that made in 1630 by Johnson, who evidently +had the spirit of the mountaineer in him, for he pressed his guide to +take him to the more precipitous places, alleging the love of rare +plants. That worthy, however, declined to go, alleging the fear of +eagles. Mackintosh too had a difficulty here with his guide during a +winter's day excursion. But his fears seem to have been entirely without +reasonable cause, and he was not so near to being robbed or murdered as +he at one time fancied. Mr. Paterson's charming book _Below the Snow +Line_ describes the route from Llanfairfechan in wild weather. + +In the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1771 will be found noted an +ascent which satisfied the climber and his water-level that the summit +was higher than that of Snowdon. Pennant too made the ascent, but came +to an opposite conclusion on this point. + + * * * * * + +=Elider Group.=--=Carnedd y Filiast= (i.e. 'Cairn of the Female +Greyhound') is a feature on the west side of Nant Ffrancon, on account +of the very remarkable slabs which it exhibits on that side. A hundred +and twenty-five years ago Pennant was told here that 'if the fox in +extreme danger takes over them in wet weather he falls down and +perishes.' Certainly they are dangerous enough to a less sure-footed +animal--man--and are best left alone, especially when there is any ice +about. The nearest place from which to start is Bethesda. Another hill +of the same name lies to the north of Bala. + + * * * * * + +=Foelgoch.=--A spur running north-west from Glyder Fawr forms the +western bank of Nant Ffrancon, and nearly three miles along this ridge +is Foelgoch (i.e. 'Red Hill'). It has a steep western side towards the +head of Cwm Dudodyn, and on the other side a very steep rocky recess +facing Llyn Idwal. Llanberis and Bethesda stations are about equally +distant. From the former place it is seldom visited, except before or +after the ascent of Elidyr Fawr. + +On August 6, 1886, E. K. writes, 'There is excellent scrambling to be +had about this mountain, and some really difficult work.' + +On September 29, 1894, a party of three climbed from Nant Ffrancon. + +The break in the ridge may be reached either by following the ridge +itself or from the cwms on either side of it. The ascent thence to the +summit offers easy but steep climbing if the crest of the ridge be +scrupulously adhered to. Passing over the summit of Y Garn the descent +was made down the southern ridge of Cwm Clyd, which gives a good +scramble along its barren arête. + +[Illustration: TWLL DU + +(looking down through it to Llyn Idwal and Llyn Ogwen)] + + * * * * * + +=Y Garn= (3,104 ft.), near the head of Nant Ffrancon, on the west side, +is little visited, but has some very good rock on it. Benglog is much +the nearest place. The well-known Twll Du may almost be said to be on +it, and is practically the division between it and Glyder Fawr. + + * * * * * + +=Twll Du= (i.e. 'Black Pit'), commonly called the 'Devil's Kitchen,' is +a remarkable chasm in the line of cliff which faces the head of Llyn +Idwal on the south-west, being a northerly continuation of Glyder Fawr. +From Benglog, which is much the nearest place, there is little choice of +route; either side of Llyn Idwal will do, but the west side is rather +less boggy. Keeping well up you pass the head of Idwal until you bring +it on with the head of Llyn Ogwen, and then about 500 ft. above the +former you find yourself at the foot of this grand fissure. In dry +weather all but the highest patch can be easily ascended; after rain it +is sometimes difficult to enter the place at all. In the summer of 1893, +which was extraordinarily dry, a young fellow claimed to have done it +single-handed, but it was supposed by some that he had mistaken the +place. During the intense cold of March 1895 an extraordinary _tour de +force_ was accomplished here by J. M. A. T. and H. H., who cut their way +up the frozen waterfall, and thus accomplished what was probably the +first ascent of this formidable chasm. The height of the final pitch in +its normal condition is about 53 ft., measured from the top of the block +down to the surface of the pool below. When the climb above described +was made, no doubt much of this height was filled up by snow and ice, +yet the remainder was not surmounted in less than 7 hours, so that the +average rate of progress must have been about 5 ft. per hour. The total +time from Benglog to the top of the Kitchen was 8½ hours. The party +descended in the dark to Llanberis in 3 hours more, having left Ogwen in +the morning at 10 o'clock. Those who approach from Upper Llanberis by +way of Cwm Patric or from Penygwrhyd over the shoulder west of Glyder +Fawr, and, in fact, all who do not come by way of Benglog, have to +descend the high cliff out of which the Kitchen is cut. The only +convenient passage starts about a furlong to the south of the Kitchen, +and is very awkward at night or in mist. It begins as a wide, straight +trough (the largest and most regular of two or three), which slopes +gently downwards and towards Benglog. Presently it takes a more +northerly direction and becomes a steep, wide slope of scree following +the line of cliff to the great blocks of fallen stones which mark the +mouth of the chasm. An active man can return from the lower to the upper +exit of the chimney in ten minutes, and the descent could, of course, be +done in even less time. In dry weather there is but one slight +difficulty before reaching the grand crux at the head. It can be climbed +by passing into a cavern and up to the left, but the easier, and after +heavy rain the only practicable, way is up the side-wall just to the +left of the choke-stone on to a broad ledge. A little way above this a +huge slab, fallen from above, is seen leaning against the wall on the +right. The passage to the right of it can always be made, however strong +the stream on the left hand may be. The climb to the top of this slab is +very neat, and, besides affording a capital view of the situation, is +about all the consolation left for the ardent explorer, who will seldom +succeed in penetrating any further. There are, however, two possible +lines of advance, both on the left-hand wall, one well in under the +colossal cap-stone, which hangs 50 ft. overhead, and the other outside, +nearly opposite the great slab. By the latter route 20 ft. or 30 ft. can +be climbed with some little difficulty, but the traverse to the right +would no doubt prove a very ticklish operation. Cliffe, in June 1843, +penetrated to the foot of the final obstacle, and gives a very good +description of it. + +[Illustration: TWLL DU + +(looking up from within)] + + * * * * * + +=Glyder Group.=--=Glyder Fach= (3,262 ft.), though called 'the lesser,' +is far finer than its brother peak, so much so that many have found +great difficulty in believing that the Ordnance Surveyors were right in +ascribing 17 ft. of superiority to the more lumpy western summit. One +might be tempted to build a 20-ft. cairn but for the fear of spoiling +the great glory of Glyder Fach, the chaos of rocks on its summit. The +present cairn was not in existence ten years ago, and must have been +built about 1887. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF + +THE GLYDERS + +AND + +TRYFAEN] + +_Ascents._--From Benglog the most interesting ascent is by the Gribin +ridge, between Idwal and Bochllwyd. It involves a slight descent (about +150 ft.) after reaching the ridge, but it is less fatiguing than that by +Bwlch Tryfaen and the steep rough screes on the right hand beyond it. +From Penygwrhyd you mount behind the inn, crossing the bog as you best +can towards a wall which goes straight up the hill. When the direction +of the wall changes you make a compromise midway between the old and +the new, and very soon come on to a line of cairns which continues right +on to the boggy tableland above. Tryfaen top now appears over the hill, +and as soon as it is fairly lifted you bear to the left and up a stony +slope to the cairn. From Capel Curig it is a simple matter to follow the +ridge of Cefn y Capel, but quicker to keep along the highroad past the +Llynian Mymbyr, and then strike up a grass slope to the right. As often +as not both Glyders are ascended in one expedition; the dip between the +two is only 300 ft., the distance is under a mile, and stones are the +only obstacles. + +[Illustration: SUMMIT OF GLYDER FACH] + +_Climbs._--The north face of this mountain is remarkably fine and +contains all the climbing there is. At the east end is the bristly ridge +leading down to Bwlch Tryfaen. This is stimulating, but not difficult. +In the centre of the face there is a large gully, ascended in November +1894 by J. M. A. T., H. H., and H. E. They did not find it necessary to +use the rope. The lofty pitch at the foot of the eastern gully is +decidedly hard. (J. M. A. T.) In May 1888 W. E. C., A. E., E. B., and E. +K. found and ascended a gully close under the west side of Castell +Gwynt, and add that they reached Penygwrhyd by way of Cwm Graianog. The +last statement is very mysterious. About the Castell itself (the rugged +pile of rocks between the two Glyders, marked by its slender outstanding +'sentinel'), and about the summit of the Fach, there are some good +scrambles on a small scale. + +[Illustration: CASTELL GWYNT AND GLYDER FAWR] + +Directly under the top stone is the minimum thermometer, which has been +kept there for some years.[10] The most interesting thing on the whole +mountain is undoubtedly the pile of stones on the top. According to the +bard Taliesin it is the burial-place of a mighty warrior, one Ebediw. If +a kind of Stonehenge was erected there to his memory and afterwards got +upset by an earthquake it might account for present appearances. Edward +Lhwyd, the great antiquary, was particularly struck by them 200 years +ago, and his description and remarks are equally applicable to-day. + + [10] See the _Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society_ for + April 1893, xix. No. 86, for a summary of the temperatures thus + recorded. + +[Illustration: ROCKS ON GLYDER FACH] + +'On the utmost top of the Glyder,' he says, 'I observed prodigious heaps +of stones, many of them of the largeness of those of Stonehenge, but of +all the irregular shapes imaginable, and all lying in such confusion as +the ruins of any building can be supposed to do.... Had they been in a +valley I had concluded they had fallen from the neighbouring rocks ... +but, being on the highest part of the hill, they seemed to me much more +remarkable.' He goes on to remark upon a precipice which has not been +identified (see _Esgair Felen_). 'On the west side of the same hill +there is, amongst many others, one naked precipice (near or one of the +Trigfylchau, but distinguished by no particular name), as steep as any I +have seen, but so adorned with numerous equidistant pillars, and these +again slightly crossed at certain joints. 'Twas evident that the gullies +or interstices were occasioned by a continued dropping of water down +this cliff.' Trigfylchau, by the way (i.e. 'Twisting Gaps'), is a name +which does not seem to be known at the present day. + +Lhwyd's description fired the curiosity of the travellers who explored +Wales nearly a century later, and the amusing part of it is that they +could not find this wonderful mountain, or even hear of it from the +intelligent natives. + +Cradock (1770) found an aged man, who told him that the mountain was +'now called the Wythwar (Wyddfa),' which stands 'a few miles south of +the parish of Clynog;' and H. P. Wyndham went further by identifying it +with 'the mountain called Ryvil in Speed's map' (i.e. Yr Eifl). It shows +how little the natives knew about their mountains until the travellers +came and taught them. Pennant made the ascent, and gives a picture of +the summit. Bingley also went up, and gives a good description. + +Kingsley's fine description, in _Two Years Ago_, of Elsley's ascent +really applies mainly to Glyder Fach, though he only mentions the Fawr. +Elsley's descent, by the way, was apparently into Bochllwyd by way of +Castell Gwynt. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: GLYDER FAWR, NORTH FACE] + +=Glyder Fawr= (3,279 ft.).--The meaning of the name is a mystery. One +Welsh scholar gravely tells us that the real name is Clydar, which at +once yields the obviously suitable meaning of a 'well-shaded ploughed +ground.' Either of these epithets would be quite as appropriate to the +Sahara itself, for the two Glyders are among the barest and rockiest +mountains in all Wales. The two roads which lead from Capel Curig, one +over the Pass of Llanberis and the other through Nant Ffrancon to +Bangor, enclose between them the whole of the Glyder group, forming a +singular figure, which recalls Menenius Agrippa's description of the +Second Citizen as 'the great toe of this assembly.' The toe is slightly +bent; Penygwrhyd is the knuckle, Capel Curig the tip of the nail, and +Benglog (the head of Nant Ffrancon) is just in the inside bend. The +highest point of the group lies practically in a straight line with +Snowdon and Carnedd Llewelyn, and, roughly speaking, midway between +them. Of Snowdon it commands a profoundly impressive view, and is in +turn itself best seen from the Carnedds. + +Both Glyders are very frequently ascended from Penygwrhyd, Llanberis, +Capel Curig, and Ogwen. + +The simplest way up is from the top of the Llanberis Pass, from which a +ridge leads to the summit. This is, perhaps, the best way if the start +be made from any place not on the north side, though from Penygwrhyd the +route may be boggily abbreviated by making up the little valley to the +north-west. From Ogwen the usual ascent passes near Twll Du, though the +ridge separating the Idwal and Bochllwyd lakelets is sometimes chosen, +and certainly affords a greater variety of fine views. + +Climbing on this mountain is practically confined to its northern face, +and even there very little has been done. There are also a few rocks on +the west side. The climbing-book at Penygwrhyd contains very few +references to it. At Easter in 1884 H. and C. S. mention that they +enjoyed fine glissades down the snow slopes on the north-west side to +Llyn y Cwn, but the first real climb recorded therein is that of the big +gully in the north face, made on November 25, 1894, by J. M. A. T., H. +H., and H. E. From the far end of Llyn Idwal a long scree leads up to +the mouth of the gully, which may be identified from a distance by the +pitch which blocks it about half-way up and a broad strip of grass +outside it on the west. The point to make for is the head of a wall +which runs up from the extreme south end of the llyn to the corner of a +huge mass of bare smooth rock. If the traveller reaches this point +without being engulfed in the boggy ground which fringes the llyn he +will now continue in the same general direction as the wall, and soon +sees the gully just before him. A kind of trough, probably produced by +weathering of the rock, is now seen on the left, and this, as it +appeared more interesting than the steep grass of the central part of +the gully, was followed at first by the above-mentioned party. The +trough is very easy at the foot, and has good holds, which higher up +incline outwards, and become less and less prominent until at last +progress becomes a question of delicacy and circumspection. Before the +trough came entirely to an end the party traversed into the gully, but +even there found the ascent to the pitch far from easy. Utilising the +full length of their 80-ft. rope, and moving only one at a time, they +reached the cave under the big pitch. Here it appeared hopeless to +climb out on either side, and recourse had to be taken to engineering of +the same kind which was successfully put in practice some years ago on +Dow Crags, in Lancashire, by a very scientific band of brothers. Similar +success crowned the efforts of this party, and brilliant gymnastics on +the part of the leader landed them safely at the top of this difficulty. +From this point the remainder of the climb has a deceptively easy +appearance. Some 80 ft. higher up the difficulties begin again, and +continue up to a small pitch just below the top. On one stretch it was +found necessary to adopt a compromise between the wisdom of the serpent +and the aimlessness of the crab, advancing by lateral jerks in a +semi-recumbent attitude. Possibly these extreme measures would not have +been necessary but for the fact that on this occasion the conclusion of +a spell of three weeks of incessant rain was chosen as a suitable +opportunity for attacking this face of the Glyder. It was the opinion of +the party that the climb--at any rate in its then condition--is +incontestably more difficult than that of the western buttress of +Lliwedd. The time taken was 4 hours, including a short halt for +luncheon. + +[Illustration: WESTERN GULLY IN NORTH FACE OF GLYDER FAWR] + +This gully is the more westerly of two. The other one was climbed in May +1895 by J. M. A. T., H. H., and W. E. One of the party says of it, 'We +soon came to some rather difficult rocks; we climbed them close under +the right-hand wall--a really stiff little bit. The gully here is still +quite broad, and on the left side of it we saw another way, which looked +much easier. We found no special difficulty in the jammed stone which +looks from below such a formidable obstacle. Two of us climbed it on +the right; the third man circumvented it on the left. From this point to +the summit is excellent throughout, the rocks being steep, the holds +strong, well defined, and most conveniently distributed. In my opinion +it is the best thing on the Glyders, and it can be done by a single +man.' Still further east a narrow crack gives a very steep but easy rock +staircase, while west of the gully first described is another with two +pitches, of which the lower is harder and the upper easier than they +look. The 60 ft. just above the latter are climbed by means of slight +rugosities in the left-hand wall. It is somewhat curious that when, in +February 1873, Glyder Fawr was crossed from Ogwen by way of Twll Du, +with John Roberts as guide, it was recorded in the _Alpine Journal_[11] +as something of a feat and something of an eccentricity. Twenty years +have made a great change, and now, about Christmas or Easter, the snow +on these hills is marked by tracks in many directions. + + [11] Vol. vi. p. 195. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: LLYN IDWAL + + _a_, The gullies of Glyder Fawr. + _b_, Descent to the foot of Twll Du. + _c_, Twll Du.] + +=Esgair Felen= (i.e. 'The Yellow Shank').--In August 1893 G. W. de T. +found very good rocks and gullies on this shoulder of Glyder Fawr. +Ascending from just above the cromlech stone in Llanberis Pass, the +buttress immediately above can be climbed on the right or south-west +side. The upper half may be climbed by a narrow gully, too narrow at +first to enter, and giving little hold for hands or feet, and that +little not sound. Apparently the leader climbed up a little way, and +then the rest of the party climbed up the leader. They found good +climbing without special difficulty among the rocks on the top of the +great gully in the centre. + +It is somewhere in this neighbourhood that we must look for the +mysterious precipice of which Edward Lhwyd wrote two hundred years ago +as being strikingly columnar in structure, and possibly identical with +'one of the Tregvylchau or Treiglvylcheu.' He says it is part of the +Glyder, and faces west. Perhaps it is about the east side of Cwm Patric. +As seen from well down the Llanberis Pass these rocks have a very +striking appearance. + +The term 'esgair' is very commonly applied to long straight projections +from higher mountains. Instances of its use are E. Weddar, E. Yn-Eira, +E. Geiliog, E. Hir, and E. Galed. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: TRYFAEN FROM THE EAST + +(Sketched by Colin B. Phillip)] + +=Tryfaen= (3,010 ft.), not to be confounded with the hill of the same +name on the Llanberis side of Snowdon, or the other near Bettws Garmon, +is the most remarkable rock mountain in Wales; it has two pillar stones +on its summit, from which it is often said that the name (= 'three +rocks') is derived. In answer to this it is enough to point out that the +assumed third stone is not there, and could not have disappeared without +a trace, while the name would equally well mean 'three peaks,' which the +mountain certainly has when viewed from either east or west. The Welsh +dictionaries give a word 'tryfan' with the sense of 'anything spotted +through,' and, whether or not this has anything to do with the origin of +the name, the component rocks certainly are quartz-speckled in a most +extraordinary manner. The mountain is practically a ridge of rock +running in a southerly direction from the head of Llyn Ogwen towards +Glyder Fach, from which it is separated by a sharp dip, Bwlch Tryfaen. +This dip, which may be reached either from Cwm Bochllwyd on the west or +from Cwm Tryfaen on the east, offers by far the easiest ascent of the +mountain. The best starting-point for Tryfaen is Ogwen Cottage, at +Benglog, from which Llynbochllwyd is reached in 25 and the said dip in +45 minutes; so that, if need were, the whole height (2,000 ft.) and +distance (1½ mile) to the summit could be attained within the hour. +From Capel Curig, on the other hand, there is a good hour's walking +before the highroad is left, beyond Gallt y Gogof, which Borrow calls +Allt y Gôg (Cuckoo Cliff), and even then the traveller has about as far +to go as if he were starting from Benglog. Most of the Tryfaen climbs +being on the east side they can be reached from Capel Curig with much +less exertion than from Penygwrhyd, the route from which involves a +long, rugged ascent, hot after the sun has risen and ankle-breaking +after it has set. + +_Climbs._--These are extraordinarily abundant, and the hold is nearly +everywhere gritty and good. The most popular climbs are: + +1. The east side, including especially the two gullies on either side of +the summit known as the North and South Gullies. + +2. The north ridge up from the head of Llyn Ogwen. + +3. The west side. + +_The South Gully_, climbed by R. W. (1887). The first ascent noticed in +the _Book of Penygwrhyd_ being that of H. G. G. and W. in 1890. On +September 5, 1891, H. G. G. and E. B. T. offered some clear notes on +the subject, to the following effect: The first difficulty consists of +three or four jammed stones, each slightly overhanging the one beneath, +with a total height of about 10 ft. It can be passed by keeping to the +right close to the obstacle, but would not be easy in wet weather for +any climber single-handed. At the place where the gully divides the +left-hand or nearer division is not difficult. The broad division was +found impracticable by a party of four on September 4, 1891, the large +smooth rocks at the top being very wet. This place was climbed in 1890 +by Messrs. G. and W. by keeping to the extreme right close to the wall +of the gully, and then returning along a narrow ledge. It was an awkward +place. There is nothing above where the two gullies unite that offers +any real difficulty. + +The North Gully is the more difficult of the two if the immediate centre +is to be followed; but it is always practicable to break out on the face +to the right. The difficulties of the South Gully are not so severe, but +such as they are they must be climbed, as there is no lateral escape. + +Under date of June 9, 1894, a very clear account is given by J. M. A. +T., J. R. S., and H. E. At the first obstacle the first man climbed up +into the hole formed by the projection of the topmost rock, but, as the +next beneath slopes outwards and downwards, found it impossible to +relinquish a crouching posture. The pitch was abandoned. The right-hand +rocks close by were taken, and the gully rejoined without difficulty. At +the fork the northern branch was chosen. It can scarcely be called a +gully; the water trickles down over the crags in several places, but +there is no main or well-defined channel. A pinnacle is soon seen on the +right, and here the climbing becomes difficult; the footholds are far +apart, and the small tufts of grass, which were then wet and slippery, +cannot be trusted. The course taken was to the extreme left, and as far +as possible from the pinnacle, and in this respect it differs from that +taken by Messrs. H. G. G. and W. in 1890. A firm, flat grass-covered +shelf, at least a yard square, is seen in a straight line up above, and +as soon as the first man has reached this a rope can be used to +advantage. A steep rock some 12 ft. in height and of ordinary difficulty +remains, and the climb thence to the summit is quite simple. By keeping +to the left a cavern is reached, the further end of which opens like a +trap door upon the summit; this interesting method of concluding the +ascent should not be missed. + +On August 25, 1892, G. B. B. with Mr. and Mrs. T. R. climbed the five +pitches of the South Gully, _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_; _a_ by the +right-hand wall, _b_ in the centre, _c_ by divergence to the right-hand +branch and return to the left over a narrow ledge, _d_ and _e_ in the +centre or slightly on one side of the face. The gully was never left. +Time, about 90 minutes. + +_North Gully._--This appears to have been climbed in 1888 by R. W. and +T. W. Writing on September 5, 1891, H. G. G. and E. B. T. gave the +following hints:-- + +The first difficulty is at the bottom, below the level of any part of +the South Gully, and might easily be missed if the horizontal track be +followed. On August 30, 1891, these gentlemen found the middle of this +(after very wet weather) quite impracticable, and the smooth rock on +the right hand, lying at a very high angle, was also wet and very +difficult. Either might possibly be passed in a dry season, the rock +almost certainly. The next point of note is a very large lodged stone. +Going under this they passed through the hole above, one climbing on the +other's shoulder and afterwards giving him help from above. The passage +was not easy. + +The next difficulty is made up of two lodged stones about 10 ft. apart. +The first might be passed in dry weather. A tempting ledge to the left +was climbed without result; ultimately they rounded the obstacle by +keeping to the right. + +On September 19 W. E. C., H. R. B., and M. K. S. ascended the North +Gully. They describe it as containing seven pitches, two of which are +caverns. They believed that this gully had only once been climbed clean +before--namely, in the autumn of 1888, by Messrs. R. W. and T. W. + +On April 1, 1892, H. B. D., F. W. G., and A. M. M., with Mrs. D. and +Mrs. C., ascended the North Gully in 2 hours 10 minutes. The last pitch +gave some trouble. + +In August 1892 W. H. P. and G. B. B. climbed all the pitches of the +North Gully clean, taking the sixth from the bottom by the right side +and the rocks straight to the summit stones, from where the gully +divides. Time, 91 minutes. There is a singular difference of opinion +among climbers as to the relative difficulty of these two climbs. +Varying conditions of rocks and climbers may partly account for this. +Without pretending to decide the matter either way the writer would +give it as his experience that unusual conditions more readily affect +the southern for evil and the northern for good. For instance, wet or +ice makes the former very nasty without altering the latter to the same +extent, while really deep and good snow moderately improves the former +but converts the latter into a delusion and a mockery, for it ceases +altogether to be a climb at all, and becomes a mere snow walk. Even then +it is worth doing if it were only to see the wonderful convoluted +strata, in the case of more than one great block imitating the rings in +the trunk of a tree. + +_Nor'-Nor' Gully._--On September 18, 1891, Messrs. W. E. C., G. S., and +M. K. S. ascended a gully leading on to the north ridge of Tryfaen just +to the north of the most northerly of the three peaks. The gully +contains three pretty pitches, all of which were climbed, but two of +them can be turned. + +There is yet a fourth gully, still further north, but it has only one +obstacle in it, and more scree than anyone can possibly want. So much +attention has been devoted to these gullies during the last few years +that the ridges which separate them have been unduly neglected. To the +writer at least they have always seemed to offer better climbing than +any of the gullies, and that of a kind which is very much less common. +The ridges on either side of the North Gully are especially fine, and +would satisfy the most exacting but for one thing, and that is that the +hold is almost too good. + +_The North Ridge_, from the head of Llyn Ogwen, is of very imposing +appearance, and was long spoken of with bated breath. In reality it is a +fine but very simple and safe approach to the summit. The gluttonous +climbers of the present day will probably complain that it is not a +climb at all, but, though the difficulties, such as they are, can all be +turned, the more enterprising members of a party can always find +abundant outlets for their energies in numerous wayside problems. + +Some of the rocks are very fantastic in shape; one projecting +horizontally bears a resemblance to a crocodile and can be easily +recognised from the east. Highly crystalline quartz veins render the +rock surfaces even rougher than they would otherwise be, and in a few +places the face of the rock is covered with egg-like projections, each +containing a core of quartz. At a little distance they look like huge +barnacles; their real nature may be left to the geologists. + +On reaching the heads of the principal gullies the climber will fall in +with some capital rocks on or beside his path along the ridge. At the +very top he cannot fail even in mist to recognise the two upright +rectangular stones, which are so conspicuous from afar. The feat of +jumping from one to the other, by the performance of which Mr. Bingley's +friend made that eminent traveller's 'blood chill with horror' nearly a +hundred years ago, is not as difficult as it has been represented to be, +and the danger of falling over the precipice in case of failure is +purely imaginary. The unskilful leaper would merely fall on to the rough +stones at the base of the pillars. Of the two jumps, that from north to +south is the easier. Bingley's guide, perhaps anxious to cap the Saxon's +feat, told him that 'a female of an adjoining parish was celebrated for +having often performed this daring leap.' Large as the pillars are it is +difficult to believe that they were placed in the position they occupy +by unassisted nature; they seem too upright, too well squared, and too +level-topped; with a cross-piece on the top they would form a +nobly-placed 'trilithon,' of which any 'dolmen-builder' might be proud. + +_The West Side._--A great part of this is occupied by a series of huge +slabs, which have been compared by F. H. B. to Flat Crags on Bow Fell. +In places luxuriant heather artfully conceals sudden drops and rolling +stones on account of which several tempting descents on this side will +prove annoying. The only important gully is well seen from Benglog. To +reach it strike south-east by the highroad at a point about half a mile +east of Benglog. About half-way up the gully trends away to the left, +and comes out at a deep notch in the summit ridge. Excellent scrambling +again may be found by climbing up eastward from the shore of Bochllwyd. