The Glyders & The Castle Of The Winds

Summary:

Best at / for: snow and ice.

Best avoided: public holidays

Parking: parking can be a real problem at Ogwen Cottage, but easier to the South.

Access: serious hill walking required.

Notes: great wild hiking / camping opportunities.

Details:

Dependent on the conditions, it can be a really tough hike to reach the peaks of the Glyders at over 3000 feet. But for the landscape photographer they offer an unrivalled experience. If huge sweeping panoramas are unavailable due to a low cloudbase, then the ridge from Glyder Fawr to Glyder Fach past the Castle of the Winds still offers many intensely atmospheric compositions.

And despite being a huge boulder field, there are still many areas where you can easily wild camp. This is by far the best way to get the most out of such an epic location. Hike up, shoot the sunset, wild camp then shoot sunrise. It’s one of those trips that every landscape photographer shall try and take at least once.

Navigating is actually quite easy because this area can be very busy at times in the paths on the most popular ascents are very easy to follow. Of course, if conditions are poor that makes it more problematic and you really shouldn’t attempt it then unless you have decent mountain skills. If you like a challenge some routes