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: TRYFAEN FROM THE NORTH-WEST.] + +=Moel Siabod= (2,860 ft.) is ascended most easily from Capel Curig, but +Dolwyddelan and Penygwrhyd are only slightly more distant, though +considerably more boggy. The ascent is worth making, for the sake of the +excellent view of Snowdon. The east side is by far the most abrupt, and +here a few good crags are found. From this side also the mountain looks +its best, but even seen from the west, the tamer side, it is, +especially when snow-clad and lit by the setting sun, a remarkably +effective feature in the landscape. + +Readers of 'Madoc,' if such indeed there be, may remember that Southey +was benighted on the hills around Dolwyddelan. In that episode Moel +Siabod may well have played a part. + +About the year 1830 Mr. Philip Homer was benighted on it, and died of +exhaustion. Mention of this accident is made both by Roscoe (1836) and +by Cliffe, who says he heard many details from an eye-witness. The body +was taken to Capel Curig and buried there. + + * * * * * + +=Snowdon= (3,560 ft.) is the loftiest peak in this island south of +Scotland, and one of the most beautiful that is to be seen anywhere. The +name seems to have originally described a whole district which the Welsh +called Craig Eryri (variously rendered 'rock of eagles' and 'rock of +snow'). The peak itself is called Y Wyddfa (pronounced 'E Withva'), +which is usually translated 'place of presence' or 'of recognition;' but +the splendid suppleness of the Welsh language admits of rival +renderings, such as 'place of shrubs or trees,' with which may be +compared the name Gwyddallt--i.e. 'woody cliff;' and even, as a +non-climber once observed, on seeing a panting form appear at the top of +a gully on Clogwyn Garnedd, 'place for a goose.' + +Leland speaks of 'the greate Withaw hille,' and says 'all Cregeryri is +Forest,' and, in another place, 'horrible with the sight of bare stones +as Cregeryri be.' + +[Illustration] + +Snowdon may be climbed from many points. The nearest inns are +Penygwrhyd, Beddgelert, Snowdon Ranger, and Llanberis. The peculiarity +of Snowdon consists in the huge cwms which radiate from its summit, and +these will be found described in their order, following the course of +the sun, and the climbs to be found in each will be indicated. + +Books on Snowdon are simply countless, and the same remark applies to +the pictures which have been taken of it and the panoramas which have +been drawn from it. + +Unfortunately a very large number of fatal accidents have taken place on +this mountain, and an interesting but somewhat incomplete article on +this subject will be found in _Chambers's Journal_ for May 1887. The Mr. +Livesey there mentioned as having been killed by lightning seems to have +been really named Livesley, and was of Ashton, in Mackerfield, +Lancashire. This occurred on Sunday, September 21, 1884 (the _Times_, +September 23). + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: CWM GLAS AND THE PARSON'S NOSE, FROM THE WEST] + +=Cwm Glas.=--As there are three or four tarns on Snowdon called Llyn +Glas, so the name of Cwm Glas appears to have been confusingly popular. +Cwm Glas proper lies immediately under Crib y Ddysgl, and Crib Goch on +the north side; but, to say nothing of the next hollow to the west, +which is called Cwm Glas Bach (i.e. little), a recess lying just north +of both is called by the same name, and it would appear, from some of +the early topographers, that they understood the term to comprehend the +whole valley which forms the west approach to the Llanberis Pass. The +proper cwm can only be reached from Llanberis or from Penygwrhyd. From +the latter (the usual starting-point) the simplest, though not the +shortest, way is to go over the pass and down to Pontygromlech, and +there, instead of crossing by the bridge, bear away to the left, and up +into the cwm. Experts can save something by striking off much earlier +near the top of the pass. Those who come from Llanberis will leave the +highroad at a point 3½ miles from the station and about half a mile +short of the cromlech. + +Before the two pools come into sight several short but striking pieces +of rock are met with, and, indeed, the rock scenery on all sides is +extremely fine. Many people come here for that reason alone, and are +content to see the rocks without climbing them. For them there is an +easy way up to join the Llanberis path by way of the grassy slope west +of the Parson's Nose, of which more anon. Between the two a second ridge +is seen, smaller than the Nose, and roughly parallel to it, leading out +on to Ddysgl, much further up. Not far from this Mr. F. R. Wilton died +in 1874 (see _Crib y Ddysgl_) and Mr. Dismore was killed in 1882. + + * * * * * + +=Parson's Nose.=--The best known climb in Cwm Glas is on the rock called +Clogwyn y Person (i.e. 'Parson's Cliff'), alias the =Parson's Nose=. It +is a spur of Crib y Ddysgl, and is easily identified by its projecting +in a northerly direction between the two little pools in Cwm Glas. No +one seems to know the origin of the name; possibly it may have been +scaled by the famous climbing cleric who haunted Snowdonia half a +century ago. The most striking feature of this fine arête is the +wonderful excellence of the hold. Faces crossed by precarious-looking +ledges are found on a closer inspection to have behind those ledges +deep, narrow, vertical rifts, affording the perfection of hand-hold, +while the rock surface itself is so prickly and tenacious that +boot-nails grip splendidly, and the only difficulty for the fingers is +that some of them are apt to get left behind on the rocks. It may be +climbed direct up the face, either from the very foot or from a point +more to the right and some 30 ft. higher up. The height of the initial +climb is something like 100 ft. Again, there is a gully on each side of +the actual Nose, and it is usually climbed by one or other of these. The +western gully is blocked above by an overhanging rock, over or under +which it is necessary to climb or crawl. The gully on the opposite or +east side is longer, and generally much wetter, and is on that account +considered more difficult either to go up or to come down. The three +ascents unite close to the cairn. Above the cairn the ridge continues, +broken by only two respectable pitches, and leads on to the great tower +on Crib y Ddysgl, some 1,200 ft. above the beginning of the climb. It is +not, however, necessary, in order to get up out of Cwm Glas on to the +main ridge, to climb the Nose at all; by proceeding west and over some +white quartz slabs, close under the ridge, and then turning left, one +can get out easily a few feet from the top of the Nose, or nearly the +same point may be reached from the east side, only it will be after a +less interesting and generally somewhat wetter ascent. If a climb is +desired when the gullies are in a dangerous condition, there is a place +further to the right than the right-hand or west gully where a very +steep but safe scramble among big blocks leads up on to the bridge of +the Nose. + +The following ascents are noted in the book at Penygwrhyd, that by T. W. +and R. W. being probably the first:-- + +_1887, September 18._--W. E. C. and A. E. + +_1890, June 21._--W. P. and G. B. B. tried the Parson's Nose, and, +climbing the cleft from the south side, crawled between the rocks which +block its upper part, then up the crags to the right for a short +distance. + +_1892, April 2._--A party which had ascended the north gully of Tryfaen +the day before ascended the Parson's Nose up the ridge, starting from +the cleft. About 50 ft. above it a wall of rock is met which must be +climbed either round a corner on the right hand or up a steep chimney on +the left. The latter route was chosen, but a large stone (the middle one +of three on the left side of the chimney) slipped, and remained in a +dangerous position. + +_1892, August._--W. H. P. and G. B. B. climbed the 'wall of rock' +straight up, which they thought easier than the chimney to the left or +the green gully to the right. + +_September 23._--Mrs. H., Miss B., and a large party of gentlemen +climbed the Parson's Nose by the gully on the Llanberis side and the +jammed stone. + +Bingley visited this cwm at the close of last century, and gives a good +description of it. He was much impressed by Caddy of Cwm Glas, the +strong woman. Her real name, by the way, was Catherine Thomas. + +Cwm Glas Bach also has some fine rocks, and from the head of it up to +Cyrn Las a good climb may be had. + + * * * * * + +=Crib Goch= ('The Red Ridge') stretches down westward from Crib y Ddysgl +to about opposite the summit of the Pass of Llanberis. The name is +sometimes used for the whole length of both cribs. This is admitted on +all hands to be inaccurate, if convenient, but there is some difference +of opinion as to where the line of demarcation should be drawn. Some say +at Bwlch Goch (2,816 ft.), while others put it a quarter of a mile or +more further west. About 500 yards east of the Bwlch, at almost the +highest point (3,023 ft.) of the ridge, a side-ridge strikes away to the +north, while the main line continues eastward. The well-known pinnacles +(including the 'Crazy' one) are close to Bwlch Goch, and on the north +side of the ridge overlooking Cwm Glas. The southern side, sloping into +Cwm Dyli, though very steep, is much less precipitous and rocky than the +other. + +[Illustration: CRIB GOCH + +(Snowdon beyond)] + +_Starting Points._--Penygwrhyd and Gorphwysfa have almost a monopoly of +Crib Goch, because for all other places--such as Llanberis, Beddgelert, +Capel Curig, or Bettws y Coed--the distance from Gorphwysfa has simply +to be added as so many extra miles along a highroad. In the case of +Capel Curig this makes very little difference, seeing that Penygwrhyd +lies on the direct route for any ascent of Snowdon, and to the latter +there is no nobler approach than that along this ridge. Some have +thought it sensational, and many have described its terrors in very +sensational language; in fact, it takes the place which among the +English lakes is filled by the far less striking Striding Edge on +Helvellyn; but in truth, though it is the sort of place where ice, mist, +and high wind may encroach to some extent on the margin of safety, to a +steady head and foot there is no danger whatever. As for the hands, they +are hardly required at all, though for those who like it plenty of real +climbing can be had on the way. + +[Illustration: PINNACLES OF CRIB GOCH] + +Any mountaineer worthy of the name will admit that the ridge walk up +Snowdon by Lliwedd and down by Crib Goch is for its length one of the +finest in Europe. The mere gymnast also finds here plenty of enjoyment +and almost infinite variety. He may mount by the east ridge or by the +north ridge, or in the corner between the two. Again, the north ridge +may be reached by either of two gullies in its eastern flank. Of these +two gullies the more southerly is the steepest and longest, and may be +recognised at some distance by a peculiar split or gap, while the other +and more northerly, formed in rock of most cutting quality, offers a +convenient passage to the foot of the steep part of the north ridge, +from which point there is, if required, an easy descent into Cwm Glas. + +The north ridge gives a short, pleasant scramble, and is somewhat +sheltered from southerly winds, which are sometimes an annoyance on the +east ridge. + +Further west there are several good gullies on the Cwm Glas side, +especially round about the pinnacles. The Crazy Pinnacle may be ascended +either on the north-east or on the south-west side. The former is now +more favoured since the fall of a certain large stone on the latter, +which gave a useful hold in former days. Thirty years ago this ridge was +almost unknown. A writer of 1833 seems to imply that it had been +ascended by saying that 'the passage of it is hazardous, from the +shortness and slippery quality of the grass at those seasons of the year +when the mountain may be approached;' but this is evidently a mere +misapplication of what others had said about Clawdd Goch (Bwlch y Maen), +on the other side of the mountain, and we do not hear of anyone climbing +here before C. A. O. B. (1847) and F. H. B. a few years later. Between +1865 and 1875 it became better known, and in the books at Penygwrhyd we +find it recorded that in April 1884 H. and C. S. climbed from Cwm Dyli, +thence along the ridge by Crib y Ddysgl to the summit of Y Wyddfa. + +In 1887, on June 30, E. K. climbed Crib Goch from Cwm Glas by the gully +to the left of the outstanding or Crazy Pinnacle. Near the top two big +stones are jammed in, and this compelled him to leave the gully; but on +June 29, 1890, G. S. S. found these stones climbable by the aid of a +crack in the rocks on the left hand. From this point the ridge can be +reached by taking to the rocks on the right. They are sound, which is +more than can be said for those on the left of the gully a little +farther down. + +[Illustration: PART OF CRIB GOCH] + +On July 31 and August 2 E. K. scrambled up the other gullies nearer +Bwlch Goch, and found them easier than the first, which is the main one +seen from Cwm Glas. He pronounced these climbs well worth trying, but +not fit for beginners. + +On June 17, 1890, W. P. and G. B. B. ascended to Bwlch Goch, and bearing +round the foot of the first pinnacle, climbed the gully between the +first and the second. They found the holding good, but the rocks by +which the gully is blocked somewhat difficult to pass. + +In 1894, on September 14, W. E. C., S., and B. climbed Crib Goch to the +central cairn from Cwm Glas. + +On December 9, 1894, J. M. A. T., H. H., and H. E. climbed the face from +Cwm Glas beside an insignificant watercourse, reaching the ridge at the +ruined cairn, then, passing along to the Crazy Pinnacle, scrambled down +the gully on the Llanberis Pass side of it. The latter climb they +describe as short but excellent, and the former as also good. No more +climbs here are described in the _Book of Penygwrhyd_, but many others +have been made. The truth is that for the last quarter of a century +hardly a climber has visited Wales without making Crib Goch a primary +object, and consequently there is not a climb on it whereof men say +'See, this is new.' + + * * * * * + +=Crib y Ddysgl.=--The name is pronounced practically 'Cribbythiskle,' +and sometimes written 'Distyl,' a spelling probably due to a desire to +support the common derivation of the name from 'destillare' i.e. +'dripping ridge.' The climate of Wales, however, is not such as to make +any ridge remarkable merely because it drips, and moreover the +derivation will not account for the other instances of the word. For +instance, two or three miles west of the Pitt's Head we have Trum y +Ddysgyl, and the proximity to it of Cwmtrwsgyl suggests that some +distinction is expressed by the penultimate syllables. Attempts to +derive the name from 'disgl' (= 'dish') seem equally futile. Possibly +the explanation may be found in the word 'dysgwyl' ('watch,' 'expect') +(compare Disgwylfa, in Cardiganshire), which would make it parallel to +names like Lookingstead, &c. + +The highest point of Crib y Ddysgl is called Carnedd Ugain, and is a +worthy rival of Y Wyddfa itself, being, according to the Ordnance +surveyors, only 69 ft. lower--viz. 3,491 ft.--and from some points of +view a really beautiful peak. + +From the highest point a narrow crest runs due east, reaching in about a +quarter of a mile the huge buttress called Clogwyn y Person, which comes +up out of Cwm Glas and has been described with it. This part is +sometimes spoken of as the Gribin, a name which the large Ordnance map +does not give, and I know of no other authority for it, though it is +quite a likely place to bear the name. The main ridge continues east +until it joins Crib Goch. The ridge, though sharp, is not a likely place +for an accident to a climber, and, indeed, no accident seems to have +occurred actually on the ridge, but more than one death has taken place +close by. On August 10, 1874, a young man of great promise, Mr. +Frederick Roberts Wilton, son of Mr. Robert Wilton, of Doncaster,[12] +and a master in the City of London School, ascended Snowdon from +Llanberis, and seems to have asked his way to Capel Curig, and to have +been informed (not quite accurately) that he must turn to the right +'near the spring,' which is a good bit beyond the proper point of +divergence from the Llanberis path. His body was ultimately found a +fortnight later 'in the slippery course of a small mountain stream which +descends sharply from the most southerly branch of the miners' path +immediately below Crib y Ddysgl into the basin known as Cwm Glas. +Evidently he had gone down a steep shingly slope with a wall of rock on +his right hand over the entrance of a rocky watercourse.' These details +are taken from a letter of his colleague, Mr. W. G. Rushbrooke. As the +body was found in a posture of repose, and there was no sign of any +injury sufficient to cause death, there is some reason to fear that this +unfortunate gentleman died of exposure. For further details see the +_Times_ for August 22, 24, 26, and 28, 1874. + + [12] See the _Doncaster Chronicle_. + +Another death from exposure took place here in the following +year--namely, that of Mr. Edward Grindley Kendall, of Crosby, near +Leicester, of whom something will be said under the head of _Cwm Dyli_. + + * * * * * + +=Cwm Dyli= (pronounced 'Dully') is the great eastern recess of Snowdon, +and universally admitted to be the finest thing of the kind in Wales. +The long sharp ridge of Crib Goch and Crib y Ddysgl bounds it on the +north, while the almost equally fine, though less regular, ridge and +majestic crags of Lliwedd shut it in on the south. It contains Llyn +Llydaw (Hluddow), the largest lake, and Glaslyn, the finest tarn on the +whole mountain, and is one reason why the ascent of Snowdon from Capel +Curig is the finest of all. + +The stream forms some fine cascades (800 ft. above sea level) in its +descent to the Vale of Gwynant. Half a mile above these cascades Clogwyn +Aderyn, on the north bank of the stream, and Clogwyn Penllechen, between +it and Llyn Teyrn (1,238 ft.), have a climb or two on them. At this llyn +the path from Gorphwysfa comes in, and along it the great majority of +people enter the cwm. The next landmark as we ascend is Llyn Llydaw +(1,416 ft.), nearly a mile long, the elevation of which so close an +observer as Cliffe over-estimated by more than 1,000 ft. Climbers bound +for Lliwedd leave the lake entirely on the right, and find a foot-bridge +close to the exit of the stream from it. The path to Snowdon crosses the +lake by a stone causeway, which is rarely submerged by floods. From the +head of Llyn Llydaw there is a steep rise--555 ft. in a quarter of a +mile--to the tarn called Glaslyn (1,971 ft.) Between this and the sky +line at the head of the cwm, 1,290 ft. higher, only one more hollow +remains, called Pantylluchfa, and here the crags of Clogwyn y Garnedd +show up magnificently. It may be mentioned that many people get +hopelessly confused in reading or giving descriptions of Snowdon, +because they fail to distinguish Glaslyn, here, from Llyn Glas, half a +mile to the north of it, in Cwm Glas, and another Llyn Glas less than a +mile due west in Cwm Clogwyn. If they know Glaslyn they naturally assume +that it must be in Cwm Glas, and if they know Cwm Glas they place +Glaslyn in it. Some of the confusion would be avoided if the latter +were called by what would seem to be its older and true +name--Llynffynnonglas. + +[Illustration: SNOWDON FROM GLASLYN + + _a_, Bwlch y Snethan. + _b_, Summit, with Clogwyn y Garnedd below. + _c_, Junction of paths from Penygwrhyd and Llanberis.] + +Cwm Dyli was the scene in 1875 of one of the strangest of all the +disasters which have happened on the mountain. The victim was Mr. Edward +Grindley Kendal, of Crosby, near Leicester, who on June 11 left Gwynant +Valley in order to ascend Snowdon. Nothing more was heard of him or his +till the end of that month, when a Mr. and Mrs. David Moseley, +descending with a guide, found on the edge of Llyn Llydaw a wet and +mouldy pair of boots, each containing a stocking marked 'Kendal' and a +garter. It was at once surmised that the missing man had been wading and +become engulfed in quicksands, which were stated to be numerous. His +friends went so far as to employ a professional diver to explore the +bottom of the lake, though it would seem that if the body was in the +water simpler means would have answered the purpose, and if it was below +the water the diver could neither find it nor follow it. At any rate he +did not find it, because it was not there. It was found about ten days +later on Crib y Ddysgl uninjured--it was identified by Mr. Ison, +brother-in-law of the deceased and the jury at Llanberis found a verdict +of 'death from exposure.' It was not precisely stated on what part of +Crib y Ddysgl the body was found, and nothing transpired as to the +condition of the feet; but it is simply amazing to anyone familiar with +the character of the ground that a bare-footed man should ever have got +so far. Why he did it and how he did it will always remain among the +mysteries of Snowdon.[13] Other deaths have taken place in this cwm, +for which see under _Lliwedd_ and _Clogwyn y Garnedd_. + + [13] The _Times_, July 2, 6, 8, and 15, 1875. + +It is curious that two of the lakes in this valley are among those +mentioned 200 years ago by the learned Edward Lhwyd as 'distinguished by +names scarce intelligible to the best Criticks in the British.' + + * * * * * + +=Clogwyn y Garnedd y Wyddfa=--i.e. 'the Precipice under the Cairn of +Snowdon'--has been commonly known by the first three words only for at +least 200 years. It is one of the grandest cliffs on Snowdon, and gives +very fine climbing. + +For more than two centuries this precipice has been famous as a refuge +for rare ferns and plants. The guide William Williams, well known as a +botanist, lost his life here while in search of the Woodsia; so at least +says Mr. T. G. Bonney, though he is far from accurate in the date of the +accident, which, writing in 1874, he describes as having taken place +'some twenty years ago.' The actual date was June 19, 1861.[14] The old +guide had taken up a lady and gentleman from Llanberis, and went from +the top alone to gather ferns. The fall was 'down a declivity of three +hundred yards.' The body was found at the foot of the precipice, after +'scouts' had been sent out. He had fallen from the point where the slope +suddenly changes from about 45° to, perhaps, 75° or 80°. The spot where +he slipped was for many years, and perhaps still is, marked by a white +stone. + + [14] See the _Times_, June 25, 1861. + +On the shore of Glaslyn, at the south-west corner, there is a small +cross of wood marking the spot where the body of Mr. Maxwell Haseler was +found. He was making for Snowdon by the Lliwedd ridge, and fell from a +short distance above Bwlch y Saethau. The party seem to have been well +equipped, and contained members of experience, who were not without +ropes and axes. They started on January 26, 1879, for Snowdon by +Lliwedd, and, after lunching about 1 P.M. on Bwlch y Saethau, proceeded +in the direction of Snowdon. Mr. Haseler took a separate course, more to +the right hand, and almost immediately seems to have slipped and fallen. +His body was found next morning by the shore of Glaslyn, and it was +reckoned that he had fallen some 600 or 700 ft. The inquest was held at +Penygwrhyd. The victim of this accident was only twenty-three years +old.[15] + + [15] The _Times_, January 29 and February 7, 1879; _Chambers's + Journal_, May 7, 1887. + +The following notes are among the records of Penygwrhyd:-- + +On September 23, 1887, W. E. C. and A. E. ascended Snowdon from Glaslyn +by the first gully on Clogwyn y Garnedd. + +In 1890, on June 20, W. P. and G. B. B. descended from Snowdon to +Haseler's Cross by the gully immediately above it in Clogwyn y Garnedd. + +In 1890, on September 27, F. W. J. found an excellent gully climb, +possibly that referred to in the note of September 23, 1887. He started +from Glaslyn, keeping to the right edge of the lake, and, facing towards +Bwlch y Saethau, saw a gully choked by jammed stones (five in number), +beginning almost from the foot. It has often been climbed. The most +interesting and difficult piece is where a large stone roofs a cavern +some 15 ft. high. In it there is a kind of skylight, through which the +climber must go by an indescribable twist of the body. From the bottom +of the gully to the huts where the climb ends is 900 ft., all except a +portion of the upper end being narrow gully, and the rest a scramble +over rocks. + +On December 13, 1891, Mrs. H. ascended the big Clogwyn y Garnedd gully +direct to the summit of Snowdon. + +On September 24, 1892, Miss B. and a large party of gentlemen climbed +(second lady's ascent) the Clogwyn y Garnedd gully through the cavern. + +In May 1893 a party climbed up by this and down by the next gully, on +the north, which has its head just below the huts. + +In September 1893 the two Misses T. descended the great gully in 1 hour +25 minutes. + +In 1894, on September 14, Messrs. W. E. C., S., and B. descended the +face of Clogwyn y Garnedd to the left of the big gully. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: SNOWDON FROM THE NORTH, WITH LLIWEDD ON THE LEFT] + +=Lliwedd= (2,947 ft.) stretches away eastward from the summit of +Snowdon, dividing Cwm Dyli on the north from Cwm y Llan on the south. +Strictly speaking, perhaps the name only applies to the central portion, +where its magnificent northern crags overlook the head of Llyn Llydaw, +but, as in the case of Crib Goch, the significance of the name has +been enlarged, and it is frequently used to denote the whole length of +the ridge. + +At the Nant Gwynant end a transverse ridge, called Gallt y Wenallt, +bears near its base some remarkably fine rocks, on which there is very +good climbing. West of the Gallt a side valley, called Cwm Merch, runs +nearly due south, and beyond this Cwm Lliwedd proper begins. The +southern slope of it is steep, but that to the north is imposingly +precipitous. It is, in fact, unsurpassed in Wales. Advancing in the +direction of Snowdon, the cliffs become less sheer and the crest less +broken, and as soon as the highest point of Crib Goch is 'on with' the +head of Llydaw Bwlch Ciliau offers a rough descent into Cwm Dyli. Next +on the west comes the Criman, corresponding geographically to Clogwyn y +Person on Ddysgl, but more broken; beyond them Bwlch y Saethau (i.e. +_Arrows Gap_), leading down to the head of Glaslyn. The last quarter of +a mile up to the top of Snowdon is very steep, rising nearly 1,000 ft. +in that distance. It was here that Mr. Maxwell Haseler, in 1879, lost +his life by keeping too much to the right. + +[Illustration: LLIWEDD FROM THE NORTH-WEST.] + +In August 1872 Mr. T. H. Murray Browne and Mr. W. R. Browne, the +discoverers of the Scafell Pinnacle, saw the merits of this climb, and +attacked it without success. Public attention was first drawn to Lliwedd +as a climbing-ground by the ascent made in 1883 by Messrs. T. W. Wall +and A. H. Stocker, and thus described by the former in the _Alpine +Journal_:[16]-- + + [16] Vol. xi. p. 239. + +'This northern face consists of four buttresses, with three fairly +well-defined couloirs between them. The summit ridge has two peaks, of +which the western, nearer Snowdon, is the higher by a few feet. In +January 1882 from the summit of Crib Goch Mr. A. H. Stocker and myself +were struck by the grand appearance of the Lliwedd cliffs, and hearing +from Owen, the landlord of the Penygwrhyd Hotel, that the northern face +had never been climbed, the desire to make the first ascent naturally +came upon us. On the 10th we made our first attempt by the central +couloir, which leads up to the depression between the two summits. As it +was raining the whole day the rocks were in an abominable state, and it +was with the greatest difficulty that we managed to get up about 150 +ft.' On January 3, 1883, they tried again. 'On January 4, after +carefully observing the rocks of the buttress to the west of the central +couloir, we came to the conclusion that it might be possible to cross +the face in an upward direction from east to west, and then strike +straight up. At 11.15 A.M. we got on the rocks, beginning from the lower +of two dark green patches seen from below. From this a ledge runs up to +the right, and if it had only been continuous Lliwedd would present no +very great difficulties. Unfortunately this was not the case; there were +most formidable-looking gaps in it, and the ledges above and below were +tacked on to it by smooth and almost perpendicular gullies. Three bits +in particular may be mentioned as far the hardest, although they are +more or less typical of these crags, which nowhere offer 20 consecutive +yards of easy rock-work. The first difficulty which presented itself was +where the ledge was broken by a bold face of rock. One of us was pushed +to the top of the smooth part, and finding that he could not descend to +the ledge on the other side, he ascended a little higher, anchored +himself firmly to the rocks, assisted his companion up, and let him down +to the required ledge; then, throwing the rope over a pinnacle, he gave +both ends to his companion to hold tight, and slid down the 40 ft. of +rope to join him. After a few yards of easier work we came to a ledge +about 6 inches wide and 4 yards long; the rock above was nearly +perpendicular, with no hand-hold, and there was nothing below. It was +the only way; we could not turn it, and somehow we got over, but neither +of us wishes to be there again. From that ever-to-be-remembered ledge +the climbing was grand work up to the point where we had to turn from a +westerly direction to go straight up the face. Here there was one nasty +corner. A narrow ledge about 2 inches wide had below it a sloping face +of rock with three minute cracks in it. One of us had crossed this in +safety, and so assumed a position in which the rope would have been of +very little use. He was then opposed by a steep bit, topped by 4 ft. of +perpendicular rock, with a very steep slope of heather above. At the +moment that his last foot left the highest peg of rock his other knee +slipped, and the heather, grass, and earth began to give way in his left +hand. It was an awkward moment, for the other man was not well situated +for supporting a jerk at the end of 30 ft. of rope, which would mean a +fall of about 50 ft. Happily the other knee got on the heather and the +axe held firm in the earth. Our difficulties were then over. The rocks +grew less and less difficult as we ascended, and after 4½ hours of +incessant work up 850 ft. of rocks we found ourselves on the summit +ridge, exactly 13 yards from the cairn. + +[Illustration: LLIWEDD FROM LLYN LLYDAW + + _a_, East buttress. + _b_, Central gully. + _c_, West buttress. + _d_, Slanting gully.] + +'It may be mentioned that the only real difficulties lie in the first +200 ft.; above that point the mountain presents rock-work of a very high +order, but nothing stupendously difficult, the rock being very firm. + +'Future climbers will probably find that of the three couloirs the +western is comparatively easy; the central may perhaps be ascended by +climbing the lower rocks on the right, and the eastern by a long détour +to the left. The buttress to the left of the central couloir looks as +difficult as rocks possibly can look. But there is a chance that a +careful search among the rocks to the left of the central couloir might +reward a rock-climber with an exciting and successful scramble. In any +case the whole northern face is distinctly difficult.' + +Under the date of April 12, 1884, we find recorded by H. S. and C. S. an +ascent of Lliwedd by the ridge from Llyn Llydaw, which is apparently +nothing more than the ordinary walk, but in 1887, early in April, is an +important note in the hand of Mr. Stocker. + +'_Hints for the Ascent of Lliwedd by the North Face._ + + (N.B. Lliwedd consists of two peaks--the eastern and western + buttress--with a well-defined gully running up between them.) + +'1. _Ascent of Western Buttress to the Right of Central Gully._--Make +for the lower of two green patches easily seen from below just to the +right of the foot of the central gully. From it work upwards to the +right to the second green patch; then again upwards, still to the right, +to a very small, steep green slope. From this the climb is almost +straight up, inclining a little to the left at first. This will land the +climber a few yards to the west of the cairn. + +'2. _Ascent by Central Gully and Western Buttress._--Go up the gully +till the foot of the steep bit is reached; then climb out of the gully +by ledges on the right on to the western buttress. As soon as possible +make straight up the face, keeping the gully a little to the left. This +will land the climber at the cairn. + +'No. 2 is an easier climb than No. 1. All through the hand and foot +hold is very good. The chief difficulties lie in the first 200 ft. after +leaving the gully. The upper part is fairly easy. The whole climb is +about 850 ft.' + +In 1887, April 11, O. E. and T. V. S. ascended Lliwedd by the central +gully at first and afterwards in a line rather left of the summit. Time, +under 3½ hours. + +In September 1887 W. E. C. and A. E. climbed Lliwedd by Mr. Stocker's +second route in 1 hour 23 minutes from base to cairn, and subjoined a +list of previous ascents, viz.-- + + First attempt. T. H. M. B. and W. R. B., August 1872 (Vis. Bk.) + January 7, 1883, Messrs. Stocker and Wall, by route 1. + April 24, 1884, Messrs. A. H. S. and P., by route 2. + April 11, 1887, Messrs. O. E. and T. V. S., by route 2. + September 10, 1887, Mr. R. W., by route 1. + September 20, 1887, Messrs. W. E. C. and A. E., by route 2. + +On May 20, 1888, Mr. Alfred Evans and two friends, W. E. C. and -- K., +left Penygwrhyd at 10 A.M., crossed the northern arête of Crib Goch and +Cwm Glas, and climbed Clogwyn Person and by Crib y Ddysgl to the top of +Snowdon. Evans and K. then descended by the second or third gully from +Bwlch Glas on Clogwyn y Garnedd to the head of Llyn Llydaw. C., E., and +K. started up the central gully of Lliwedd at 5.5 P.M. At the bottom, +and for some distance up, the rocks are water-worn and but little broken +up, and the water flowing down rendered this part difficult. At the +moment when C. was about 300 ft. above the scree Evans was about 80 ft. +below him, and could not advance. C., therefore, went down 3 or 4 ft. +and rested. Evans then tried to get out of the gully by the ledge +mentioned in Mr. Stocker's account. This ledge is divided in two parts +by a huge outstanding buttress with very scanty footing. Both men passed +this; then Evans lowered himself by K.'s ankle on to a rocky foothold +and tried to work to the right, but after doing 5 or 6 ft.--half the +requisite distance--his feet slipped, his arms were unable to support +him, and he fell on his feet about 5 yards on to the edge of a steeply +sloping grass ledge running up to this part of the cliff. From this +point in four or five terrible leaps he fell over and over, a total +distance of 200 ft., to the screes below. The accident happened at 6.55 +P.M., and K. is stated to have descended to the body, a distance of 200 +ft. of the most awkward climbing in the whole gully, in the space of 5 +minutes. This is hardly credible, but under such circumstances people do +not judge time accurately. + +This accident need never have happened. If ever a party courted disaster +it was done on this occasion. + +A cross was erected by friends of Mr. Evans on the spot where his body +was found, but being much damaged by stones it had to be removed in 1892 +to a rocky knoll not far off, where its position is more secure. It +records the age of Mr. Evans as 24. + +On June 10, 1889, M., A. L. M., and B. climbed the north face of Lliwedd +by the rocks of the western buttress, keeping close to the central gully +almost the whole of the way. + +On January 1, 1893, F. P., F. W. O., and H. J. R. ascended the north +face of Lliwedd by the western buttress, starting just to the right of +the central gully, and coming up at the cairn. Time, 3 hours. + +At Easter 1893 H. G. G. and -- W. climbed by the central gully and the +western buttress, coming out at the cairn, in 3 hours 5 minutes, all the +rocks being dry. + +On April 7, 1893, T. H. M. climbed the north-west face alone in 2½ +hours: he found two difficult spots near where Messrs. G. and W. +scratched their initials on the rocks. Everything was dry. + +On September 14, 1894, W. E. C. and M. K. S. ascended the central gully +for about 200 ft., then went up the western buttress, and crossed the +gully again to the eastern buttress, about 300 ft. below the top, +reaching the summit in 2 hours and 20 minutes. + +On October 14, 1894, J. M. A. T., H. H., and H. E. ascended the central +gully to a point apparently beyond that where others have broken out +upon the face, and continued up a steep stretch of rock by taking a +narrow gutter between the centre and right wall, the upper part being +found difficult. A broad ledge brought them to a similar reach, where +the outward slope of the holds became more and more pronounced. Finding +the rocks above quite impassable, the party descended by means of an +iron claw, which had to be left, and then by a ledge in the right wall +and an awkward corner got out on the face of the west buttress. Here +they found the ledges narrow and the crags extremely steep, but working +upwards and tending to the right they crossed an incipient gully by an +awkward stride, and thereafter met with only ordinary difficulties, but +on passing a cleft which opens into the gully enjoyed a magnificent view +of the latter, and struck the summit at the cairn. They pronounced the +climb to be quite impossible for one man. + +_The Slanting Gully._--This gully, on the west side of the western +buttress, is easily identified, being the next one to the west of the +great central gully and a striking feature of the north face of Lliwedd. +It is clearly marked all the way up, and is most readily approached by +crossing diagonally up the screes below the great gully and then +skirting the base of the rocks of the western buttress. This gully was +attacked on January 9, 1894, by Messrs. F. O. W., C. W. N., E. H. K., +and H. K. It was then frozen up and covered with snow to a depth varying +from a few inches to 3 ft. In 4 hours an estimated height of 350 or 400 +ft. above the starting-point was attained, the whole of this distance, +with the exception of a few steps in deep snow, having to be climbed. +The party kept in the gully the whole way, usually close against the +rocks on the western side. Progress was finally arrested at a point +where the gully becomes, for some distance, a mere crack, formed by the +western rocks overhanging an almost smooth slab, where hold for hand or +foot seems almost entirely wanting. With longer time at disposal it +seemed possible that this difficulty might have been surmounted by +wriggling up inside the crack, or by a dangerous scramble on the face of +the slab. Two members of the party were provided with crampons, and +derived great steadiness and safety from their use. The uniformly steep +angle at which this gully lies may be gathered from the fact that a +rücksack dropped from the highest point was picked up at the +starting-point on the return. It was the opinion of most of the party +that the condition of the snow and rocks was, on the whole, favourable +for climbing, as the ice and snow gave some assistance in places which +without them might have been still more difficult. + +The next attempt is valuable, as notes were taken on the heights of some +of the obstacles. + +On March 26, 1894, the gully was attacked by J. C. M., O. M., and W. P. +from the screes (2,300 ft.) at 1.55 P.M. They arrived in the cave (2,690 +ft.) at 5 P.M. They considered the conditions favourable, except that +the snow was melting, but found the climbing difficult all the way. At +about 2,500 ft. a chimney 70 ft. high had to be squirmed up. They were +of opinion that the gully could not be climbed direct, and all their +efforts to break out on either side were frustrated. The climbing does +not, as in the central gully, become more easy as progress is made; on +the contrary, the difficulties increase. The party carried two ropes, +one of 50 ft. and one of 80 ft., and at one place had to use the full +length of both together. The descent took 2 hours. + +On Thursday, August 30, 1894, this gully cost a valuable life. Mr. J. +Mitchell, of Oxford, an assistant editor of the _New Historical English +Dictionary_, started from the foot at about 2 P.M. The first pitch was +quickly ascended, and he then proceeded, apparently without difficulty, +to the foot of the long chimney, which he passed by means of the face. +On reaching the top he waved his handkerchief, and, being asked what it +was like, replied that it was very stiff. Not long after he was seen in +a cave, which the lookers-on (probably in error) identified with the +highest point reached by previous climbers. From this he climbed with +great difficulty to the top, as it appeared from below, of a long chasm, +with his head just below an overhanging rock, upwards of 150 ft. above +the cave, and after more than half an hour of fruitless endeavour to +make further progress he fell at 4.30 P.M., and was killed on the spot. +The body was found at the above-mentioned cave, and was brought down by +four quarrymen at great personal risk. The lesson which should be drawn +from this is, that if a man will insist on climbing alone he should not +choose for his attack climbs which parties of greater skill and +experience than his own have found to be beyond their powers. + + * * * * * + +=Cwm y Llan.=--This large cwm stretches away from Snowdon top to the +south-east between Yr Aran and Lliwedd. The scenery consists mainly of +the South Snowdon Slate Works, which occupy the centre of the valley, at +a height of about 1,100 ft., and of Sir Edward Watkin's road up Snowdon. + +There is very little climbing, though some parts of Geuallt and Aran are +very steep. On the Lliwedd side there is a good rock (Craig Ddu), not +far from the slate works, and others rather smaller near the exit of the +valley, while at the head, near Bwlch y Maen, almost under Snowdon and +near Bwlch y Saethau, some difficult passages occur. + +The slate quarry here must not be confused with 'Cwm y Llan slate +quarry,' which is not in this valley at all, but on the western slope of +Aran, about a third of a mile beyond Bwlch Cwm y Llan. This little pass +(about 1,700 ft.) is very useful to anyone who, after a climb on +Lliwedd, wishes to reach the nearest railway station, for Pont Rhyd-ddu +is very much nearer than Llanberis and can be reached without climbing +over Snowdon summit. From the top of Lliwedd the pass is in full view, +and a stone wall is seen stretching half-way from it towards two little +reservoirs which are some 600 yards higher up the valley than the slate +works. It is a mile and a half from Lliwedd by way of these reservoirs +to the top of the bwlch, which will hardly be reached within half an +hour. From the bwlch a fair path on the right bank of the stream leads +towards Llynygader, and soon crosses the path from Snowdon to +Beddgelert. By keeping round the hill to the right the Carnarvon +highroad (which is easily seen from above) is gradually neared. The +distance from the bwlch direct to the station may be covered in +three-quarters of an hour, making in all 1¼ hour from Lliwedd, as +compared with at least 2½ hours which would be required to reach +Llanberis from the same point. + + * * * * * + +=Cwm Creigiog= is a shallow and unimportant hollow on the south-west +side of Snowdon, lying between Aran and the ordinary Beddgelert path to +the summit. The cwm has no attractions for a climber, yet at least one +life has been lost in it. This was in the winter of 1859, when a Mr. Cox +is said to have ascended Snowdon from Llanberis, and to have become +exhausted on the way down to Beddgelert, between Llechog and the farm +called Fridduchaf. His foolish guide left him alone and went in search +of food, with the result, which in such cases usually follows, of +finding his unfortunate employer dead on his return. The spot is marked +by a heap of stones. Mr. Baddeley says it 'marks the spot where a +tourist lost his life from exhaustion in 1874'--perhaps a mistake +arising out of a death of the same kind in that year on quite another +part of the mountain. + + * * * * * + +=Clogwyndur Arddu= ('Black Precipice') is the magnificent ridge which +divides Cwm Clogwyn on the south from Cwm Brwynog on the north, being +the western buttress of Y Wyddfa, or more strictly of Carnedd Ugain. The +ascent from the Snowdon Ranger traverses nearly the whole length of the +ridge, which broadens out at its western end into Moel y Cynghorion, +beyond which again is the low pass of Bwlch Maes y Cwm (1,100 ft.), +giving an easy passage from Llanberis to Snowdon Ranger and Beddgelert. +The cliffs on the north side of the ridge are grand, and have been +concerned in more than one fatal accident. In 1846 the Rev. Henry +Wellington Starr, B.A., of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, eldest son of Mr. +George Starr, of Hilperton, Wiltshire, and then a curate in Northampton, +left Dolbadarn Inn on September 6 to ascend Snowdon. He failed to +return, and on inquiry being made by his friends people came forward +with evidence which seemed to show that he had reached the top of +Snowdon, then descended to Gorphwysfa, crossed the head of Llanberis +Pass, and ascended Glyder Fawr. At that point a guide professed to have +met him, and brought him about half-way down, particularly noting that +he wore a single glove, corresponding exactly to another which he had +left with his luggage at the hotel. Search was made in every direction, +but it was not till the beginning of June in the following year that any +light was thrown on the mystery. On that day some of the clothes were +found accidentally by William Hughes, a huntsman, who was exercising his +dogs, apparently on Moel Cynghorion, and next day, on further search +being made, the skeleton was discovered buried under gravel. His purse +and chain were found, but his watch and ring were gone. It appears from +the evidence of Griffith Ellis, of Llanberis, who found part of the +remains, that the deceased had fallen over the cliff of Clogwyn Coch, on +Moel Cynghorion, while ascending from Llyn Cwellyn--that is, by the +'Snowdon Ranger' route.[17] + + [17] The _Times_, 1846, October 14, October 24, October 30, + November 3, and 1847, June 5; the _Globe_, October 1846; + _Chambers's Journal_, May 1887. + +In 1859 a fatal accident took place near the eastern end of the ridge. +The victim, George Henry Frodsham, a clerk in Liverpool, described as a +young man of very fine physique, arrived at Llanberis on Saturday, +August 13, accompanied by his cousin, F. A. Nicholson, and four friends, +T. Clayhills, J. Snape, J. Goodiear, and A. Gardner. It was midnight, +but they started off at once for Snowdon. They got as far as the +'half-way house,' where the proper path turns left, and up towards Cyrn +Las; they, however, took the right-hand fork, which leads to the old +copper level above Llyn du'r Arddu. Struggling up the rocks from the +mine, Frodsham, encumbered by an umbrella and a bag, and being, +moreover, in the dark, slipped and fell, unknown to his friends, who +returned to the proper path and gained the summit. His cousin is said to +have searched for him continuously from 4 A.M. on Sunday to 9 P.M. on +Monday. At 6 A.M. on Tuesday the body was found by W. Owen; the skull +was fractured both at the top and at the back, and the bag and umbrella +were found 200 yards higher up, indicating that distance as the extent +of his fall. A sapient jury drew from this sad event the moral that a +guide should be employed as a safeguard against sudden mists; but few +men need fear mists less than those who choose to climb when it is pitch +dark. It may be said that this party neglected no precaution which is +likely to ensure a fatal accident--inexperience, fatigue, darkness, +difficult rocks, the burden of bags and umbrellas. + + * * * * * + +=Llechog= (i.e. 'Flat, Slabby Place').--There are two ridges of this +name on Snowdon; one is traversed by the ordinary route from Beddgelert +and that from Rhyd-ddu, and is precipitous on its curving north front; +the other forms the western wall of Cwm Glas Bach, and is traversed for +some distance by the pony path from Llanberis. Towards the Llanberis +Pass road it presents a fine rocky ridge, very steep and lofty, on which +good climbing may here and there be found. + + * * * * * + +=Moel Eilio= (2,382 ft.), less than three miles south-west of Llanberis +station, has a namesake on the west side of the river Conway, not far +from Llanrwst. The name is sometimes spelt Aeliau. The view from the top +is extremely fine; the ascent is easy, and, as there is a railway on +each side of it, access to the foot of it is very simple. The rockiest +side is towards the east. Early in the century a poor little fellow +named Closs, while trying to follow his mother from Bettws Garmon to +Llanberis, was lost on this mountain. The story is told by H. L. Jones +(1829) in his finely illustrated book, and by Wright (1833) and Bennett +(1838). The last-named gives his epitaph. + + * * * * * + +=Garnedd Goch Range.=--=Garnedd Goch= (2,315 ft.) (i.e. 'The Red +Cairns') is a very rugged and unfrequented range of hills lying to the +west of Beddgelert. The huge Nantlle slate quarries on the north side of +it have spoilt some very pretty scenery and some very pretty climbs. +Beddgelert and Snowdon Ranger are good starting-points, and better still +is Penygroes station, on the line from Portmadoc to Carnarvon. + + * * * * * + +=Moel Hebog= ('Hawk Hill,' 2,578 ft.) seems to have been ascended last +century by Lord Lyttelton, by the Ordnance surveyors, and in August 1857 +by Mr. J. H. Cliffe, who in his book (published 1860) gives a clear +description of his ascent. In his opinion one of the cairns on the +summit was then 'very ancient.' + +It is essentially a Beddgelert mountain, but can be conveniently taken +from many other places at the cost of more time, as, for instance, from +Snowdon Ranger on the north, Tremadoc and Criccieth on the south, and +Brynkir station on the west. + +A man in the pink of condition who knows the way well can get to the top +from Beddgelert in about three-quarters of an hour, but most people take +1½ or 2 hours. The horizontal distance is under 2 miles, nearly the +same as that from Wastdale Head to Scafell Pike; but the vertical +height is less by one-quarter. + +The proper route is very simple. A shoulder runs down north-west on to +the Carnarvon road, and the ridge of it, after being reached by +proceeding due west from Beddgelert, is followed straight to the top. +This shoulder may, of course, be used by those who approach from the +Snowdon Ranger, but for them a better plan is to take, about ¼ mile +after passing the Pitt's Head, a road which continues on the right bank +of the stream to Glan y Gors, a few yards beyond which a turning on the +right leads across a side stream and past the farm of Hafod Ryffydd to +the foot of Cwm Meillionen, and, by following either the cwm or the +ridge on the left hand, the top of Moel Hebog is easily reached. + +The routes from Tremadoc, Criccieth, and Brynkir all take the dull side +of the mountain; but this disadvantage is counterbalanced by the +increased effect which this gives to the view of Snowdon on reaching the +top, and to the peep down into the valley of Beddgelert, below. The most +difficult way to hit off is that from Nantlle, but in point of rock +scenery it is the finest of all, and was chosen by the Alpine Club for +their excursion when they met here in 1883. + + * * * * * + +=Mynydd Mawr= (i.e. 'Great Mountain') rises just opposite to and west of +the Snowdon Ranger Inn. + +The noble crag Castell Cidwm (i.e. castle of the wolf or robber) runs +steeply down to Llyn Cwellyn, and well deserves a visit. Borrow, on +seeing it from the south, was reminded of Gibraltar. Craig y Bera also, +which overhangs Drws y Coed, is part of this mountain, and has some very +striking rock scenery. + + +Denbigh. + +This county has little climbing. A few rocks near Bettws y Coed offer +short climbs, which are more satisfactory than the limestone rocks of +Orme's Head, near Llandudno, or of the Eglwyseg cliffs, near Llangollen; +but we find in =Dinas Bran=, close by, an extremely steep, +castle-crowned hill, and much favoured by picnickers. It seems, however, +to have been the scene of some early climbing, made too, quite properly, +with the rope. + +Leland says, 'Ther bredith in the Rok Side that the Castelle stondith on +every yere an Egle. And the Egle doth sorely assaut hym that distroith +the Nest goyng down in one Basket and having a nother over his Hedde to +defend the sore Stripe of the Egle.' + +Under such circumstances a climber ought to find St. Paul a better +patron saint than St. Martin. + + +Montgomeryshire. + +=Berwyn Mountains.=--The name is said to signify 'White Tops' +(Bera-gwen). The range runs parallel to the river Dee, forming its south +bank for many miles. It is not lofty, Moel Sych (2,716 ft.) and Cader +Fronwen (2,573 ft.) being the highest points. The individual hills are +not of striking form, and are really little more than high heathery +moors, on which large numbers of grouse breed, but there are many points +on the south-east side where small but striking rocks are found, +chiefly about the heads of cwms hollowed out of the 'Llandeilo' and +'Bala' strata. These cwms are occasionally visited for the sake of the +waterfalls, two or three of which are exceedingly fine. + +The rocks at Llangynog would be remarkably good if they had not fallen a +prey to the spoilers in the form of quarrymen. + + +Merionethshire. + + Merioneth mountains and shire Cardigan + To travel over will tire horse and man, + +says Taylor, the Water Poet, and, indeed, as a climbing county it is +only second to Carnarvon, and contains such fine mountains as Cader +Idris, the Arans, and the Rhinogs. The climbing capital is Dolgelly, +though the excellent service of the Cambrian Railway makes it easy to +scale almost any mountain from almost any place in the county. The +reason of this is that all the places of resort are near the coast, and +the mountains are not far inland, so that the railway following the +coast puts them all in communication with each other, and it is almost +equally convenient to stay at Barmouth, Harlech, Towyn, Aberdovey, or +Machynlleth. Indeed, this is almost the only county where railways are +cheerfully accepted by the mountaineer as friends and not as enemies. He +does not love them at Bettws y Coed, he loathes them at Llanberis, but +here they are unobtrusive and at the same time supremely useful. + + * * * * * + +=Aberglaslyn.=--Through this beautiful defile lies the only correct +approach to Snowdon. It is a true mountain scene, somehow suggesting +Scotland rather than Wales, and of such beauty that, according to the +story, three Cambridge dons, who went round Wales criticising nature and +deducting marks for every defect, unanimously awarded full marks to +this. There is fairly good practice climbing on both sides of it, but +not very steep, in spite of the fears of some of the early travellers, +who (like Hutton in 1803) thought the sides would close before they got +through, and reached Beddgelert with a sense of relief. + +It was one of the earliest scenes in Wales which the taste of last +century admitted to be picturesque. Sandby's view was taken about 120 +years ago. + + * * * * * + +=Cnicht= or =Cynicht= (2,265 ft.), =Moel Wyn= (2,529 ft.)--Mr. J. H. +Cliffe ascended the former on September 4, 1857, and declared that he +could only hear of one man who had preceded him (the climbing +clergyman). + +Under certain aspects and conditions it is one of the most striking +mountains in Wales, owing to its sharp, conical form, but it bears very +little really good rock. + +Beddgelert is the best place from which to ascend, and if the old and +higher road to Maentwrog be taken to ¼ mile short of the tramway in +Cwm Croesor, a ridge on the left hand can be followed right up to the +peak without fear of mistake. + +If the ascent of Moel Wyn be included it adds less than an hour to the +time taken by the last expedition. On the other hand, if Moel Wyn is +ascended from Tanygrisiau, on the Ffestiniog line, it is equally easy to +take in Cynicht. + + * * * * * + +=Rhinog Fawr= (2,362 ft.--just north of Rhinog Fach) is one of the most +striking of the rocky hills which rise behind Harlech. It is more +visited than would otherwise be the case because the pretty lake of Cwm +Bychan and the famous pass of Bwlch Drws Ardudwy, both places of +considerable resort, lie at its feet, one on either side. It is one of +the barest and most rocky mountains in all Wales, and yet it has hardly +anywhere on it a crag of respectable height. Little nameless problems, +however, abound, and men who are content to enjoy a day's promiscuous +scrambling, without accomplishing any notorious climb about which they +will afterwards be able to boast, may be recommended to ramble over +Rhinog Fawr. + +_Easy Ascents._--Several stations on the Cambrian line are convenient +for the start, especially Harlech and Llanbedr. Vehicles can be got in +summer to take visitors to near Cwm Bychan (about 5 miles), from the +east end of which to reach the top of the mountain requires a long hour, +by way of the lakelet of Gloywlyn and up the western slope of the +mountain. From Dolgelly the way is not so easy to find. Bwlch Drws +Ardudwy, the pass between the two Rhinogs, is the first place to make +for, and for this the best plan is to go by the Precipice Walk or by the +Trawsfynydd highroad to the Camlan stream, which comes in on the left +half a mile or more beyond Tynygroes Inn. A path follows the stream for +nearly 3 miles to a slate quarry, which can also be reached rather more +quickly by crossing the bridge at Penmaenpool, especially if the train +be used as far as that station. Half a mile up the stream beyond the +quarry the course leaves the brook and strikes away north-north-west +round Rhinog Fach, rising as little as may be, so as to join the track +up Bwlch Drws Ardudwy. From the head of the pass, rugged as it looks, a +way may be picked northward to the east slope of the summit, but many +people prefer to descend to the west a long way, so as to strike the +easier south-western shoulder. A yet simpler route than the last, but, +as involving 3 miles more of the hateful Trawsfynydd road, intolerable +unless a carriage be taken, turns out of the route to the left half a +mile beyond the ninth milestone, and makes for the north side of Rhinog +Fawr. The path for nearly 3 miles is that which leads to Bwlch Drws +Ardudwy, and is quitted just after passing through a wall. The stream on +the right hand is now followed up to the pool at its head, until a turn +to the left and south brings the pedestrian up on to the summit. This +route may also be used from Trawsfynydd (where the Great Western have a +station very useful for Ffestiniog on one side and Bala on the other), +and there is no better place to start from if climbing is wanted, for of +that there is plenty to be found in Craig Ddrwg, the ridge which +stretches away to the north. In winter this range is very fine, but as +stern and desolate as it is possible to imagine anything. The writer has +reason to remember that here, in January 1895, he experienced the most +intense cold that he has met with in Great Britain. + + * * * * * + +=Arenig Fawr= (2,800 ft.) is called 'Rennig' by Daines Barrington, who, +writing in 1771, adds that it 'is commonly considered as the fifth +mountain of North Wales in point of height.' + +The ascent from Arenig station, on the Great Western Railway, between +Bala and Ffestiniog, is very easy, as the rise is only 1,700 ft., and +the distance about 1¾ mile. The usual and most expeditious way of making +the ascent is by proceeding westward from the station for ¼ mile to the +farm of Milltergerrig, but for scenery and for climbing an opposite +direction should be taken for nearly a mile, till the stream is struck +which issues from Llyn Arenig, really a very fine tarn and backed by +most respectable cliffs. Further south than the tarn again good rocks +will be found. The usual, and indeed the proper, way of dealing with +this mountain is to traverse it from north to south, ending up at +Llanuwchllyn station, on the Great Western line from Bala to Dolgelly. +The eastward view is extremely fine, and superior by far to that from +many of the highest points in Wales. + +This was one of our earliest mountain meteorological stations, as it was +here that the Hon. Daines Barrington conducted his experiments on +rainfall in 1771.[18] + + [18] See the _Philosophical Transactions_, p. 294, of that year. + +Its height, too, was measured, as Pennant (1781) tells us, by Mr. +Meredith Hughes, a surveyor of Bala. + +One of the ancient Welsh writers mentions this mountain in a most +contemptuous manner. Borrow alludes to this, and remarks that upon him, +on the contrary, none of all the hills which he saw in Wales made a +greater impression. + + * * * * * + +=The Arans.=--This mountain is the highest in Merionethshire, and by +many wrongly considered the second highest in Wales. It lies between the +Berwyns and Cader Idris. + +Like the latter, it is of volcanic trap rock, heavily speckled in parts +with quartz, and exposed on the east side, where it has been subjected +to much weathering. There is a good deal of old _débris_ from the face, +that is now grass-covered. + +[Illustration] + +The road between the Aran and the outlying hills of the Berwyn is over +1,900 ft. high; we have, however, to descend to 860 ft. in passing from +the Aran to Cader Idris. The main ridge runs almost exactly north and +south for 6 miles, its west side--a large tract of marshy +moorland--sloping down gently to the vales of Dyfrdwy (= the goddess's +water; sometimes called the Little Dee) and Wnion, and its east side, +irregularly escarped, falling for the most part very rapidly for the +first thousand feet. Its ridge culminates in two peaks 1½ mile apart, +Aran Benllyn (2,902 ft.) and Aran Fawddwy (2,970 ft.) The word _Aran_ +means an 'alp,' or a 'high place;' _Mawdd_ is said to mean 'spreading,' +and the terminations _ach_ or _wy_ mean 'water.' + +_Aran Benllyn_ was one of several of which the height was measured in +Pennant's time by 'the ingenious Mr. Meredith Hughes, of Bala,' who made +it out to be 30 yards less than Cader Idris. + +In April 1881 the Alpine Club had one of their informal meetings at +Bala, and chose the east front of the Aran as their route from there to +Dolgelly. + +The ordinary ascents of the Aran are effected from Llanuwchllyn in 2 +hours, from Drws y Nant in 1¼ hour, and from Dinas Mawddwy in about 3 +hours. + +_Rock Climbs._--These are never extensive, though there are many little +pieces that require much ingenuity to surmount. Excepting for a few +boulder climbs on the ridge itself the crag work is confined to the east +face of the mountains, the side overlooking Lliwbran and Craiglyn Dyfi. +Climbers are often asked, where can a man start practising rock work? +The Arans are first-rate for this. Whatever the difficulty on the +mountain a few minutes' traversing will generally take one out of it, if +direct ascent or descent be considered undesirable. The mountain face is +so broken up that we have no gullies or arêtes separated by impossible +walls of rock from the easy parts of the mountain. In short, from the +enthusiastic shin-scraper's point of view the architecture of the Aran +face is defective. + +(_a_) _From Lliwbran._--The rocks rising from Lliwbran are columnar in +structure, and by the time a generation of climbers have torn away the +grass from the holds they will show up plenty of neat little problems +from 50 to 100 ft. high. + +Looking up from the lake the crag, which is a high dependence of Aran +Benllyn, shows on the right an almost unrelieved slabbiness at an easy +angle, which gives good practice in small footholds. Up to the centre of +the crag is a steep grass gully, in a line with a large boulder down +near the lake, with an overhanging wall that blocks the direct ascent of +the gully, and with a fine clean-cut buttress on the left. We may creep +up the corner of the wall on the left, or circumvent it by traversing +round to the right. + +The route to the ridge from the big boulder is easiest up an oblique +gully just invisible from it. Between our crag and the summit of the +Benllyn is an easy walk due east down to the green shoulder south of +Lliwbran, that takes us quickly by Nant y Barcud and Cwm Croes to the +Twrch valley and the main road. This descent to Llannwchllyn, though not +direct, recommends itself in wet or misty weather, and is in any case +worth taking as a variant. Aran Benllyn itself offers nothing on its +broken escarpments; though the face shows up rather well in profile from +a distance, the climber need scarcely use his hands in zigzagging up the +face to the cairn. The view from the summit justifies our traversing the +peak on the way to Aran Fawddwy. It includes the length of Bala lake and +a goodly extent of Llyn Fyrnwy, and the outline of Aran Fawddwy shows up +magnificently. + +Passing along the ridge to the south of Benllyn we keep up at a high +level for the whole distance of 1½ mile to Aran Fawddwy, the greatest +depression being less than 250 ft. below Benllyn. If we bear to the +left, just dipping below the ridge, we pass along the foot of an +overhanging mass of rock of considerable length that is undercut in a +remarkable fashion. There are many places along it where one may shelter +comfortably in bad weather. It is difficult to climb up the rock direct, +but towards its south extremity we may work up into a small cave and +climb out by the left on to the ridge again. + +Five minutes then bring us to a fine cairn that marks an easy descent to +Craiglyn Dyfi, the source of the Dyfi river, with a good view of the +best rocks on Aran Fawddwy. The final ascent of this peak begins after a +few feet of descent to a wall that crosses the ridge at its lowest. + +(_b_) _On Craiglyn Dyfi._--A small terrace at about the level of the +wall just referred to leads round the rocks to the left into a large +scree gully, which offers good sport in snowy weather. Half-way along +this terrace is a 'problem' of unusual severity--a narrow crack in an +overhanging face, with very scanty hand-holds where the crack closes, +some 20 ft. up the face. The pleasantest bit of scrambling is on to the +summit of Aran Fawddwy from the lake, by the arête that is seen in +outline from the large cairn on the ridge, from which point the two +vertical portions of the arête are well marked. It can be reached easily +from the lake, or we may descend from the cairn for some 600 ft., and +then traverse across to the south till a small gully is passed that +shows a cave pitch at its lower extremity. The rock arête forms the +south side of this gully and runs up for 400 ft. It reminds us of the +easy climb up Tryfaen from the Glyder side, though in one or two places +we have difficulties here, whereas there are none on the Tryfaen +scramble. + +It begins below the level of the cave, and after passing over rough +rocks at an easy angle we come to a fine wall with a wide crack up it on +the left. A huge splintered block is fixed in the lower part of the +crack, and we may surmount the block and just squeeze in, passing out on +to the roof. There are one or two variations possible here. In fact, +instead of starting on the arête we might pass up the gully to the cave. +It has mossy walls and a dripping interior. It is marked by a small pile +of stones on the right and a well-bleached sheep's skeleton in the gully +just above. The pitch may be taken on the left by steep wet grass, which +is unpleasant, or we can attack it direct. We go well inside, and with +back to the right we find good holds on the left, thus working up until +the roof itself offers hold for both hands. From here it is best to pass +on to the arête a few feet below the crack above described. + +The way is then easy, but interesting, and leads to a straight-up crack +in a wall in front of us that has to be negotiated. It looks severe, but +the surface of the rock is so rough that no real trouble is experienced +with it. The crack is much more formidable to descend. Shortly after +this we find ourselves out on the open face again, the gully on the left +having disappeared, and only a few crags above us marking the summit of +the mountain. Striking directly upwards we reach the top in a quarter of +an hour, the last 25 ft. being, if we choose, by way of a chimney, that +begins with some difficulty and lands us just to the left of the large +cairn that marks the highest point. + +(_c_) _By Llaithnant._--Passing due south of the Aran Fawddwy cairn, +along the route to Dinas, we see a fine rock in front between us and the +near end of the Dyrysgol ridge, forming the head of Llaithnant. It is +marked by an overhanging rock half-way down the left-hand ridge. A steep +and wet scree gully leads down to the valley, and we may go part of the +way down until we are about 100 ft. below the overhanging block. + +Here we can strike across to the arête, and keeping close to the gully +on our right have 250 ft. of fairly good scrambling. We skirt close +under the big boulder, and passing to the right of it (a traverse can +also be managed on the left, lower down) clamber over rather loose rock +to the grass terrace above the pitch. Then good rock follows, and +bearing towards the right we come in sight of a square-walled chimney +overlooking the main gully, marked by small cairns at top and bottom. +Its holds are all on the left, so we back up on the right and find +ourselves close to the main ridge again. Another chimney still further +to the right might be taken, but it is always very wet; the two pitches +in it are both very small, and it is only interesting when ice is about. + +A grass gully separates our arête from a few rocks nearer Dyrysgol, +which are of basaltic character and rather interesting to descend. + + * * * * * + +=Cader Idris.=--The name ('Chair of Idris') includes the whole mountain +range, some 7 miles long, that separates the Mawddach from the Dysynni. +It is a continuation of the outcrop of volcanic trap rock that stretches +from the Arans down to Cardigan Bay, and, as usual with such mountains, +its volcanic origin has had much to do with its grand scenery. + +The range runs in an E.N.E. direction from the sea south of Barmouth, +and reaches its greatest elevation at Pen y Gader (2,929 ft.) It forms +two other noteworthy peaks on the chain, Tyrran Mawr (2,600 ft.), 2 +miles to the south-west, and Mynydd Moel (2,800 ft.), 1½ mile to the +north-east. + +The north side presents a fairly even front of precipitous rock for 3½ +miles. Near the highest point, however, a huge amphitheatre of rock, a +thousand feet in height, suggesting a volcanic crater half fallen away, +breaks the continuity of the ridge, and contributes the finest bit of +mountain scenery that this side of Cader can offer. Probably this hollow +suggested first the name of 'Cader,' though there is a recess on the +summit ridge that is usually taken to be the seat in question. + +But the mountain can show something even better on the south side. Its +high dependency Mynydd Pencoed joins the main ridge almost at the summit +of Pen y Gader, and its extremity Craig y Cae forms with Cader itself +another crater-like hollow, which, with Llyn y Cae lying at the foot of +the crags, is even wilder and more magnificent than the one on the north +side. Excepting the crags in this cwm the south side of Cader consists +of steep grass slopes, and the general aspect of the mountain is +uninteresting. + +An account is published in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (vol. xxxviii. p. +147) of an ascent of the mountain in 1767 by L. N. + +Cader Idris was also climbed in 1863 by Prince Arthur. + +Several members of the Alpine Club worked their way up the direct route +from Llyn y Gader in 1881, and there is some mention in the _Alpine +Journal_ (vol. xii.) of a few ascents by Mr. H. Willink. + +The gullies along the north face of the mountain were explored for many +years by F. H. B. + +The wandering Borrow wordily describes a night adventure on Cader Idris. +A pleasantly-written chapter on it may be found in Paterson's +_Mountaineering Below the Snow Line_, and just recently an article has +appeared on the same subject in the _Scottish Mountaineering Journal_. +This latter article has a good general view of the whole length of the +north face. + +On the north face, between Pen y Gader and Cyfrwy, a tailor named +Smith, of Newport, met his death by a fall from the crags in 1864. His +body was not found until the following spring. + +There is another Pen y Gader in South Wales, the highest point in the +Black Forest of Carmarthen (2,630 ft.); also between Y Foel Fras and the +Conway River a hill goes by the same name. + +The ordinary excursions up the mountain are made from Dolgelly, by the +Foxes' Path, in 2¼ hours; by the Bridle Path, in 2¾ hours, or by Mynydd +Moel in 3 hours; from Arthog, easily reached by train from Barmouth, in +3 hours; from Tal y Llyn in 2 hours; and from Towyn in 4 hours. + +The walk up from Towyn is by the Dysynni valley and the _Bird Rock_. +This has a very bold and steep front, broken up by narrow ledges. It can +be ascended with different degrees of ease, and is worth climbing for +the view. The rock is named from its usual frequenters, the kite, hawk, +and cormorant showing up in large numbers on the face. + +_Rock Climbs._--(_a_) _On Mynydd Moel._--These are all fairly easy in +dry weather, and are worth exploring on a slack day. Standing at the +eastern corner of the little square Llyn Aran, we notice the highest +point of Mynydd Moel to the west. A fine-looking arête leads up to it +from the north, with a well-marked pinnacle apparently half-way up the +climb. This we shall call the north ridge. A prominent pillar of unusual +steepness is seen to our left, reaching to the height of the Ceu Graig +ridge. Its eastern side is cut into by a narrow gully that seems from +below to pass behind the pillar. + +To the right of the Ceu Graig pillar is seen another gully, looking +steep but grassy; it is found to offer a pleasant route on to the ridge. +Above the upper screes at the foot of the higher crags several ascents +may be planned from below. The best is marked by two oblique chimneys +that start upwards to the left. Between this and the north ridge a large +scree gully leads up to the highest part of the mountain, and from it on +the right several short scrambles on good slabby rocks are obtainable. + +[Illustration: CRAIG ADERYN (BIRD ROCK)] + +The first of the Ceu Graig gullies, counting from left to right, is to +the left of the pillar, and takes three-quarters of an hour to ascend +from the lake. It starts with a water slide that we take on the right, +and we pass back into the gully immediately afterwards. Then the ascent +of an easy chimney makes us a little wet if the weather has been rainy, +and a pitch appears just above. This can be taken on the right or left. +The right-hand route gives us wet rocks; the left leads up a side +chimney, and back into the gully by an awkward grass traverse. After +this the gully divides, and leads us to the neck that joins on to the +pillar on our right. + +The steep outside face of the pillar can be ascended, but is rather +dangerous. It is a sample of mantelpiece climbing, but the holds are +mostly of grass and heather, and some of the steps are long. + +The next gully, a short distance to the right of the pillar, is more +open than the first, and is less steep. Some water is generally coming +down. The first obstacle is a wide cavern, that can be mounted +immediately to the left or avoided by passing up the easy open chimney +on that side of the gully. The second is a waterfall, and that also is +by preference passed on the left; the difficulty finishes with a short +corkscrew chimney. From this we emerge on to the open face of the +mountain, and a few feet of good rock bring us to the main ridge. We are +now at about the level of the upper limit of scree on the Mynydd Moel +face, and a traverse can be effected round to the oblique chimney +already referred to. In doing so we pass first a scree gully and then an +inviting cleft up to the left, but this is found to lose its interest +after the first 20 ft. + +The oblique chimneys can be recommended for beginners, as the climbing +is only about 250 ft.; the rocks are very good, and the angle about 45°. +Water comes down the gully, but does not offer any trouble, except, +perhaps, at the first obstacle. If this is taken direct we climb up the +right wall, which overhangs, and cling sufficiently close to permit the +water to pass behind us. The second pitch is taken on the right, the +rock being so much undercut that we can pass behind the water. After +this a little more scrambling leads to a scree and an easy finish. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF + +CADER IDRIS] + +The north ridge is somewhat disappointing. It works well up to the +pinnacle, which may also be approached by a dilapidated chimney on the +left. But just above this, where another ridge joins from the +north-west, it becomes a mere walk along the edge of a cliff. + +Perhaps the neatest way of descending this cliff is by a very narrow +vertical chimney, marked at top and bottom by small piles of stones, a +little to the north of the big scree gully, and close to the highest +point of Mynydd Moel. + +(_b_) _West of Mynydd Moel._--Here the north cliff is very much broken. +There are innumerable scree gullies up the face, but the rock ridges in +between them have no good features. There are one or two pinnacles just +below the ridge, easy to reach from above, but difficult from below. One +especially is worth a scramble, about 5 minutes' walk from Mynydd Moel; +a thin and uncommonly difficult chimney leads up its outside face. + +(_c_) _On Pen y Gader._--The central gully up Pen y Gader is a prominent +feature of this face of the mountain. It was climbed many years ago, but +no definite account of its early history has been obtained. It is in +three obvious portions, as indicated in the illustration, and is +generally wet. The two shelves that divide the climb stretch obliquely +upwards to the right across the whole face, and may be reached in a +great variety of ways. Nevertheless the only good climbing is in the two +lower portions of the main gully. + +The first piece takes us on to the shelf with about 70 ft. of climbing. +The gully narrows considerably, and we are forced on to the right-hand +side and up a steep and smooth slope of water-worn rock. Then we cross +over the water to the left, and effect an easy exit on to the ledge. We +next scramble over some irregular blocks and into a narrow recess at the +foot of the second pitch. This is a narrow chimney, very pleasant in dry +weather, landing us in 50 ft. on to the second ledge. From here the +ground is more open, and the climbing is of a slight character to the +summit, except in winter, when the whole gully is apt to be heavily +glazed. Under such circumstances the lowest pitch is almost dangerous. + +The first pitch may be varied by striking up from the screes a few yards +to the left of the main gully, by the cleft shown in the illustration. +The second can be quitted altogether, and the columnar rocks to the west +taken in a variety of ways; and all along the upper corridor will be +found short pitches leading to the summit ridge. + +(_d_) _On Cyfrwy._--There are two well-defined arêtes leading up close +to the summit of Cyfrwy. The first _a a_ is in an easterly direction, +and may be seen in profile from the direction of Pen y Gader. This is +easily recognisable by the curious truncated pinnacle or tower some way +up. The second bears up from the north, and also shows a pinnacle, but +of smaller dimensions. Beyond the two arêtes the climbing on Cyfrwy is +inferior, but between them there are a few interesting routes up the +crags. + +[Illustration: CADER IDRIS + +(seen across Llyn y Gader)] + +The terrace _e e_ is easily reached from the screes. From it there are +two definite climbs, one _b b_ up a gully to the left, that leads out +on to the east arête, the other _c c_ up a more open gully that passes +to the summit ridge. It is possible that the notch between the great +tower and the east arête can be reached from this side, but the upper +part looks difficult. + +The east arête was climbed in about 1888 by the writer. The first +recorded ascent was in January 1891 (H. K., W. E. S., and O. G. J.), and +the first ascent by a lady in August 1891 (Miss L. G., K. W. D., and O. +G. J.) + +[Illustration: THE CYFRWY CLIMBS, FROM THE NORTH.] + +It can be followed all the way up. The tower is best turned on the +right, and the vertical wall of 40 ft. that immediately follows is +climbed direct from the little gap, with just a slight divergence to the +left. The only serious difficulty on the arête is a wall of rock 100 ft. +higher up. It can be surmounted by a thin cleft, the jammed stones in +which are unsafe; or by working up the face a little to the left. The +situation is very exposed. This, and any other bad bits, can generally +be avoided by climbing down to the scree gully on our left. Near the top +of the arête we pass the exit of the chimney _b b_, which descends +steeply to the right. + +[Illustration: CYFRWY ARÊTES + +(The northern is seen in profile, the eastern is much foreshortened)] + +The north arête has probably not been climbed, but the gullies on each +side have been taken. They call for no special comment. The one to the +right is worth ascending for the view of the fine rocks on this face. It +is mostly scree with a small pitch near the top, and was once marked +above by a little cairn. It is admirable when hard snow is about. + +The gully _c c_ to the left is very open and risky, consisting of a +series of shelves formed by the falling away of the porphyritic pillars +that characterise the face. + +The climb _b b_ is rather better. The scrambling from the terrace is +easy but steep, until a large overhanging boulder entirely blocks the +way. We then climb up the vertical wall on the left and traverse back to +the gully. It finishes very abruptly on the narrow upper ridge of the +east arête, and in a most unexpected way we find ourselves looking down +to Llyn y Gader with the face of Pen y Gader directly opposite. + +There are a few short climbs on the face of Tyrrau Mawr, but nothing +very definite can be picked out. + +(_e_) _On Craig y Cae._--The great gully of Mynydd Pencoed was climbed +for the first time on May 18, 1895 (W. P. H. S., E. L. W. H. S., and O. +G. J.) It is by far the finest climb in the Cader district; the work in +it is as varied as in any of the more familiar gullies in the +neighbourhood of Snowdon, and the rock scenery in its upper portion can +scarcely be surpassed on British soil. The upper part of the gully +attracted the attention of the writer in 1890, but it was not until +April 1895 that he made any attempt to enter the gully at its lower +extremity. Then he succeeded in forcing his way over the first pitch, +but the great rush of water coming down the gully made the second pitch +impossible, and the untimely fracture of an ice axe prompted a temporary +withdrawal. + +On the day when the successful attempt was made the rocks were unusually +dry. In wet weather the difficulties of the climb are likely to be very +much increased, more especially in the narrower pitches, where the route +chosen by the climber is identical in position with that chosen by the +water, though opposite in direction so long as valour needs diluting +down to discretion. It seems probable that grass traverses may be found +to circumvent the lower pitches. The first and second, for example, may +be avoided by traversing into the gully from the left, over the grassy +buttress that supports the Pencoed Pillar. The third pitch may be passed +immediately on the left, if one treats the loose soil with due +consideration. The fourth and fifth seem from above to permit an +alternative route up to the right, over steep grass and back to the +gully by a treacherous-looking upward traverse to the left. From here +the three remaining pitches directly up the gully offer the simplest +solution to the rest of the problem; variations to the left and right +have been freely suggested, but are still untested. + +[Illustration: LLYN Y CAE (OR CAU) AND CRAIG Y CAE (FROM CADER IDRIS)] + +The climbing starts within 200 ft. of the level of Llyn y Cae, with a +short pitch some 12 ft. high, marked above by a cairn of stones. The +second pitch begins almost immediately, and must be taken direct, the +roof of the cave in its upper portion to be approached by a serpentine +squirm of the body after the cave is entered, up the thin crack on the +right. The third pitch is ferocious in aspect, but uncertain in action, +on account of the poor quality of its material. It consists of a large +cavern with a pendulous mass of brittle rock hanging down from the roof +somewhat to the left. The cavern is penetrated as far as possible on +this side, and then, with back to the hanging rock and feet on a hold +invisible from below, a passage may be effected outwards to the firm +hand-holds in the open. A jammed stone with débris attached, in the most +handy situation at the corner of the exit, is best left alone. + +Soon after this we approach a long narrow chimney close to the left wall +of the gully. It is about 35 ft. in length, and the upper part gives +trouble. But a very fine foothold some 12 ft. up gives breathing space +for the final portion. Then the interest ceases for a while, as we mount +some 130 ft. of scree and smooth rocky slabs at an easy angle. This is +an excellent arrangement, for the fifth pitch, that now comes on, is +likely to demand all our powers of admiration for a while. + +It consists of a cavern divided by two steep buttresses into three +parts, side by side, the middle one being most open to inspection but +most difficult to approach directly. Immediately above the left-hand +portion a vertical chimney rises some 40 ft., its lower end projecting +well over the cave and manifesting no direct route of approach from +below. To get to the foot of this chimney is the chief difficulty. The +method adopted was rather intricate, and probably permitted much +improvement. It has, however, the advantage that the leader need not +climb straight away the full 80 or 90 ft. without a halt. He first +penetrates as far as possible into the cave on the left, until the roof +bars further progress. Then he traverses over a dangerously smooth and +wet slab, with no perceptible foothold, to the middle portion of the +cavern. From here he works upwards and outwards until with a long stride +he steps out on to a little ledge on the right wall of the gully. Here a +hole through a large block enables him to manipulate the rope with +safety, and the second man can join him. The second may reach the +terrace more directly, if the rope is available, by working directly up +the middle of the gully till the level of the ledge is reached; but the +climbing is very uncertain, on account of the treacherous footholds. +From the ledge the leader passes back across the centre and over a +notched curtain of rock into the upper chimney. Here there is no doubt +as to the route; a resting-place is afforded for a moment by a little +cave, through the roof of which only the thinnest can hope to wriggle. +The edge of this roof is mounted on the right, and a few feet higher a +jammed block that dominates the pitch is turned on the right, up some +rather treacherous grass that needs very careful treatment. The writer +would like to add a word of advice to this already lengthy description +of the pitch. Don't attempt to qualify for the through route of the +little cave by slipping downwards and jamming in the chimney. + +The three remaining pitches are short and near together, the last one +finishing a few feet below the summit of the ridge, some 850 ft. above +the lake. + +_East Gully._--The gully immediately to the east of the Pencoed Pillar +was first climbed on May 19, 1895 (W. P. H. S., W. E. S., and O. G. J.) +As seen from the opposite shores of the lake it presents a striking +appearance, the middle part looking very difficult. It starts higher up +the face than the western climb (about 440 ft. above the lake), and +finishes on the ridge at a somewhat lower level than the top of the +latter (870 ft. above lake). Thus the climbing is much reduced, and the +whole ascent can be accomplished in an hour by a party of three. The +scrambling in it is almost continuous, and towards the middle, where the +rock walls close in the gully, the route is very steep, though none of +the pitches are severe. + +We begin with oblique slabs of rock rather inclined to be wet. Then the +direct route lies over a block of rock with uncertain holds, but a cleft +to the left promises much better, and a traverse at the top leads back +easily to the gully again. The scrambling is very pleasant where the +right wall begins to overhang, and remains interesting till the gully +divides. From here screes lead up each part to the crest of the ridge, +but a small rock arête separating the two branches give us climbing all +the way. + +Still more to the east is a shorter gully, composed for the most part of +scree, that can be taken in 20 minutes. It has two pitches, the upper +one requiring a rope. The first is taken up on either side, and is only +about 12 ft. high. The second is a cave pitch with a very fine interior. +The ascent is effected by backing up the rather loose walls of the cave, +and then bearing out to the left and over the obstacle. From here to the +summit is nothing but scree. The gully is afflicted with the near +neighbourhood of badly weathered rocks, and shows signs of having been +quite recently bombarded from the crags on the left. + +These three gullies on Mynydd Pencoed represent all the climbing that +has as yet been attempted on the south side of Cader. It is much to be +hoped that a few interesting routes will yet be found between the pillar +and the small col that represents the lowest portion of Craig y Cau, and +the account of what has been done may induce others to visit this +unfrequented region. To the same end it might be advisable to throw out +the remark that the Pencoed Pillar, some 700 ft. high, looks quite +inaccessible from the grassy buttress at its foot. + + +South Wales. + +It is scarcely worth while to enumerate the southern counties, as all +alike are destitute of climbs, except upon the sea cliffs. Some of these +are remarkably bold and picturesque, especially about Lydstep (Tenby) +and St. David's Head; but they cannot compare in any way with those of +Ireland, and least of all for climbing purposes, being mainly of +limestone. Just north of Aberystwith are some highly curious rocks, +giving a climb or two. Some twenty years ago a schoolboy was killed by +falling from them. + +Of the inland rocks it will be sufficient to mention a few. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: CLIFFS NEAR LYDSTEP (TENBY)] + +=The Brecon Beacons= (2,910 ft.), in Brecknockshire (which name the +travellers of old, with some justice, modified to 'Breakneckshire'), are +sandstone peaks of very striking outline. Indeed, Mackintosh (who saw +them from the east) says, 'I was more impressed than I have been with +any mountain in Wales. Their outline excited a very unusual idea of +sublimity.' + +Brecon is the best starting-point, and it is a good plan, though by no +means necessary, to drive to the Storey Arms inn (1,400 ft.), eight +miles towards Merthyr, or to go by train to Torpantau, and thus avoid +walking over any part of the way twice. + +[Illustration: CLIFFS NORTH OF ABERYSTWITH] + +The way is easy, and easily found; but a wary eye should be kept upon +the streams, which in this part of Wales are surprisingly rapid and +copious. + +A curious notion once prevailed that nothing would fall from the top of +this hill. Many years ago an unfortunate picnicker disproved this. See +the _Times Index_, but the statement there made that he fell 12,000 ft. +is somewhat startling. + + * * * * * + +=The Black Mountains=, a wide stretch of charming hill-walking, have +little to attract the mere climber, nor will he find much on such hills +as the bastion-like =Blorenge= (1,720 ft.), in spite of their possessing +caps of 'mill-stone grit.' + + * * * * * + +=Plynlimon= (2,469 ft.) is seldom mentioned except with derision. + +_The Beauties of Wales_ (1818) does indeed speak of 'the towering summit +which bears the name of Plinlimmon,' and quotes the equally appropriate +description given by Philips-- + + That cloud-piercing hill + Plinlimmon from afar the traveller kens, + Astonished how the goats their shrubby browse + Gnaw pendent. + +But, in truth, the great difficulty which travellers have, whether far +or near, is to ken it at all; and many of them have vented their +disappointment in words of bitter scorn. + +Pennant (1770) candidly admits that he never saw it, which is easily +understood, for the mountain is neither easy to see nor worth looking at +when seen. The ascent is a protracted bog-walk. It was made in 1767[19] +by L. N., but Taylor, the Water Poet (1652), sensibly calls it + + Tall Plinillimon, + Which I no stomach had to tread upon. + + [19] _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1768. + +An amusing notice used to be seen at Steddfa Gurig (then an inn), 2½ +miles south of the summit, and 13¼ miles by road from Llanidloes: +'The notorious hill Plinlimon is on the premises.' This place, being +1,358 ft. above the sea, is the best starting-point for the ascent of +the mountain, and coaches run past it from Llanidloes. + + * * * * * + +=Aberedw Rocks= are fairly typical of the kind of climbing which is to +be found in South Wales. The rocks being quite close to the station of +that name on the Cambrian Railway, are brought within easy reach of +Rhayader and Builth Wells on the north and of Brecon on the south. Three +or four rock terraces, 15 to 20 ft. high, break the slope of the hill +beside the railway, and a sort of rocky cove penetrates it as well. Bits +here and there are not unlike the 'chimneys' on Slieve League, but the +material is more friable, resembling loose walls of very inferior slaty +fragments. A few harder masses stand out picturesquely as small +pinnacles, especially in the cove, near the head of which a lofty +bulging piece of rock has a vertical rift in it, which for a few feet +offers quite a difficult climb. + +The river =Edw= (close by) has extremely steep, cliff-like banks, and +these are a common feature in other tributaries of the Wye. The +=Bachwy=, for instance, has a gorge which, seen as the writer has seen +it during a winter flood, is profoundly impressive. Malkin's description +(1804) should not be missed. He found 'rudely-shaped eccentricities of +nature, with all the mysterious gloom of vulgar and traditional +ascription,' 'dwarfishly fructified rock,' 'features all of a revolting +cast,' and 'a prospect rude and unchastised.' + +The =Irvon=, again, has sides so rocky as to be chosen by the falcon for +nesting. + + * * * * * + +=Cwm Elan=, 5 or 6 miles from Rhyader, is a very pretty spot, and the +gorge of Cefn Coch is exceedingly striking. Mackintosh says that the +height is not less than 800 ft., and the cliffs are in many parts mural +and quite perpendicular. He declared that, while the cliffs on the +left-hand side of the river are very fine, he had seen nothing to +surpass those on the right. This from a hill traveller of his experience +is remarkably high praise. The writer has only visited these rocks once, +and has never attempted to climb there, nor, indeed, has he ever heard +of anyone else doing so. The Birmingham reservoir is to submerge several +miles of this cwm and the two houses in which Shelley stayed. + + * * * * * + +=Stanner Rocks= are quite near the station of the same name on the +branch of the Great Western from Leominster to New Radnor, and on the +north side of the railway. The material of which they are composed is +superior for climbing purposes to the soft shaly stuff so common in +South Wales, being the same eruptive trap rock which forms the hills of +Hunter, Worsel, and Old Radnor, and has metamorphosed the surrounding +limestone. These rocks narrowly miss being a good climb. The train from +Leominster takes about 50 minutes. + +Near New Radnor is a precipice down which Cliffe (1854) mentions that a +gentleman rode, and he also records that another climbed the fall called +_Waterbreakitsneck_. + + + + +IRELAND + + +=Introduction.=--Climbing in Ireland, in the sense in which it is +understood in Switzerland, is, of course, unknown, although during a +winter of happily rare occurrence, such as that of 1894-5, abundant snow +and ice-slope work is no doubt obtainable. It would be accompanied, +however, by extreme cold and days of too short a duration for work. + +Nor can Ireland boast of such arenas for cliff-climbing as the Lake +District, or the Cuchullins in Skye. There is no Pillar Rock, no Old Man +of Dearg. But there are ample opportunities for acquiring the art of +mountain craft, the instinct which enables the pedestrian to guide +himself alone from crest to crest, from ridge to ridge, with the least +labour. He will learn how to plan out his course from the base of cliff +or gully, marking each foot and hand grip with calm attention; and, +knowing when to cease to attempt impossibilities, he will learn to trust +in himself and acquire that most necessary of all climbers' acquirements +a philosophic, contemplative calm in the presence of danger or difficult +dilemmas. If the beginner is desirous of rock practice, or the practised +hand requires to test his condition, or improve his form, there is many +a rocky coast where the muscles and nerves and stamina can be trained to +perfection. Kerry and Donegal are competent to form a skilled +mountaineer out of any capable aspirant. Ice and snow craft is an +accomplishment which must of course be acquired elsewhere. + +Much of the best scenery in Ireland is available only to the +mountaineer. Macgillicuddy's Reeks can hardly be appreciated in less +than a week's exploration. Even after three weeks spent amongst them we +have wished for more. Donegal alone requires lengthened attention, and +there a much longer period will be profitably spent. + +The climbing described in the following pages was chiefly undertaken +with the object, or excuse, of botanical discovery. All the mountain +experiences, except where the contrary is stated, represent the +personal--usually the solitary--experiences of the writer. Of roped +climbing the author has had no experience outside the Alps. Being tied +up in a package and lowered from a cliff to a bird's nest, though not +climbing, is, no doubt, a feat requiring nerve and dexterity; but when +the nest of the raven, peregrine, or chough is in view, and ropes and +companions are 'out of all ho,' and it appears improbable such a chance +will come again, the eager naturalist will indeed rejoice that his nerve +and dexterity are not wholly dependent on the comfortable security of a +friendly cable round his waist. To the botanist such accomplishments are +even more essential. A knowledge of rocks--what to trust, what to +mistrust, what to attack vertically (such as granite and quartzose +usually), what to deal with by their ledges (such as limestone often and +sandstone still oftener), what to avoid altogether (such as trap, chalk, +and decomposing basalt), a knowledge of the elementary principles of +guidance under varying conditions of weather--can be gleaned from the +mountain and sea coast cliffs in Ireland, not, perhaps, to such an +extent as to produce an expert, but quite enough to lay the requisite +groundwork of one. Form and condition, nerve and activity, will develop +in company, and with them the love for the art will grow, and nothing +beyond a little local education will be wanting to enable him to follow +upon their arduous undertakings real proficients in mountain craft. Any +words that can induce the skilled mountaineers of England and Scotland +to test the merits of an Irish welcome, of Irish scenery, and of the +bracing combination of Atlantic and mountain air in the western counties +will have been written to good purpose. + + * * * * * + +=Antrim.=--The highest hills are Trostan (1,810 ft.) and Slieveanea +(1,782 ft.) The formation is almost entirely trap or basalt, and there +is no cliff-climbing, the rock being crumbly and unsafe. Around the +coast there is a belt of cretaceous rocks, forming in some places, as at +the Giant's Causeway (White Rocks) and at Fair Head, bold cliffs of +chalk or rotten trap. On Fair Head, 640 ft. high, there is a magnificent +view. Cyclopean columns of greenstone crown a talus always heavy on the +Antrim cliffs, owing to their friable nature. + +There is a fissure known as the Grey Man's Path on the west side of this +Head, in the face of the cliff, by which it is possible to descend and +inspect the foot of the columnar prisms. + +[Illustration: THE TARTAR ROCK + +(on Fair Head)] + +The Antrim glens and the Antrim coast road are deservedly famous for +their lovely scenery, and excellent accommodation is everywhere +obtainable. Of the glens _Glenariff_ is, perhaps, the gem. It is hemmed +in by cliffs 1,000 ft. high, with mural summits. Glenarm is equally +beautiful, though in a more tranquil and gentle way. On the north and +south sides of the Bay there are considerable precipices. + +From Fair Head the prospect is singularly fine. The Head is columnar +basalt. + +Fair Head is approached from Ballycastle on the west. West of +Ballycastle again, about the same distance, is the well-known rocky +islet of Carrig-a-Rede, which is severed from the mainland by a chasm +nearly a hundred feet deep, spanned by a very slight swinging or flying +bridge, which in a storm is not inviting. + +On this basaltic islet an interesting climb round the cliffs may be had, +and the rock is secure enough on the west and north sides. + +From Ballintoy, which is close to Carrig-a-Rede, it is a magnificent +cliff walk to the Causeway; and from the Causeway to Portrush the rocky +coast scenery is full of interest. Many places will invite a scramble. +Below the road, which is adorned with an electric railway, numerous +difficult places occur, and several little valleys permit a descent to +the sea and a swim. A few miles west of the Causeway the coast becomes +low to Portrush, the golfing centre, with its excellent hotel. + +At Portrush, or near it, at White Park Bay, the white cretaceous rocks +are capped by frowning basalt, and the contrast of colours is most +striking. It is not necessary to describe the well-known _Giant's +Causeway_. _Pleaskin Head_ is the finest feature in its cliff scenery, +but unfit for climbing, owing to the crumbling, weathering nature of its +beds of lava and iron ore. More fine sea cliffs are found in the +Gobbins, on Island Magee. + +Antrim, with all its lovely cliff and glen scenery, and all its good +hotels, is not a mountaineer's county, like Kerry, Donegal, or Wicklow. +It is more highly cultivated and more civilised than a climber with a +proper sense of his calling could possibly approve of. It suggests +driving, bicycling, picnics, good dinners, and evening dress more than +knickers and hard work. + +We will turn our attention, therefore, to _the_ mountain county of +Ireland. + + * * * * * + +=Donegal= has some of the highest and finest mountains in Ireland, and +the extent of mountainous country is larger than in any other part of +Ireland. No maritime mountain and cliff combined can approach Slieve +League, in Donegal, and if the coast cliffs of Mayo have a continuous +grandeur that excels any similar stretch in Donegal, there are many +higher and finer cliffs on the Donegal coast, in endless succession and +variety from Inishowen Head, on Lough Swilly, to the south-west coast. + +The Donegal mountains form four groups--(1) _Inishowen Mountains_; (2) +_Donegal Highlands_; (3) _South-West Donegal_; (4) _South Donegal_. + +_Inishowen Group._--_Slieve Snacht_, the highest point, has no +interest, except its view, and the same remark applies to _Rachtin +More_, the next highest. Both are composed of barren quartzite. _Bulbin_ +has a schistose escarpment looking north-west, of some 300 ft., reaching +almost to the summit, and terminating in a short talus and a +heather-clad slope. It is a very picturesque little mountain, and +possesses some interesting plants. + +Inishowen is deficient in accommodation. North of Buncrana there are but +one or two inns that will tempt a visitor to return. Accommodation can +be obtained at Carndonagh and Culdaff, and at Malin Head there is a +house that receives visitors by arrangement. + +Malin Head is the proper place from whence to explore the cliffs of +Inishowen, and Glennagiveny, under Inishowen Head, to its north, +contains lodging-houses also. + +The coast line of Inishowen is in many parts wild and magnificent. +Inishowen Head affords excellent climbing. The cliffs are from 300 to +400 ft. in height, and various traverses, ascents, and descents can be +made between Stroove and Glennagiveny. The Head is in reach of Moville, +where there is a good inn. + +Further to the north-west the cliffs increase in height. From Glengad +Head, a little north-west of Culdaff, to Stookaruddan a series of +precipitous headlands (500 to 800 ft.) faces the ocean, looking a little +east of north. The walk along this coast from Culdaff to Malin Head, +although laborious, on account of the steep-sided inlets, is well worth +the trouble. The rugged boldness of Malin Head is most fascinating, and +in a storm it is superbly grand. At this point the cliffs have fallen +to a low elevation. The finest bit is at a place about half-way between +Glengad and Stookaruddan. + +Having put up for the night at Malin Head, if possible, if not at Malin +or Carndonagh (the latter for choice), Dunaff Head, guarding the eastern +entrance to Lough Swilly, should be visited. Lough Swilly is the finest +oceanic inlet round the whole coast of Ireland. The eastern cape, about +700 ft. high, terminates in a range of bold precipices over 600 ft. high +for some distance. It is a most enchanting bit of sea cliff. In variety +of shape, sheerness of descent, and picturesque grouping and +surroundings it is hard to match. + +The cliffs can be descended at the nose of Dunaff to an outer rocky +continuation, provided there is no storm. In stormy weather this rock, +of perhaps a hundred feet, is completely swept by surf. There is a steep +gully in another place on the south side, which admits of a descent to +the water's edge. For most of their length, however, these cliffs are +quite impracticable. For some distance downwards all seems to go well, +but the pelting of detritus from above and Atlantic surf from below +render the lower parts as smooth as marble and straight as a wall into +the water. Here and there the inner bluffs are more practicable, and +from a boat, in very calm weather, a study of the cliffs would probably +reveal more than the scrutiny from above, which is usually alone +possible. + +South of Dunaff Head, up Lough Swilly, the precipitous coast of the +Erris Mountains gives a most enjoyable stretch of rough work. It is +often possible to descend to the sea, and having done so a difficult +climb is often preferable to a tiresome ascent to the headland +surmounting one of the numerous creeks. + +Across the Lough we find ourselves in the lovely peninsula of Fanet, the +coast of which is admirably adapted for rock practice. The highest sea +cliff is the Bin, a conspicuous headland 350 ft. high and very +precipitous. It can, however, be scaled without much difficulty in one +place, a few feet from the summit towards the south. Other parts of it +appear practicable, and at low tide the base can be completely +compassed--a wild bit of work if there is a sea on. There is an +admirable hotel at Portsalon, with a famous golf links, about half-way +between this cliff and Knockalla Mountains. The whole coast from +Portsalon to the Bin is studded with cliffs, caves, and remarkably +beautiful natural arches. + +The rock of Fanet is almost entirely quartzite, a metamorphosed +sandstone, often pure and glittering quartz. It is firm and safe, but +the absence of stratification renders it difficult to negotiate. This +barren rock (it disintegrates to silex) is very common in Donegal, and +is identical with that of the Twelve Benns, in Connemara. + +Before leaving Lough Swilly the remarkable view from Dunaff Head should +be referred to. On a clear day the Paps of Jura, the Mull of Cantire, +and even the Isles of Arran and Islay, can be seen in Scotland over the +low Malin Head. Westwards, in a noble succession, lies the grand series +of the outer Donegal capes. Fanet Head, Melmore Head, Breaghy Head, Horn +Head, Tory Island, and the Bloody Foreland are all in view, and +south-westwards the 'Donegal Highlands' look so imposing that an +immediate expedition to them will probably be decided upon. + +Across the peninsula which lies between Mulroy Water and Lough Swilly +there is a most comfortable inn at the Rosapenna Golf Links. It is an +extremely pretty wooden structure, brought by the philanthropic Lord +Leitrim, whose loss the district will never cease to deplore, from +Norway, and the complete success of it makes one wonder that this sort +of structure is not more often adopted. From Rosapenna expeditions can +be made to cliffs and coast in all directions. + +_Horn Head_ is a grand range of sea cliffs, ten or twelve miles in +extent, which are the largest breeding-place in Ireland for sea fowl. +There are a few places where a descent is possible, and a careful +exploration (with the proprietor's permission) will be certain to yield +excellent climbing. The rock is as firm as iron in most places. Most of +the climbing the writer has done on these cliffs has been from a boat +upwards in search of sea fowls' eggs. One especially remembered one, +after green cormorants' nests, at the entrance to that most noble cave +the Gap of Doonmore, was of great difficulty. The absolutely reliable +rock had very slight 1-1½-in. ledges, and the latter part of the climb was +slightly overhanging. The nests were reached, however. + +All round this Head excellent rock-climbing, coupled with magnificent +scenery, is available. At the base of the cliffs, not far from the +proprietor's dwelling-place, there is a little bay with a cave above the +reach of the tide. Here a man once saved his life by climbing. My +friend, Mr. Charles Stewart, the proprietor of the Horn Head estates, +writes:-- + +'I think it was the year 1876 that my man John Stewart was over three +weeks in the cave watching my salmon, without the boat being able to go +to him. The cliffs above were 600 ft. high. He could easily climb up +about 100 ft., most of it cliff-climbing with a little grass. After that +there is a very difficult piece of cliff, almost perpendicular, of about +40 ft. It is easy enough to get down to this point from the top. A man +went down and lowered a rope to him, but he could not come up straight, +as the cliff overhung too much. He tied the rope round him and climbed +up in a zigzag way. He was half an hour climbing this short piece, and +was very exhausted, with his hands badly cut and bleeding. He had with +him his son, a boy of about twelve years old. He had rope about 10 ft. +long from his waist to the boy, who slipped twice on the way up, each +time very nearly taking his father with him. About five years afterwards +the boy was looking for eggs in the cliffs, and fell about 500 ft. to a +shingly beach, rolling the first part of the way down a steep grassy +bank for about 100 ft., and then a sheer drop of 150 ft. to another +grassy bank where a small holly bush grows. When picked up (of course +quite dead) he had a holly branch in his hand.' + +There is a comfortable hotel at Dunfanaghy, immediately inland of Horn +Head. + +From Dunfanaghy Tory Island can be visited in calm weather--an +interesting boating trip. It is fifteen or twenty miles to the north of +west, and Horn Head has to be passed on the way, giving an opportunity +of surveying its cliffs. There is a cliff or buttress (called, I +believe, Tormore) which the islanders point out, that is somewhat +difficult to climb upon. Once on the summit the successful cragsman can +have any wish he may pine for. The highest point of the island is under +300 ft. The inhabitants disregard the payment of all rents, taxes, &c. + +The turreted and bold contour of Tory renders it a great embellishment +to the north-west coast. It is visible from all elevations for a +considerable distance. Seen in a sunset its richly reddish-coloured +granites light up with a warm and lovely glow. It formerly possessed +monastic or other religious institutions, and several ruins of small +churches or oratories are still visible. It abounds with legends--a home +of superstition and folk-lore. + +From the neighbourhood of Dunfanaghy the most attractive objects upon +the horizon are the mountains of the Donegal Highlands, _Muckish_ and +_Errigal_ being especially conspicuous. + +_Muckish_ ('Pig's Back,' 2,200 ft.) is about 7 miles from Dunfanaghy. It +is flat-topped, with short rotten cliffs on the north and west sides. + +_Errigal_ (an oratory or small church) is more interesting. The summit +is pointed, bifid, and hardly large enough for more than two persons. It +is composed chiefly of disintegrating quartzite, flanked on the west by +igneous rocks. Between Errigal and Muckish (about 6 miles) lie the +pointed summits of _Aghla Beg_ (1,860 ft.) and _Aghla More_ (1,916 ft.) +The largest of many lakes is Alton Lough, where the writer was once +solemnly cautioned against swimming, on account of the 'Phouea,' which +lived there and used to mingle with the cattle as a cow and lure one +down into the depths. So would he do with mankind. Numerous swims in +that lake have weakened this prognostication. + +Above Alton Lough, on its south-west side, are the cliffs of _Beaghy_ +(1,200 ft.), which afford a nice bit of climbing. All these hills can be +gone over in a day, though some (especially Errigal) will ask a second +visit. About 4 miles from the base of Errigal is the excellent fishing +inn at Gweedore. From Dunfanaghy over the summit of Muckish, Aghla, +Beaghy, and Errigal down to Gweedore is a bit of mountaineering which +can be most thoroughly recommended. Gweedore should be made a +head-quarters for a few days; and the comfort obtained at the close of +the day will be well earned and appreciated. + +The Poisoned Glen, six miles from Gweedore, is a stern and barren scene +of almost sheer, polished granite cliffs, nearly 1,000 feet above the +base of the glen. The south-west corner of the glen is the most +precipitous. Several deep, black, narrow gorges cut deeply into the +granite. Some, particularly one at the corner of a commanding buttress +on the south side, about half-way up the glen, are of considerable +difficulty. Wedged boulders occur frequently. The worst bit is the final +struggle to the crest of the ridge, which slopes south-westward to the +summit of Slieve Snacht. It will be found necessary in one place to +break out of this gully on to the face, and it should only be attempted +in dry weather. A full day may be spent going up one gully and down +another on the south-west side of the glen. Often the descent is far +easier, a jump of 12 or 15 ft. down to the shingly soft bed of the +gully clearing an obstacle difficult to breast upwards. + +The most glaciated spots in Donegal are this glen and _Slieve Snacht_, a +rounded hump of granite. + +By proceeding to the head of the Poisoned Glen, past the Gweedore Lakes, +and past the prettily wooded Dunlewy Lake which lies abreast of the +Glen, up the winding stream in its base, and taking the ravine in its +apex, we reach a pass known as Ballaghgeeha Gap ('Windy Pass'). From +this point it is a short walk across a valley to a road, visible from +the pass, which follows the Gweebarra valley south-west down to +Doochary. Taking it in the opposite direction, it leads into Glenbeagh, +a gorge about eight miles long, with a lake enclosed by steep cliffs on +its west shore. On its right a beautifully wooded mountain slope +contains the seat of the proprietor, Glenbeagh Castle. This valley is +crossed at its mouth by the main road to Gweedore, some 10 miles away, +and the circuit described is one of the most beautiful mountain walks +imaginable. In order to vary this, and save the road work home, a +scramble along the west shore of the lake may be effected to the granite +cliffs opposite Glenbeagh Castle, known as Keamnacally. In several +places an ascent can be effected of about 1,000 ft. The crest of the +cliff leads up by a gradual slope to the summit of Dooish, 2,147 ft. +This point is in a straight line for Gweedore from Glenbeagh, and if the +mountaineer wants more work the summit of Errigal lies in the same +bee-line. + +_Lough Salt_ (1,546 ft.), a conspicuous hill, was ascended and described +by Otway about seventy years ago, in the language of that period +(_Scenes and Sketches in Ireland_). He adds some quaint legends about +two of the lakes. Into one of these St. Patrick banished the last Irish +snake, a rebellious animal that gave him much anxiety. + +_Gweedore to Carrick._--The pedestrian had better omit the north coast, +and proceed westwards round the coast to _Dungloe_. + +Aranmore Island, with its handsome red granites, shows some fine cliffs, +especially those at its north-west end, between Torneady and the +lighthouse. In the bay formed by these cliffs a grand tooth or monolith +stands isolated and vertical, about 100 ft. in height. The cliffs are +from 400 to nearly 600 ft., and some rise perpendicularly from the +water. + +The best point to visit Aran from is Burton Port, about 3 miles off. +Skilled boatmen are required, as the passage is winding, amongst islets, +rocks, rapid tide currents, and shallows. Aranmore, like many other +Atlantic islands, slopes inland or eastward, and faces the Atlantic with +a wall of cliffs. The coast north of it is wild and beautiful, with +interesting physical features. Across Umfin Island runs a gruesome +cleft, through which a heavy sea tears its way in fury, meeting the sea +from the other end in frantic commotion. Further east, on Horn Head, is +the famous MacSwyne's Gun, for many years a signal to the whole county +that a furious sea was raging at the Horn. It is a 'puffing hole' on a +large scale, but the little rift, ever widening, has slowly silenced +all, or nearly so. On this Head also is the famous _Marble Arch_, Tempul +Breagha, jutting out into the sea. + +At Dungloe good quarters and excellent fishing, as usual, are +obtainable. + +From Dungloe the road lies through Doochary, Glenties, and Ardara to +Carrick. Each of these last villages has a good inn. The best plan is to +break the journey at Ardara, and take the magnificent coast walk or +climb into Carrick, a good day's work. As far as Maghera the way is +plain along a low sandy coast. West of this lies Maum Glen, whose cliffs +are precipitous enough, and if the glen be crossed a mile inland it is a +steep descent and ascent, though devoid of difficulty. Following the +coast, there is a track near the water's margin for some distance. Soon +the precipices forming the north face of Slieve-a-Tooey are reached. If +the tide is low the base can be followed a long way with one or two ugly +corners. The cliffs are up to 1,000 ft. (Slieve-a-Tooey 1,692), but can +be ascended in various places, and the land lowers again at Port. All +along the scenery is of the most impressive character. Outside Port lies +Tormore Island, one of a group of boulders, a rock which, though hardly +half a mile round its base, is a tremendous sea fowl breeding-place, +second only to Horn Head. At low water Tormore can be reached from the +shore, and it is scaled in many places by lads in search of eggs. One +native was on the Great Tor when a storm arose, and cut him off from the +shore and from all help. After a week he died of starvation and +exposure. It is, perhaps, about 500 to 600 ft. high. Pursuing our way +along the ever-varying cliffs, most interesting in a storm, the curious +promontory called Sturrell is reached in about 4 miles. The knife-edged +saddle is very rotten, but leads to a firm block of rock nearly 1,000 +ft. above the sea. So defiant is the challenge of this rock that no +cragsman can pass it by. The passage is not pleasant, yet even on a +second visit the writer was powerless to resist temptation. The +tottering wall of rotten rock gives the impression that the whole +connection may slither down. Considering what desperate Atlantic storms +this crumbling cliff withstands annually, such fears must be +exaggerated. Nevertheless it would be improper to recommend this climb. +It is dangerous as well as difficult, very exciting, and exceedingly +delightful--after it is over. + +The rock along this northern side of the mountainous promontory of +Banagh is chiefly quartzite, but in some places, as Sturrell, a rotten +schist. + +About a mile south of Sturrell another and a grander headland is +reached, that of Glen Head. It is 600 ft. of cliff, and deservedly +famous. It is easily visited from Carrick Hotel, about 7 miles off. On +much of the southern side a descent is practicable. + +From Glen Head to the road to Carrick is a short walk. At this hotel we +are at the inland base of a renowned sea precipice. + +_Slieve League_ (1,972 ft.), whose southern face descends from the +summit almost precipitously to the Atlantic, is perhaps the finest ocean +cliff in Europe. The ascent from the hotel, almost at sea level, is +easy. It is best to drive down to Teelin Bay, and strike up the mountain +westwards along the coast. Carrigan Head is soon reached, and from a +point north of it, on the south side of Bunglass, the finest view of +Slieve League is obtained. This gradual ascent to about 1,000 ft. is a +glorious experience. + +[Illustration: GLEN HEAD] + +From the southern Bunglass cliffs the view of the richly-coloured +precipices opposite is superb. This colouring is a remarkable feature. +The cliff is well-nigh sheer for 1,000 ft., descending straight from a +heathery brink. With the exception of the wonderful cliff seen in +Yellowstone Park from 'Inspiration Point,' the writer could name no +rock-face with such an assemblage of hues. Dolerites, diorites, +quartzites, schists, and conglomerates all help to form this remarkable +mountain. Below the Atlantic lights up and enhances the whole scene. +Though usually breaking into heavy surge it is sometimes as smooth as +glass, and then the visitor should secure a boat at Teelin (or Towney +Bay), and row beneath, viewing the caves. One of these, with a small +entrance and a vast interior, gives forth appalling reverberating echoes +to a horn or a gun. + +At Bunglass there is a track leading down to the sea, and a swim rewards +the descent. Crossing the heavy-shingled foreshore to the base of the +opposite cliffs, there is a gully which appears practicable from below, +and leads to the very crest of the cliffs. The violence of storms and +the pitiless pelting of surf below and dislodged fragments from above +have cemented the steep floor of this slit into an uncompromising +hardness. The writer tried it, passed one or two bad places, and was +rejoiced beyond measure to reach the bottom with unbroken bones. + +From the summit of Bunglass cliffs, at a point a little north of the +Eagle's Nest, at an altitude of 1,000 ft., it is practicable to traverse +the whole face of Slieve, at about the middle height, 700 to 1,000 ft. +above sea level, from end to end, to the bluffs of Leahan. In two or +three places the ocean edge can be reached, besides the point already +mentioned. In search of botanical specimens we have climbed them in all +directions. There is a track (of a sort) to the sea at one place between +the Eagle's Nest and the One Man's Pass. While scrambling along the sea +face this track was discovered amongst steep heather, bracken, and +bear-berry, and a footprint showed it to be a human resort. Finally an +old man and a little boy emerged from the ocean brink, loaded with +samphire, both inside and outside, and eating it as they rested on their +climb. Vastly surprised at the appearance of the only stranger they had +ever seen there, they eagerly besought him to remove his boots--a +suggestion declined with thanks. Samphire boiled with milk is a cure for +a cough, but it was a novelty to see it eaten raw. This track is called +Thone-na-culliagh ('Back of the Grouse'). + +It took the writer three summer days to complete this traverse from end +to end of the median height of Slieve League. Several nasty ravines, +iron-floored and steep-edged, had to be crossed. At the close of each +day an ascent had to be discovered--an anxious undertaking, as the +return invariably seemed too dreadful to contemplate. The point +relinquished at the close of each day was religiously repaired to on the +following. + +Excessively steep slopes of cemented gravel, grass, or crumbling rock, +half held together by heather, are the usual difficulties. But in four +or five places odd right-angled walls of horizontal, loosely-balanced +blocks of slaty schist jut out right across the face of the cliff, the +legs of the angle being sheer to the sea and horizontal above. The +blocks lie loose upon each other, and are not always large enough to +give one a sense of anything except the rickets. Usually it was possible +to climb beside these buttresses, and, balancing by them, get over in +gingerly fashion. But one--the largest--had to be climbed on +equilibristic principles. Sheep tracks follow the face of the cliff in +some places. Where a sheep can go a man can go, though he may not like +jumps from bad footing to worse landing, where even sheep occasionally +come to grief. Accordingly a track going horizontally here looked +encouraging to the writer, till a flock of wild goats, signally scared, +put his confidence to flight, for a wild goat will lead a man where he +may find it necessary to make a prolonged halt. However the goat track +vanished upward, and the seven-mile traverse was successfully completed +to the Eagle's Nest. + +From the summit of Slieve League there is a fine oceanic view of island, +headland, bay, and cliff. South-east of the summit, at a slightly lower +altitude, is the _One Man's Pass_, about the terrors of which a great +deal of rubbish has been written. It is a steep, narrow, short ridge of +firm rock, which any mountaineer would walk up or down with his hands in +his pockets. In a storm he would, however, adopt a worm-like attitude. +The sides are very steep, but practicable both seaward and inland. It +commands a superb view. Among the legends connected with Slieve League +one about a Spaniard, a priest, and a pony is the most captivating (see +_The Donegal Highlands_). + +[Illustration: ONE MAN'S PASS] + +Slieve League is capped by the remnants of outlying beds of lower +carboniferous age, conglomerates, with fossil plant remains. Botanically +also this mountain is most interesting, rivalling Ben Bulben for first +place as a habitat for mountain plants in Ireland. There is an +interesting feature visible from the summit--a group of spire-like +pinnacles, close below the crest of the ridge. These are known as the +'chimneys,' and form an attractive assemblage. They are of the same +nature as the flying buttresses already spoken of. + +[Illustration: THE CHIMNEYS (SLIEVE LEAGUE)] + +Slieve League takes its name from 'liag' (flag). There is a flag +formation near the summit. Bunglass is 'Green River Mouth,' but a modern +guide-book translates Bunglass 'Beautiful View,' a ludicrous error +explained by the fact that the point which gives so noble a prospect of +Bunglass is known as Awark More ('Great View'). + +_Croagh Gorm_ and _Blue Stack Mountains_ lie north and west of +Barnesmore Gap and above Lough Eske, reaching nearly to Glenties, Lough +Eske being about 30 miles east of Slieve League. The coast eastwards +from Slieve League becomes suddenly low, and the formation changes to +carboniferous limestone, which occupies a broad belt round Donegal Bay. +The Blue Stack group is about 7 miles across. + +_Blue Stack_ (2,219 ft.) lies above Lough Eske and is granite, although +the Lough itself lies in the limestone. About Lough Belshade, which lies +north of Lough Eske, about half-way up the east side of Blue Stack, the +granite is precipitous, and one bold bluff west of this lake (Belshade), +with a sort of little cave in its face, may be taken in the ascent of +the mountain. Most of the granite portions of the range are rounded, +flowing, gently contoured, barren slopes of bare rock, sometimes at low +elevations becoming steep and difficult. The ascent of Blue Stack from +Lough Eske should on no account be missed. The lake is about 10 miles +round, and most beautifully situated at the southern base of a bold mass +of rugged, desolate granitic bosses and cliffs, cleft by a few fairly +steep ravines. In direct contrast to this sombre scene is the west shore +of the lake, which is girt with timber, chiefly natural. Ardnamona is +the nearest portion of this sylvan scene to the mountain base, and the +whole basin is admirably sheltered by the surrounding mountains from the +violent storms which of late years have been more destructive than ever. + +From the road above Ardnamona, looking down over it upon Lough Eske and +its solemn background, the view is perfect. It is a sort of compact +Killarney, which the eye and mind will long feast upon. + +North-west of Blue Stack, a couple of miles from it, lies _Lavagh More_ +(2,211 ft.), a fine upstanding lump of turf-covered schists. Schists and +sandstones constitute the greater part of these hills. From Lavagh More, +descending southwards, by a series of lakes, the head of the Shrule +River is reached, in a valley with a precipitous northern side, which +gives difficult bits of crag work. In this valley at the northern end +lies a waterfall known as the Grey Mare's Tail. + +The Blue Stack Mountains are best explored from Donegal on the south or +Glenties on the west, in both of which places there are comfortable +inns. It is best to drive to the head of Lough Eske, and it is a fine +walk from that, including most of the tops, down to Martin's Bridge, 3 +miles from Glenties, over Blue Stack, Lavagh More, and Silver Hill. + +In the mountainous district around Glenties other excursions are +available. A walk to be recommended is from Barnesmore Gap (drive of 7 +miles from Donegal) across the Croagh Gorm and Blue Stack summits to +Glenties. Barnesmore Gap should by all means be visited. The mountains +on either side rise 1,500 to 1,700 ft., not quite precipitously, but +with bluffs, heavy boulders, and steep rocky faces. Cæsar Otway gives a +highly-coloured description of this impressive scene. Another way to +explore the group is to follow up the course of the Reelan water through +a peculiarly secluded and remote valley. From Glenties to Ardara is +about 4 miles, and the latter village is a capital halting place. +Fishing and fowling can be had. The road from Ardara to Carrick, about +10 miles, passes up the wild, grand gorge of Glen Gesh by a zigzag road, +reminding one of some of the Swiss ascents. For the sake of the varied +scenery obtained by these doublings it is almost preferable to stick to +the road till near the summit. On the south side of this glen it is +bounded by a range known as _Altnadewon_ or _Croaghnagcaragh_ (_Reek_, +'hill of the thicket'). A steep rock face extends from the main road at +the 'nock of the Ballagh,' or Pass, which forms a wide amphitheatre on +the north face of the highest point of this range (1,652 ft.) For some +distance it is by no means easy to scale this declivity. + +Towards the southern verge of the county the coast is low and flat, but +the bold precipitous face of Ben Bulben looks highly attractive. + +Before leaving Donegal it will be well to mention one useful hint. The +Ordnance maps of this county show 100-ft. contours, which are of the +utmost advantage upon any excursion, as the height of any point attained +by the pedestrian may be fixed within a hundred feet. Very few other +parts of Ireland are thus favoured. + + * * * * * + +=The Ben Bulben Range= lies in the northern part of Sligo and Leitrim; a +most conspicuous object in the landscape viewed from Slieve League +across Donegal Bay. The shapely escarpment of the nearest point looks, +indeed, as if it belonged to Donegal, which is 7 miles away. This +portion consists of _Cloughcorragh_ (2,007 ft.) and _Ben Whiskin_ (1,666 +ft.) + +These mountains are almost entirely carboniferous limestone. Much of the +group is an elevated plateau, girt round on all sides, or nearly so, by +limestone precipices, usually some hundreds of feet high, rising from a +long steep slope of débris. The height of the cliff edges is about 1,600 +ft., of which the talus occupies about two-thirds. The cliffs are fine, +but consist largely of insecure blocks. Occasionally a fissure occurs, +permitting ascent or descent, and some very steep ones are used on the +south side of the range by turf-cutters. + +In consequence of this formation the pedestrian may find himself +following a long series of cliff edges, without being able to discover a +way of descent. To examine the cliffs the proper course is to follow the +sheep walk, which usually occurs at the base of the precipices above the +talus. The walk across the range, from Bundoran to Sligo, is full of +interest to a mountaineer, and the descent into the valley north of +Sligo from _King's Mountain_ is one that will never be effaced from his +memory. It is not easy to find the passages leading down. The valley is +a vast amphitheatre almost enclosed by cliffs, sheer and, including +talus, about 1,000 ft. high. + +It is always a pleasant experience to follow the crest of a line of +limestone cliffs. Similar cliffs on a smaller scale are those of Moher +and Aran, in the county Clare. It is probably owing to the fissures and +laminations of the limestone, which afford a perfect system of internal +drainage, that such cliffs are not only dry and clean, but also free +from the gullies and valleys which, causing frequent ups and downs, +sometimes render cliff walks extremely fatiguing--near Waterford, for +example. Again, limestone grows no heather and forms little peat, so +that the usual footing is clean grass sod--very pleasant after hummocky +tussocks--and yielding 'quaas.' + +For these mountains Kinlough is perhaps the most convenient centre. +Manor Hamilton and Dromahaire may also be utilised, but Bundoran and +Sligo, though the latter commands the beautiful Lough Gill, are too +distant from the hills. + +It may be mentioned here that there are various attractions in Northern +Ireland outside the scope of this work. Fishing is always in reach, and +of late years golf has thriven apace. No finer links exist than those of +Portsalon, Rosapenna, Portrush, and Newcastle, and there are many others +of growing excellence. + +Ben Bulben is famous for its mountain flora, a valuable report on which, +by Messrs. Barrington and Cowell, has been published by the Royal Irish +Academy. + + * * * * * + +=Mayo.= Here are the highest mountains in the west of Ireland, Mweelrea +(2,688 ft.) and Nephin (2,646 ft.) + +[Illustration: MAYO AND CONNEMARA] + +_Nephin_ is a round, isolated lump of quartzite, becoming schistose, +rapidly disintegrating on a northern spur, where the only declivities +occur. For the mountaineer it is both distant and unattractive, but on +clear days--which are rare--there is an extensive view. + +About 10 miles west of Nephin the axis of the Corslieve range is struck +near the middle of its almost north and south direction. This chain of +hills includes Laghdantybaun (2,369 ft.), at the northern end, Corslieve +(1,785 ft.), Nephinbeg (2,065 ft.), and several others over 2,000 ft. +The chain is about 15 miles in length, terminating near Newport, where +fairly comfortable accommodation can be had. The northern hills are +slate or sandstone, the southern quartzite. It is an interesting range, +and the scenery is wild and rugged, but there is little true climbing. +The best way to approach them is to drive from Leenane Inn to the Deel +River, due north, and then strike west over a wet bog, full of dunlins, +plover, and curlew. + +_Achill Island_ is about 15 miles west of Newport. The mountainous +peninsula of Curraun Achill intervenes, and is about 7 miles across, +rising to a tableland of 1,300 to 1,500 ft. in height, composed chiefly +of horizontally-stratified sandstones and conglomerates, not very safe, +but pleasant enough to follow along by the terraces on its north-eastern +edge. Juniper is remarkably abundant here, and, at lower levels, +Mediterranean heath. + +On Achill Island there is a comfortable hotel at the 'missionary +settlement,' which is about 10 miles from the ferry. The settlement is +at the base of Slieve More (2,204 ft.), the highest point of Achill. +This mountain is well worthy of a visit, but far finer are the noble +cliffs at Croghaun, about 5 miles west of Slieve More and 2,192 ft. +above sea level. + +[Illustration: ACHILL HEAD] + +Achill is mainly quartzite, which rock invariably looks and is barren +and forbidding. + +There are several points along these cliffs where a descent to the sea +is practicable, and plenty of climbing is obtainable along the face of +Croghaun, which may be traversed in all directions, the cliffs having +the appearance and repute of being more inaccessible than they really +are. The rock (quartzite) is broken into screes and heavy shingle in +many places. + +_Croaghpatrick_ (2,510 ft.), famous for its unrivalled view, and +formerly called 'The Reek,' has a northern face of precipitous +declivities where the quartzite formation (as on Nephin) gives place to +schists and shales. The view to the north of Clew Bay, with its hundreds +of islets and Achill beyond, is unsurpassably lovely. The climbing is +more of a 'slither' amongst rotten footing or shingle on the northern +side. The summit is crowned with numerous cairns, being a famous +'pattern.' The beautiful St. Dabeoc's or Connemara heath abounds. +Westport, at its foot, has an excellent hotel, and it is better to +return here from Achill, or vice versa. + +_Mweelrea._--Unlike the quartzite mountains, which are usually conical +or dome-shaped, Mweelrea is of a totally different structure. Composed +of Silurian slates chiefly, it forms an extensive tableland at the north +of Killary Fiord, in the south-west corner of Mayo. It is intersected by +three principal valleys, radiating at about equal angles from Doo Lough. +One--that of Delphi and Bundorragha--runs southward to the Killary. +Another--that of the Glenummera river and Owenduff river--has an +easterly trend to the Eriff. The third valley is that of Doo Lough, +Lough Cullin, and Lough Connel, which runs north-west to the sea. The +names of many of these points, such as Delphi Mountain, the highest +above Doo Lough, and Loughty Mountain, its elevated eastern spur, ending +in Glen Laur--are not given on the Ordnance map, and were obtained from +the natives. Error easily arises in nomenclature. A hill or ridge may +have a name known to a few, or belonging to one slope, or to a people +living on one side. Again, it may lie along the boundary of two town +lands, and each may give its name to one side of it. Moreover the +pronunciation is a study in itself. Near Newport there is a district +called on the map Burrishoole, and a bay named Bellacragher. These are +pronounced 'Brizzool' and 'Ballycroy.' + +The Mweelrea group consists of a series of plateaux, bounded by long +ranges of precipices, ridges, and gullies, often ending in sheer +ravines. Mweelrea itself fronts the mouth of Killary Fiord, curving in a +grand tabular ridge, 2,600 ft. high, above two small lakes at 1,200 ft. +The pass of Delphi and Doo Lough are the most imposing scenes in the +west of Ireland for wildness and sombre grandeur. + +The climbing is of varying difficulty. Between their bases and the +screes below tempting ledges wind upwards, but here the strata are +almost vertical, rendering them extremely treacherous. A nasty fall +impressed this peculiarity on the writer's memory. In other places the +rock is sandstone, mixed with decomposing conglomerates--a formation +worse to scale than any except the miocene trap rocks of the Antrim +coast. + +There is one interesting and difficult climb. A lake--Glencullin ('Glen +of Hollies') Lake--lies immediately north of Doo Lough. A stream runs +into the south-west corner of this lake out of Glencullin, starting from +a series of black, sunless precipices, seamed with gorges and well-nigh +2,000 ft. high. These can be climbed by two gorges at least from base to +summit. The name of these cliffs is Asko Keeran ('Ridge of Mountain +Ash'), and when the crest is gained a fine walk is the reward, over Ben +Bury (2,610 ft.) to the highest point, Mweelrea (2,688 ft.), along a +curved ridge one to two miles long. + +One portion of the Mweelrea system--that which lies immediately east of +Fin Lough or Delphi--is known as Ben Gorm, or Kead-na-binnian. The +cliffs upon this mountain are formed chiefly of gneiss, which breaks up +into blocks, owing to numerous transverse fissures across the +lamination. These blocks lie on one another, often on a steep slope, +owing to the roughness of their surfaces, which prevents their sliding. +They are then more dangerous even than slaty rocks, since this very +roughness beguiles a climber into feeling that the footing is safe at a +steeper angle than on the smoother surfaces, while the rocks are merely +in unstable equilibrium. + +Maamtrasna, Slieve Partry, the Formnamore Mountains, or Letterbrickaun +('Wet Hill of Badgers'), abut upon the head of Killary Fiord. The +highest points, or rather flats, are Devils Mother (2,131 ft.), +Maamtrasna (Formnamore) (2,239 and 2,209 ft.) They are chiefly composed +of sandstone and sandstone conglomerate, and form a series of high +barren tablelands, dotted with pools, and of no interest whatever. + +The above group, as well as Mweelrea, is within easy reach of the +excellent Leenane Inn at Killary. + +_Cliffs._--Of the numerous magnificent cliffs on the western seaboard of +Ireland none, in the writer's opinion, excel those of North Mayo. +Certain aspects of Slieve League are grander, the cliffs of Moher are +more splendidly symmetrical, Horn Head, Dunaff Head, Achill, all have +their glories, but the Mayo cliffs are unmatched for extent and variety. +From Ballina by Ballycastle to Belmullet, round the coast, is the finest +sea-cliff walk the writer has ever experienced. For three days there was +no cessation of variety in shape, in sculpture, in colouring of the +precipices, always lofty and always plunging into a surf-like snow +beneath, fringing the blue ocean outside. Occasionally, but rarely, +ravines occur, leading to some tiny rock-bound bay. The coast here for +many miles is higher than the land inside, and the streams flow away +from the sea to the south, and then west to the Atlantic. Perhaps the +most hopeless area of undrainable bog in Ireland lies in Western and +North-Western Mayo. + +Although it was impossible to omit mention of these cliffs, they are not +for the climber. They are too sheer, and, what is worse, there is no +accommodation. From Ballycastle west to Belderg is within reach. But it +is west of Belderg that the cliffs are grandest, as at Glinsk, Doonmara, +and Benwee Head. Without the happy fortune which enabled the writer to +use a shooting lodge, located west of Belderg, the distances would have +been impossible without camping out. + +From Belderg to Belmullet the rock is chiefly a hard and reliable +quartzite, often seamed with dykes of basalt. Numerous needle-shaped +islets, stacks, and stookawns occur. The whole coast abounds with sea +fowl, and is singularly free from human influence, since the absence of +bays, strands, or harbours renders long stretches of it uninhabitable +even for fishermen. + +Otway's _Sketches in Erris and Tyrawley_ (1841) should be read. + + * * * * * + +=Galway Mountains.=--The Galway Mountains, besides the Maamtrasna range, +spoken of above, are _Maamturk range_, _Benchoona_, _Bennabeola_ or +_Twelve Bens_ (or 'Pins'). + +_Maamturk range_, including the hills which form such a conspicuous +feature in Joyce's Country, extend, roughly speaking, from the Killary +Hotel south-east to Lough Shindilia, at the Half-way House on the coach +road from Clifden to Galway. It forms a zigzag series of beehive-shaped +domes, connected by ridges, which are frequently 500 ft. to 1,000 ft. +below the neighbouring summits. Usually these connecting ridges are set +at angles with the tops quite at variance with the main axis of the +chain, and are invisible from the summits, so that compass bearings are +most misleading. + +These truncated mounds are composed mainly of gneiss, sometimes of +quartzite, and in the northern portion the chain becomes more fertile +and of a clayey, schistose nature. They are very similar to the Twelve +Bens, save that the latter have their conical tops still adhering, +apparently showing that this elongated line was more vulnerable than +the self-protecting 'Pins' cluster. + +This chain is singularly barren, but so bold and conspicuous a feature +in the landscape claims exploration. The writer once traversed the whole +length of summits from the Half-way House to Leenane in a walk, or +climb, for about 14 hours. The going is often excessively rugged and +wearisome, owing to the loose detritus of heavy, angular quartzose +blocks. An occasional oasis, as at Maumeen, charms the eye with its +verdure and some botanical treasures. Near this an hotel once existed, +but at present there is nothing nearer than Glendalough or Leenane, at +the extreme ends of the range. + +Many a stiff bit of climbing, short and sharp, was met with on this most +severe day's work, in making growingly reckless short cuts from summit +to summit. From Leckavrea to the Killary there are about fifteen +distinct summits, averaging 2,000 ft. in height. + +_Benchoona_ (1,975 ft.), a northern outlier of the Twelve Bens, lies at +the mouth of the Killary, opposite Mweelrea. Killary Harbour or Fiord +runs inland eastwards for some 15 miles. Benchoona is gneissose, with +two summits, close on 2,000 ft., and a lake lies between them. Several +Alpine plants occur among the north-east cliffs. The rock here is +uncommonly dangerous to climb, being loosely constructed and apt to +disintegrate in unexpectedly massive segments. On such an occasion, +although against the dogma of climbing, a swift and sudden jump or +spring is sometimes the only escape. The block--perhaps a ton or two in +weight--which is quietly sliding, or more probably overturning, with +its captive, yields momentum enough for a final kick to clear out +altogether to any preferable station. These rocks are unfit to climb, +and will only be meddled with for some special purpose. + +_Twelve Bens_ (2,391 ft.), within easy access of first-class hotels in +Connemara, are huddled together in beautiful confusion, and offer +problems of special interest in their puzzling geography and watershed +system. Bennabeola is entered by no roads of any great penetration, but +there are several valleys forming arteries with its very heart. Of these +Glen Inagh from the east, Glen Coaghan from the south, and Owenglin from +the west are the most important. The best method is to select a +glen--Glen Coaghan for choice--and work to its head. Two or three +summits will then probably lie equidistant. Most of these summits are of +quartzite, with short heavy screes, white and extremely barren. The most +interesting climb is upon the north of Muckanaght (2,150 ft.), which is +connected with Benfree by a ridge at about 1,000 ft. The cliffs lie +about 1,300 to 1,800 ft., and from near their upper edge to the summit +(2,150 ft.) is a steep and perilous grassy slope. + +Muckanaght is about 2½ miles from the lovely Kylemore Lake. Two +'Pins,' Benbaunbeg and Benfree, intervene. The peak itself is connected +by ridges with Bencullagh and Benbaun South. From Muckanaght the heart +of Bennabeola is laid bare, and, given a clear day, no better point of +vantage could be desired. + +The Twelve Bens are in the heart of some of the loveliest scenery in +the world, full of varied and interesting scrambles, and botanically +they are pre-eminently the richest in mountain plants in Connaught, +Croaghpatrick coming next. + + * * * * * + +=Clare.=--_The Cliffs of Moher_ may be visited from excellent quarters +at Lisdoonvarna (the 'Fort in the Gap'), in the north-west of Clare, a +district known as the Burren. This district is formed of the +carboniferous limestone which occupies most of Central Ireland. + +This formation, replete with carboniferous fossils, is remarkably +monotonous and symmetrical. When it occurs in a cliff formation, as at +Moher, or the south-western sides of the Aran Islands, it forms a sheer +wall, absolutely vertical, to the sea, or else it is arranged in a +series of terraces, like gigantic steps. Very rarely a chasm occurs, +connecting two terraces. More often it is possible, by means of slight +protruding ledges, to ascend an almost vertical face, since the rock is +invariably either absolutely safe or easy to test. Sometimes, as at the +southern end of the Moher cliffs, isolated pillars of rock occur, which +are most pleasing to climb and pleasant to remain perched upon when +climbed. + +These rocky surfaces of Aran and Burren are very tiresome and difficult +to traverse, as the fissures (2-12 in. in width) between the blocks are +often adjacent. The rock is usually cut into slabs, generally +rectangular in shape. The loose blocks are piled by the inhabitants into +tottering walls, which are difficult either to cross or upset with +safety. The easiest way is to ascend gently and then jump with a kick +behind. On Aran especially the going is most laborious. + +[Illustration: CLIFFS OF MOHER] + +As an instance of the sheerness of these cliffs on Aran boys may be seen +fishing with a rodless line from their edge, 200 ft. above the water. +Inland these cliffs run gradually in a series of irregular declivities, +a gently sloping flagged platform to low levels. + +Much is done here by the natives in the way of egg-collecting, with the +assistance of ropes, the eggs being chiefly those of guillemots, gulls, +and razor-bills, and required for food. + +The cliff scenery of Moher is superb and unequalled. It has not the +variety of stack, needle, ravine, that other formations have, but its +very regularity is most harmoniously imposing. On the other hand, the +brilliant and varying colouring of North Mayo or Slieve League, in +Donegal, is entirely absent. + +The Aran Islands are visited from Galway by steamer. There is an hotel +on the north island. They are full of ethnological and archæological +interest. + + * * * * * + +=Co. Down.= _Mourne Mountains._--This chain of granite hills covers an +elliptic space of about 15 miles by 6, the longer axis stretching from +Newcastle to Rosstrevor, where there are excellent hotels. From either +point to the other is a day's walk that will well repay the labour, and +can be made to include all the principal summits. The descent to +Newcastle, through Donard Lodge woods, by the waterfall, is very pretty, +and by varying the night's accommodation a still more beautiful route +lies through Tollymore Park to Bryansford, where good quarters are +obtainable. + +[Illustration: MOURNE MOUNTAINS] + +The highest points lie at the Newcastle or north-east extremity of the +group. The southern portions are less interesting, and the western +flanks are very dreary. + +These hills, being of granite, have few precipices, many rounded +summits, sloping sides, and heavy screes, of the usual uncomfortable +angular nature. The 'Eagle's Cliff,' a mile to the north of Slieve +Donard, affords some climbing, and a little rock exercise can be had at +'the Castles,' lying on a spur of Slieve Commedagh, to the west of +Slieve Donard, below it and half a mile away. + +Slieve Bingian, in the south-east of the range, has a little easy +climbing. + +There is also a considerable cliff on a shoulder north-west of Slieve +Meel-more. It is known as Spellick, and is easily visited from +Bryansford. It is worth examination, but the writer has not climbed it. + +The view from Slieve Donard is, of course, famous. + +The ascent from Bryansford, through Tullymore Park, taking Slieve +Commedagh and the Castles _en route_, is perhaps the finest walk, so far +as scenery is concerned, to be had in this picturesque cluster of +mountains. + + * * * * * + +=Co. Dublin.=--_Lambay_ is an island abounding in sea fowl and wild +flowers, about 2½ miles from the nearest point of land, and about 10 +miles north-east of Dublin. It is best approached by boat from Donabate, +or less conveniently from Howth, Malahide, Rush, or Skerries. + +The cliffs reach about 250 ft., and are practically sheer in many +places, as on the north-east side at Freshwater Bay, or a little west +of it, and on the south-east cliffs below Raven's Well. + +Several most interesting climbs are to be obtained on it. The best are +on those cliffs west of Freshwater Bay. + +About 30 ft. above the water's edge at high-water mark there is a narrow +and deep horizontal fissure, which in May is packed with breeding sea +fowl. The ornithological visitor will at once feel it his duty to reach +that fissure. The writer's first visit to Lambay was made in the company +of one Dykes, known to be the best clifter on Howth. He pronounced this +fissure inaccessible. There is a bend in the cliffs leading to the +right-hand extremity of the fissure. Here lay the only chance, and the +first two grips out of the boat are easy enough, raising one 6 or 8 ft. +(or perhaps 15 if the tide is out) above the water. After that there are +two enormous stretches, with practically no foothold. If these two +points are passed, the fissure is in reach, and an ugly wriggle will +land the unwelcome intruder on his anterior surface upon the narrow +ledge forming its base. + +Dykes meantime was highly encouraging, calling out, 'Madness,' 'Break +your neck,' 'You can never get down.' The climber had, however, an +original plan of descent, and having, with considerable difficulty, +divested himself of his garments, he dropped them first into the boat +and then himself into the water. + +On revisiting these cliffs ten years later, and pointing out this climb +to a very good rock-man, he failed to see how the climb was done, and so +it had to be done again. This time, however, the tide was out, and on +stripping to take the plunge it became at once apparent that a rock +exactly in the line of descent was too near the surface. To climb down +had always appeared dangerous, on account of the lack of foothold and +the very awkward nature of the backward movement out of the fissure. So +an attempt was made on the wall above. + +It is marvellous how a naked man can adhere to a cliff. For a full hour +an unhappy preadamite man writhed and glued himself against the face of +that cliff, descending and reascending by new lines, but always checked +by a straight wall about 150 ft. up. Anything appeared better than that +hateful descent. Some friends ran to a coastguard station a mile or more +away for a rope. However before they reappeared the descent was faced +and safely accomplished. + +This sketch will serve to show that high mountains are by no means +necessary for the practice of rock-climbing, the very best of which is +constantly attainable along the coast. Owing to the working of the ocean +waves unsafe pieces are almost certainly removed, and the cliff, at its +lower parts at any rate, is invariably firm and safe. It is fine sport +to choose a steep rocky coast at, say, half-tide in spring, and travel +between high and low water marks as far as may be during the six hours. +It should be a point of honour not to ascend, but if forced to take to +the water excellent practice and much amusement is obtainable in this +way, and the slippery nature of the rock teaches sureness of foot. +Nailed boots are, of course, indispensable. + +The geological formation of Lambay is principally felstone porphyry. +Some stratified Silurian shales and limestone occur, and there is a +small sheet of old red sandstone, with conglomerates. The rock is in +general hard and reliable. + +_Howth_ is a promontory with a village about 9 miles from Dublin, for +the people of which it is a favourite resort. From Balscaddan Bay, on +the north, to an almost opposite point, Drumleck Point, on the south, +the east coast is composed of cliffs (200-300 ft.), sometimes abrupt, +sometimes ending above in grass slopes, very slippery in hot weather, +which have caused many accidents. + +A very interesting scramble, with many nasty traverses over these steep +grass slopes, may be had round Howth Head. Keeping to the upper edge of +the rocks, it is necessary to ascend once at Kilrock, but after that the +whole headland may be climbed at about the medium height of the cliffs. +On the way a 'needle' or 'stack' will here and there attract attention, +and perhaps seem worth assaulting. About Piper's Gut a small gully is +difficult to pass. North of that a saddle rock leads to a pinnacle, but +it is of rotten rock. The cliffs of this part of Howth are exceedingly +picturesque, but in some places they are extremely unsafe. From Howth, +on a very clear day, the Welsh hills, apparently those about +Penmaenmawr, are visible. + +_Ireland's Eye._ A small rocky island, 340 ft. high, about a mile north +of Howth. At its north-east corner there is a bold columnar rock with a +tabular summit, partly severed from the island. On its outer face it is +very sheer, and to gain the summit is a very short but interesting and +somewhat difficult climb. The return is not so bad, as a sidelong spring +saves a portion of the worst bit. + + * * * * * + +=Wicklow.=--Wicklow forms the third county in Ireland in which the +mountains rise to a height of over 3,000 ft., Kerry and Tipperary being +the other two. + +The higher mountains lie in the broad band of granite formation which +extends in a nearly southerly direction from near Dublin through Wicklow +and Carlow counties. + +Being granite they are as a rule round masses of wide extent, often +covered with peat bogs; so that although Wicklow contains the most +continuous extent of elevated (over 1,000 ft.) moorland in Ireland, +there are few cliffs of any consequence, and no peaks or summits +presenting upon any side material of interest to the rock-climber. +Nevertheless there are fine stretches of mountain, affording excellent +training ground. What cliffs there are occupy the most lovely scenery in +one of the loveliest Irish counties. + +_Powerscourt Waterfall._--The rocks to the left of the fall, which is +kindly left open to the public by Lord Powerscourt, the popular +landlord, are nasty, especially in wet or frosty weather. Although not +much over 250 feet in height several lives have been lost in this +ascent, chiefly, no doubt, owing to the inexperience of the unfortunate +visitors. This dangerous though tempting portion has been for several +years railed off, and is not supposed to be trespassed upon. During the +severe winter of the present year (February 1895) the waterfall +presented an Arctic appearance. An interesting account of an ascent of +it, or rather of the above-mentioned rocks, was sent to an Irish paper +in that month. The climb was effected by a friend of the writer's (a +member of the Alpine Club) and another, with ropes and ice axes. The +cliff was covered with ice and snow. The same party ascended Djonce +(2,384 ft.), which lies above the waterfall, during a blizzard at a +temperature of 18°, upon the same day. Unhappily a very few days +afterwards a promising young life was lost upon these very rocks. The +falls are visited by very large numbers of holiday-makers. + +The rocks of Powerscourt, which lie against the Wicklow granites, are +composed of metamorphic beds of gneiss and schists. Powerscourt is about +7 miles from Bray. + +_Tonelagee Mountain_ ('Back to the Wind' Mountain) (2,694 ft.), a round +mass of moorland, has on the northern shoulder a crater-like valley, +containing a tarn, Lough Ouler, and cliffs of schistose, some 400 to 500 +ft. high, descending from near the summit to the margin of the lake. An +interesting scramble may be made from the Military Road, about a mile +above Glenmacanass Waterfall, which lies some 6 miles from Glendalough +Hotel; but a short cut to Lough Ouler is easily found by going up the +Glendasan valley 3 miles towards Wicklow Gap, and then striking up +northwards over the shoulder of Tonelagee. + +Wicklow county is very poor in highland plants, and these cliffs alone +possess species of any interest. + +Other cliffs in county Wicklow are those of Luggielaw ('Hollow of the +Hill'), above Lough Tay; the Eagle's Nest, above Lower Lough Bray; a +small series of bluffs above Lough Nahanagan, and the Prisons of +Lugnaquilia. In winter the latter, lying high (2,700 to 3,039 ft.), +afford excellent glissading and cornice work. But, unless the season is +severe there is too much heavy trudging to be done. All the above +precipices lie in most attractive scenery, nor must the famous cliff +above Glendalough, containing St. Kevin's Bed, be omitted. But none of +them affords desirable scope for climbing practice. The granite +'Prisons' of Lugnaquilia are attractive in appearance, but all the cliff +faces are ready to drop to pieces. Mullaghclevaun ('Summit with the +Cradle' or 'Creel'), 2,783 ft., contains no climbing. + +Since Wicklow affords the nearest opportunities to Dublin mountaineers, +we may mention a few one-day walks from that city which have been +accomplished by the writer. + +Practically the only artery through these mountains is the _Military +Road_, constructed after the rebellion of 1798 to connect a series of +now disused barracks. This road, from 'Billy's Bridge' at Upper +Rathfarnham, about 5 miles from Dublin, is over 35 miles to Aughavanagh. +It passes through an almost uninhabited country, and much of it lies +from 1,000 to 1,500 feet above sea level, and it is the pedestrian's +main anxiety to regain the comparative security of the Military Road +before night sets in on the wide stretches of tussocky moorland. + +To clear the suburbs it is well to take the tram to Terenure (3 miles). +Terenure; Ballinascorney Gap; Coronation Plantation (3 to 3¼ hours); +Sally Gap; Military Road; Lough Bray (5 hours); back to Terenure (7½ +hours: 34 miles). + +Terenure; Lough Ouler; Tonelagee summit (6 hours); Mullaghclevaun summit +(7½ hours); Ballysmutton (9½ hours); home by Ballinascorney Gap +(13½ hours: 48 miles). From Bray this walk is about 5 miles shorter. + +Bray, over Bray Head, Little Sugarloaf, Big Sugarloaf (1,680 ft.), +Djonce Mountain (2,384 ft.), and Kippure (2,473 ft.); Lough Bray, by +Military Road, to Terenure: about 11 hours. + +Terenure; Ballinascorney Gap; Seacaun; Kippure; Lough Bray; Terenure +(about 8 hours). + +Terenure; Lough Bray; Kippure (2½ hours); Gravale (2,352 ft.); Duff +Hill (2,364 ft.--very heavy going); Mullaghclevaun summit (6 hours); +Tonelagee summit (7½ hours); Lough Ouler; Military Road; Terenure (14 +hours; about 50 miles). + +Glendalough; Dublin (7¾ hours); Glendasan; Wicklow Gap; summit of +Tonelagee (11 hours); summit of Mullaghclevaun; Clevaun Lake; +Ballymullagh old road; across Liffey at Ballysmutton bridge; +Ballinascorney Gap; Terenure (20 hours, including rests and delays by +bog; 62 miles). + +Terenure; Lough Bray (3 hours); Laragh (7½ hours); Glenmalure; +Drumgoff Hotel (9 hours 5 minutes--1½ hour's rest); Lugnaquilia +(3,039 ft., 12¾ hours); Tonelagee summit (16¼ hours); +Mullaghclevaun summit (17 hours 40 minutes); Ballysmutton farm (19 hours +40 minutes--35 min. rest); Ballinascorney Gap; Terenure (23 hours 50 +minutes; 75 miles). + +The ascent of Lugnaquilia direct from Glendalough, over Lugduff, round +the head of Glenmalure, and up by Kelly's Lough is perhaps the finest +walk in Wicklow. + +It is a fine day's walk along the coast from Bray to Arklow, or Bray to +New Rath Bridge, and thence by the Devil's Glen to Glendalough. + +In a wild, uncultivated county, like Wicklow, experience in the use of +map and compass may be gained by setting a course from Woodenbridge to +Glendalough, about 12 miles, or from Glendalough to the Scalp or +Sugarloaf, on the way to Dublin, some 40 miles. + + * * * * * + +=Kerry.=--_Brandon_ (3,127 ft.) is of the same formation as that of the +Reeks, i.e. the lower old red sandstone. The Brandon rocks are, in +general, hard grits, firm and good to climb. + +The accommodation on this promontory of Corkaguiny is no doubt improved +since the construction of Mr. Balfour's light railway from Tralee to +Dingle; but Dingle lies 8 miles to the south of Brandon. + +I obtained very inferior accommodation at Cloghane, on an inlet at the +eastern base of the mountain; and cleaner and better, but not so +convenient, from a coastguard at Ballydavid, to the west of Brandon. For +the other mountains on the promontory, Castle Gregory is centrally +situated, but in all these cases (except Dingle) it is highly advisable +to make previous arrangements and supplement the native fare with a +hamper. + +The coast of the Brandon promontory (which was traversed throughout) is +often highly precipitous; indeed, from Cloghane on the north to +Anniscaul on the south the western extremity is almost entirely so, and +many stiff bits of climbing were accomplished, whether in pursuit of +scenery, of a direct course, of objects of natural history, or, perhaps, +more frequently out of what an Irishman would call 'natural divilment.' +A few years ago no language would have sufficed in abuse of the +accommodation at Anniscaul, but, as it is now a railway station, no +doubt this is all changed. + +[Illustration: KERRY] + +_Brandon Peak and Brandon Summit._--The most enjoyable way to make the +first acquaintance with these mountains is to ascend Connor Hill, to the +north-west of Dingle, and follow the ridge by Beenduff, Ballysitteragh, +Geashane, and Brandon Peak to the summit. The peak is about 400 ft. +lower than and a little south of Brandon proper. Along this ridge, +looking north and north-west, there is a fine rocky face before reaching +the peak. After that point a range of cliffs, several hundred feet in +altitude, meets the loftier cliffs above Lake Nalacken, looking east. At +the head of the Feany valley, under Brandon, these cliffs afford an +interesting descent. The range gives plenty of practice in rock work. + +Alpine plants occur mainly on the north and north-east cliffs, and are +more numerous than on the loftier Reeks. + +_Brandon from Cloghane._--From Cloghane the ascent may be made amongst +fine cliffs and rock-climbing, by making south-east for Lough Cruttia, +the largest lake under Brandon to its east. It is better to follow the +road southwards a mile or two, to save uninteresting moorland. From this +lake it is a short distance to the north-west of Lough Nalacken, and by +striking in east at once to the cliffs a good climb is obtainable. Lough +Cruttia is about 700 ft. above sea level. Between the upper lough and +the cliffs the surface is a desolate extent of polished naked grits, +strewn with boulders. Crossing this a somewhat dangerous gully leads up +to the cliffs at about 1,650 ft. The ascent of this is about 300 ft., +and a stiff climb and afterwards some 400 ft. of cliffs may be tackled +in various ways. + +There are numerous ledges, and it is the best botanical ground in the +mountains. The cliffs 'go' splendidly. In a lake south of the two +mentioned above, locally named Lough Bawn, or the 'White Lake,' lives +the enormous 'carrabuncle.' It appears fitfully at night, glittering +like silver in the water with gold and silver and precious stones +hanging to it galore. It is partly covered with shells, which are lined +with gold. Upon one occasion several men went to the lake at night and +dived in oilskins to catch this valuable monster. They did not catch +him; but pearl mussels, no doubt shed from the carrabuncle, are found in +the lake. + +_Brandon Point and Brandon Head._--From Cloghane it is a fine hard walk +right round Brandon Point and Brandon Head. At the cliffs of Slieveglass +(1,050 ft.) a bay of extreme grandeur is opened, bound on three sides by +lofty precipices and with a depth and sea frontage of about half a mile. +There is a shepherd's settlement, Arraghglin, on the coast, which has to +be closely approached. A more bleak habitation can hardly be conceived; +neither road nor even track leads to it. It is now several hours' work +to round the sea face of Brandon Head, at altitudes varying from 500 to +1,200 ft., to Ballydavid. If accommodation has not been arranged for +here the walk to Dingle will be found most wearisome, and at all trouble +a car should be provided. + +_Macgillicuddy's Reeks_ contain the highest summits in Ireland. They +extend from the Gap of Dunloe, the eastern extremity, to the Beenbane +spur near Glencar, about 10 miles west from the Gap. The scenery is +magnificent. From Lake Auger, in the Gap, the climber ascends at once by +a series of precipitous bluffs to an elevation of about 2,000 ft. Still +ascending along a serrated ridge, an elevation of about 3,000 ft. is +reached above Lough Cummeenapeasta, about 2½ miles west of the Gap of +Dunloe. For several miles this ridge can be traversed at about the above +altitude. The ridge frequently becomes a mere knife-edge, and in several +places descends abruptly and precipitously to some of the numerous tarns +and cooms nestling 1,000 to 1,500 ft. below. A more perfect mountain +excursion can hardly be conceived. The ridge carries us to the shoulder +of Carran Tuohill, and from its summit a northern branch extends to +Beenkeragh (3,314 ft.) and to Skregmore (2,790 ft.) The axis proper +continues to Caher (3,200 ft.) and Curraghmore (2,680 ft.) Here we reach +a gap connecting Cummeenacappul (Horse's Valley) with the Valleys of +Caragh and Cummeenduff, or the Black Valley. West of it is the Beenbane +spur, a lower elevation of no interest. The Reeks are chiefly composed +of hard green and purple grits, and sandstone of old red sandstone age. +The rocks are generally firm and safe to climb amongst. + +There is a comfortable angler's hotel at Glencar, at the western end of +the Reeks. This is the best adapted for the immediate neighbourhood of +the higher points, but to reach some of the most interesting climbing it +is better to distribute one's attentions equally between Killarney and +Glencar. From Killarney (Railway Hotel) two methods are available--one +by car to the Gap of Dunloe, or further to the Hag's Glen, up a steep +mountain road, and from either of these as starting-point some excellent +rock work is available. From the Gap as starting-point a long day can be +spent, descending at night to Glencar Hotel. The other method is to boat +from Killarney (enjoying exquisite scenery) to Lord Brandon's cottage at +the western extremity of the upper lake. Here begins a long, dull +ascent, rewarded by the splendid view from the ridge into the heart of +the Reeks. Or these routes can be reversed. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF + +KILLARNEY] + +Guides swarm here. None of these have the slightest knowledge of +climbing, and should one be engaged the first deviation from the easiest +ascent, or departure into gully or ravine, will put a conclusion to his +services. A wiry, bragging, long-legged shepherd undertook to accompany +the writer by any ascent he selected from the Hag's Glen to Carran +Tuohill, to be paid five shillings at the summit. At the foot of the +first gully, with many heart-felt remonstrances and gesticulations, he +disappeared, not even thinking it worth while to make an easier ascent. +On this account it is all the more necessary to be unfailingly provided +with the Ordnance map and a thoroughly good compass. An aneroid +barometer is also of great assistance, especially in mist, for a +knowledge of the altitude often enables a lake or a peak to be +identified. + +_Cumloughra_ (3,100 ft.)--Starting from Glencar Hotel, a few tedious +miles bring us across a country road to Lake Acoose (507 ft.) Passing +round the south edge of the lake, a ridge (about 900 ft.) is crossed, +and ere long Lake Eighter, at the entrance to Cumloughra (1,500 ft.), is +reached. If we pass along the shores of the lake to the south-western +edge, a few hundred feet up an open gully brings us to a series of +cliffs south-west from Cumloughra lake. The rock is sound, and a fine, +almost vertical ascent of 1,000 ft. may be made, striking the ridge of +Caher (3,000 ft.) 200 ft. below the summit. It is a severe climb and +very long, entailing many zigzags. There is no main gully to adhere to, +and the cliffs are less impracticable than they look. Along the west +side of the two lakes the cliffs are easier. + +_Carran Tuohill_ (3,414 ft.)--Cars from Killarney stop at the Geddagh +River. Cross it, sweep to the right and back, and then follow the valley +by a fair path between two lakes to the Devil's Ladder and up it to the +_col_. The summit is then on the right hand. The writer was once +fortunate enough to ascend this summit through a cloud layer of about +1,500 ft. thick, which ceased a short distance below the summit. Above +was a clear blue sky, and peering out of the dense white, snowlike bed +of mist Caher and Brandon (the latter 30 miles to the north-west, the +former not a mile away) alone were visible--a never to be forgotten +sight, which seemed shut out entirely from earthly considerations. +Descending _into_ the clouds, the ridge leading southwards towards +Cummeenoughter, or Devil's Looking Glass (Upper Coom), was taken by +mistake, and an exceedingly nasty traverse across huge, dangerously +sloping slabs was necessary in order to regain Carran Tuohill and find +the Caher ridge. + +_Beenkeragh_ (3,100 ft.)--Between Beenkeragh and Skregmore (2,600 ft.) +there lies an inviting glen, sunk in black precipices. These cliffs are +to be avoided. At several points an attempt was made to scale them, but +the rock is most rotten. Near Beenkeragh is a ridge running a little +west of north for half a mile, and bounding the Devil's Looking Glass +and the Hag's Glen on their west. This ridge is reached by an easy gully +known as the _Devil's Ladder_, about 300 ft. below Beenkeragh. + +_Devil's Looking Glass_ (Cummeenoughter). This tarn lies at the head of +the Hag's Glen, at an elevation of 2,500 ft. It is three-parts encircled +by a fine series of cliffs. At the western corner of this bold girth of +precipices the finest view in the Reeks may be obtained, looking over +the Looking Glass, and the lakes below in the Hag's Glen, across heights +and peaks and valleys to Cummeenapeasta. Excellent climbing is to be had +here. The rock is a purple sandstone, and one shoulder of an +inaccessible appearance can be climbed throughout, owing to the firmness +of grip and the recurrence of suggestive little footholds. + +_Lake Auger_ (Gap of Dunloe).--These cliffs terminate upwards in the +Bull's Mountain at about 1,500 ft. The lake is about 350 ft. above sea +level. Almost immediately after leaving the lake we come upon a series +of bluffs and terraces occasionally communicating with one another, but +more often uniting to form smooth-faced walls. Great care and +discrimination have to be exercised in selecting ledges that do not +terminate upon such faces, as there is little hand grip, and turning to +retrace one's steps is most unpleasantly difficult and dangerous. The +climbing here is most excellent and exciting, but the writer often felt +sorely in need of a companion and a rope. It is in such places as these, +inaccessible to sheep and goats, that hawkweeds occur, and in search of +these, places were reached which rendered the summit of Bull's Mountain +(when gained) extremely welcome. + +_The Hag's Glen._--Making the ascent from here to the westward, we reach +another valley between Hag's Glen and Old Finglas River. At about 1,800 +ft. a very black gully leads up to the main ridge from its northern +side. It is occasionally blocked with huge masses of rock, which render +détours along the boundary walls necessary, and, as is often the case, +it becomes very difficult afterwards to regain the gully. This gully is +a very tough climb. The Hag's teeth (there are two) are conical knobs of +no difficulty, along a ridge running into the glen. + +_Lake Googh_ (1,600 ft.)--This lake lies on the south side of the main +axis of the Reeks. Above it rises to the northwards a series of coombs, +or high-lying valleys, which can be traversed by separate and often +interesting scrambles till the main ridge is reached. This is a very +interesting ascent. It is often rather a matter of chance whether the +gully selected will be available to its end for the next coomb level, +and a retracement of steps will frequently have to be effected. Nothing +is less pleasing than to have to go back down a gully which it was a +small triumph to have ascended in safety. This valley is singularly +dark, damp, and grand; and it is more rich in ferns than any other +portion of the Reeks. + +_Cloon Lake and Lough Reagh._--Although these cliffs are not a portion +of the Reeks, they are mentioned here as being easily reached from +Glencar Hotel. They lie south of Lough Reagh, which is separated only by +a marsh from Lough Cloon, and are a most superbly rugged cluster of +sugar-loaf peaks huddled together and often separated by sheer +precipices and inaccessible ravines. Unfortunately they are of easy +access from the southern or Sneem side. Many gullies of sound rock +occur. Bad weather on two different visits rendered climbing here an +unpleasant experience, but enough was seen to enable the writer to +pronounce the district well worthy of a visit. _Mount Aitchin_ (Whin +Mount) is the chief summit. Golden eagles bred recently amongst these +cliffs. + +Coming down once from these mountains towards Lough Reagh, facing +northwards, in a blinding mist, an uncommon sort of descent was +obtained. Not knowing the nature of the ground, or indeed our +whereabouts, we struck blindly over a declivity, turning at length to a +sheer cliff whose termination was invisible. This cliff or series of +cliffs is broken into ledges, all coated with a long growth of woodrush. +Glissading and holding on brought us in unexpected safety to the valley +below. Return would have been impossible by the way of our descent. + +Other mountains in the neighbourhood of Killarney are _Mangerton_ (2,756 +ft.); _Toomies_ (2,415 ft.); _Purple Mountain_ (2,739 ft.); _Turc +Mountain_ (1,764 ft.), and the _Paps_ (2,268 ft.) Of these none afford +any real climbing. On Mangerton, however, the Horse's Glen is surrounded +by rocky declivities, and the Devil's Punch Bowl has a slight cliff +above it. From Killarney by rail to Headfort, and then back over the +Paps and Mangerton, and through the Horse's Glen, is a fine walk. +Another fine walk is from the lake, whither one proceeds from Killarney +by boat, up Toomies Mountain, over Purple Mountain, and Turc Mountain, +and Mangerton can be included on the way back. + +The Eagle's Cliff, above the lake, looks climbable and is reported to +have been done. The writer, hurrying to the Reeks, always grudged time +for the attempt. + +_Blasquets Islands_ lie off the extreme west of Kerry. They consist +generally of grits and slates. + +Mr. Barrington (_Report on the Flora, &c._) describes the Great Blasquet +as a ridge about 700 ft. high for most of its length, but for about a +mile it exceeds 900 ft. The ridge is almost perpendicular in many +places. 'The cliffs and precipices are very grand, notably the +north-western face of the Great Blasquet and the north-eastern portion +of Inishnabro, which latter resembles, when viewed from the sea, a +cathedral 500 ft. high, the towers, spires, and even doors and windows +being represented. Inishtooskert has an isolated pinnacle of rock, with +a great chasm in the cliff near it, scarcely less striking. The Tearaght +is like a black tooth projecting from the ocean, its sides being rocky, +desolate, and very barren.' The present writer was prevented from +reaching these islands by stormy weather. + + * * * * * + +=Co. Cork.=--_Sugarloaf Mountain_ (2,440 ft.)--An isolated, bare, +conical peak, at the head of the Black Valley (Cummeenduff), the +southern boundary of the Reeks. Sunshine after rain makes it glitter +like a snowy peak. The rock is steep and glaciated. On the steepest face +an interesting ascent may be made--easy, but requiring extreme care. + +South of the Kenmare River the hills are of less interest, though the +beautiful Glengariff lies amongst them. + +_Hungry Hill_ (2,251 ft.) presents one precipitous face to the west, +where a piece of interesting gully work occurs. The writer has reason to +remember it, owing to the imprisonment of a bull-terrier, the property +of a companion, in the middle of the climb. After completing the ascent +the deafening howls of the prisoner made it necessary to work round to +the base of the gully and help the beloved creature down. An almost +identical incident occurred in a worse situation in the Poisoned Glen of +Donegal. A bit of rope should be attached to the neck of any dog that +follows a rock-climber. + +_Gougaun Barra_ ('St. Fin Bar's Rock-Cleft') is a gorge on the road west +from Macroom to Bantry. The cliffs around rise from a desolate valley to +meet the slopes of the mountains, 1,700-1,800 ft. high. + +On the road Keimaneigh ('the Pass of the Deer') is traversed, a gorge +through the Sheha hills some 2 miles in length. It is a scene of wild +beauty, and was the head-quarters of the band under 'Captain' Rock. This +defile can be visited from Inchigeelagh, a few miles eastwards, where +there is good fishing and accommodation. + +On Gougaun Barra, Otway (_Scenes and Sketches in Ireland_) and Smith +(_History of Cork)_ have a good deal to say. + + * * * * * + +=Tipperary.=--_The Galtee Mountains_ extend about 15 miles from Caher at +the eastern to Massy Lodge at the western extremity. The ridge slopes +gently to the south, but abruptly to the vale of Aherlow on the north. + +The formation is Silurian, with overlying beds of old red sandstone +conglomerate forming the summit of Galtymore (3,018 ft.) The Silurian +beds form considerable precipices upon the north, almost enclosing +numerous tarns, from which interesting ascents may be made. + +The best head-quarters for the mountains is Tipperary, about 6 miles +north of the base of the range below its highest point. No doubt, +however, accommodation could be arranged for at some of the farmhouses +in the vale of Aherlow. The entire range from Caher to Mitchelstown +forms a splendid walk. Lough Curra and Lough Muskry are the most +interesting points to make for, and lie amongst the finest cliffs. Lough +Diheen is the most remote and barren. + +At Lough Curra the cliffs descend 1,000 ft. sheer into the water. These +cliffs afford attractive but dangerous climbing. They reach to within a +couple of hundred feet of the highest point, known as Dawson's Table, or +Galtymore. + +Still grander, however, are the cliffs above Lough Muskry. These tower +to a height of about 1,200 ft. in great terraces and vegetated walls +above the north and north-east ends of the lake. Numerous clefts, +ravines, and ledges exist. + +Should the climber get pounded here (as not seldom happens) let him +beware of undue haste. A mouthful of food has a wonderful effect in +steadying the nerves. The holds here are often sods of dubious security, +and the Muskry precipices, though they _can_ be traversed in all +directions, are the severest amongst the Galtees. + + * * * * * + +=Co. Waterford.= _Commeragh Mountains._--The Commeragh Mountains may be +explored from Kilmacthomas on the south, Clonmell on the west, or Caher +on the north. They form an elevated plateau, bounded on all sides by +steep and frequently inaccessible precipices, which enclose cooms and +tarns. The highest point is 2,597 ft., and the rock is for the most part +sandstone or conglomerate of the old red sandstone period. Slates and +shales occur on the northern side. + +The cliffs can be climbed in many places. As on the Galtees, a few +miles west, dense masses of a species of woodrush often render the +holding treacherous. Smith (_History of Waterford_, 1774) says, 'On the +sides of this chain there are many horrid precipices, and steep +declivities, with large naked rocks. In the valleys considerable chips, +or parings, lie in prodigious heaps.' + +The most imposing precipices are those enclosing in a magnificent sweep +the Stilloge Lakes, on the south side of the group; and those above +Coonshingaun Lough and Crotty's Lough at the eastern end. + +This east lake takes its name from one Crotty, an outlaw, who made his +home in a cave here during the last century. Legends of this worthy +abound in the district. + +The cliffs are often wholly inaccessible without a rope, but a great +deal of excellent climbing can be effected with no artificial aids. In +search of rare plants the writer has made several distinct ascents above +the Stilloges, and also at Coonshingaun, quite apart from the easier +gully tracks, by which the ordinary visitor gains the top. The mountains +are singularly picturesque. The verdure-clad cliffs, overhanging the +deep, rock-bound, lonely tarns, have an effect that is at once rare and +beautiful. + + + + +INDEX + + +Aber, 1 + +Aberglaslyn, 95 + +Abergynolwyn, 10 + +Accidents, 1, 2, 9, 21, 25, 54, 56, 58, 67, 70, 72, 73, 82, 86, 88, 89, + 90, 91, 108, 126, 139, 176 + +Achill, 158 + +Anglesey, 15 + +Antrim, 131 + +Aranmore Island, 143 + +Arans (The), 99 + +Arenig Fawr, 98 + +Asko Keeran, 162 + + +Bala, 2 + +Barmouth, 3 + +Barnesmore Gap, 153 + +Beddgelert, 3 + +Beddgelert (Snowdon from), 4 + +Beenkeragh, 186 + +Ben Bulben, 155 + +Benchoona, 165 + +Benglog, 5 + +Berwyn Mountains, 94 + +Bethesda, 6 + +Bird Rock, 108 + +Black Ladders, 19 + +Black Mountains, 13, 126 + +Blaenau Ffestiniog, 9 + +Blasquets, 189 + +Blue Stack, 152 + +Braichddu, 18, 19 + +Brandon, 179 + +Brecon Beacons, 13 + +Bronyfedw, 14 + +Bryansford, 169 + +Bull's Mountain, 187 + +Bunglas, 145 + +Burton Port, 143 + +Bwlch Cwm y Llan, 87 + +Bwlch Goch, 61 + +Bwlch y Saethau, 76 + + +Caddy of Cwm Glas, 60 + +Cader Fronwen, 94 + +Cader Idris, 106 + +Cambrian Railway, 7, 95 + +Capel Curig, 6 + +Carnarvonshire, 16 + +Carndonagh, 135 + +Carnedd Dafydd, 17 + +Carnedd Llewelyn, 23 + +Carnedd Ugain, 67 + +Carnedd y Filiast, 25 + +'Carrabuncle' (The), 181 + +Carran Tuohill, 185 + +Carrick Hotel, 145 + +Carrig-a-Rede, 133 + +Castell Cidwm, 93 + +Castell Gwynt, 34 + +Castles (The), 171 + +Cefnysgolion Duon, 19 + +Clare Co., 167 + +Clew Bay, 160 + +Cloghane, 179 + +Clogwyn Aderyn, 69 + +Clogwyn Penllechen, 69 + +Clogwyn y Garnedd, 72 + +Clogwyn y Person, 58 + +Clogwyndur Arddu, 89 + +Closs (Death of), 91 + +Cnicht, 96 + +Commeragh Mountains, 192 + +Cork Co., 190 + +Corris, 10 + +Cox (Mr.), 88 + +Craig Ddrwg, 98 + +Craig Eryri, 54 + +Craig y Bera, 94 + +Craig yr Ysfa, 21 + +Craiglyn Dyfi, 103 + +Crazy Pinnacle, 64 + +Crib Goch, 60 + +Crib y Ddysgl, 66 + +Croagh Patrick, 160 + +Croghaun, 158 + +Cumloughra, 185 + +Cwm Creigiog, 88 + +Cwm Dyli, 68 + +Cwm Glas, 56 + +Cwm y Llan, 87 + +Cyfrwy, 113 + +Cynfael Falls, 9 + +Cynicht, 96 + + +Dawson's Table, 192 + +Denbighshire, 94 + +Devil's Kitchen, 28 + +Devil's Looking Glass, 186 + +Devil's Punch Bowl, 189 + +Dinas Bran, 94 + +Dinas Mawddwy, 7 + +Dingle, 179 + +Dismore (Mr.), 58 + +Dolgelly, 7 + +Donegal, 134 + +Down Co., 169 + +Dublin Co., 171 + +Dunaff Head, 136 + +Dunfanaghy, 139 + +Dungloe, 144 + +Dunloe (Gap of), 182 + + +Eagle's Cliff, 189 + +Eagle's Nest, 147 + +Eglwyseg, 94 + +Elicydu, 25 + +Elider, 25 + +Empson (Mr.), 2 + +Errigal, 140 + +Esgair Felen, 42 + +Evans (Mr. Alf.), 82 + + +Fair Head, 131 + +Fanet, 137 + +Ffestiniog, 9 + +Foelgoch, 26 + +Frodsham (Mr. G. H.), 90 + + +Gallt y Wenallt, 76 + +Galtee Mountains, 191 + +Galway, 164 + +Gap of Doonmore, 138 + +Gap of Dunloe, 182 + +Garnedd Goch, 92 + +Giant's Causeway, 134 + +Glaslyn, 69 + +Glen Car, 183 + +Glen Gesh, 154 + +Glen Head, 145 + +Glenariff, 133 + +Glenbeagh, 142 + +Glengad Head, 135 + +Glengariff, 190 + +Glyder Fach, 31 + +Glyder Fawr, 36 + +Golf, 156 + +Gougaun Barra, 191 + +Grey Man's Path, 131 + +Guides, 183 + +Gweedore, 141 + + +Hag's Glen, 183, 187 + +Haseler (Mr. Maxwell), 73 + +Hill names, 161 + +Homer (Mr. Philip), 54 + +Horn Head, 138 + +Howth, 174 + +Hugh Lloyd's Pulpit, 9 + +Hungry Hill, 190 + + +Inishowen, 135 + +Ireland's Eye, 174 + + +Jackson (Rev. James), 12 + + +Keimaneigh, 191 + +Kendal (Mr. E. G.), 70 + +Kerry Co., 179 + +Killarney, 183 + +Killary, 165 + +Kingsley (Charles), 12 + +King's Mountain, 155 + +Kinlough, 156 + + +Lambay, 171 + +Leenane Inn, 158, 163 + +Lisdoonvarna, 167 + +Livesley (Mr.), 56 + +Llaithnant, 105 + +Llanberis, 9 + +Llangynog, 95 + +Llechog, 91 + +Lliwedd, 74 + +Llyndulyn, 24 + +Lough Eske, 152 + +Lough Muskry, 192 + +Lough Salt, 142 + +Lough Swilly, 186 + +Lugnaquilia, 176 + + +Maamtrasna, 162 + +Maamturk, 164 + +Macgillicuddy's Reeks, 182 + +Machynlleth, 10 + +MacSwyne's Gun, 143 + +Maentwrog Road, 15 + +Malin Head, 135 + +Mangerton, 189 + +Marble Arch, 143 + +Marzials (Miss), 9 + +Maum Glen, 144 + +Mayo Co., 156 + +Melynllyn, 24 + +Merionethshire, 95 + +Mitchell (Mr. J.), 86 + +Moel Eilio, 91 + +Moel Hebog, 92 + +Moel Siabod, 52 + +Moel Sych, 94 + +Moel Wyn, 96 + +Moher Cliffs, 167 + +Montgomeryshire, 94 + +Mount Aitchin, 188 + +Mourne Mountains, 169 + +Muckanaght, 166 + +Muckish, 140 + +Mweelrea, 160 + +Mynydd Mawr, 93 + + +Nantlle, 10 + +Nephin, 156 + +Newcastle, 169 + + +Ogwen Cottage, 5 + +One Man's Pass, 149 + +Orme's Head, 94 + +Owen (Harry), 11 + + +Paget (Mr.), 2 + +Pantylluchfa, 69 + +Parson's Nose, 58 + +Payne (Mr.), 1 + +Pen Helig, 25 + +Penmaenmawr, 16 + +Penygroes, 11 + +Penygwrhyd, 11 + +Penyroleuwen, 18 + +'Phouca' (The), 140 + +Pleaskin Head, 134 + +Poisoned Glen, 141 + +Portsalon, 137 + +Powerscourt, 175 + +Prisons of Lugnaquilia, 176 + +Purple Mountain, 189 + + +Rhayader, 13 + +Rhinog Fawr, 97 + +Rosapenna, 138 + +Rostrevor, 169 + + +St. Kevin's Bed, 177 + +Slanting Gully, 85 + +Slieve Donard, 171 + +Slieve Glas, 182 + +Slieve League, 145 + +Smith (Death of), 108 + +Snowdon, 54 + +Snowdon Ranger, 13 + +Southey benighted, 54 + +Spellick, 171 + +Stacks, 15 + +Starr (Rev. H. W.), 89 + +Stilloge Lakes, 193 + +Sturrell, 144 + + +Tanybwlch, 14 + +Tonelagee, 176 + +Tormore, 139, 144 + +Tory Island, 139 + +Trigfylchau, 36, 44 + +Tryfaen, 44 + +Twelve Bens or Pins, 166 + +Twll Du, 28 + + +Waterford Co., 192 + +Wicklow Co., 175 + +Williams (W.), 72 + +Wills (Mr.), 2 + +Wilton (Mr. F. R.), 67 + + +Y Garn, 28 + +Y Wyddfa, 54 + +Yr Elen, 25 + + + PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + LONDON + + + Transcriber's note: + + _Underscores_ have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts. + =Equals signs= have been used to indicate =bold= fonts. + The alternate spellings Carnarvonshire and Caernarvonshire both appear + in the original. I have left them as written (both are accepted + spellings). + Inconsistent hyphenation and dashes (e.g. number-ft vs. number ft) are left as written. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II, by +W. P. Haskett Smith and H. C. 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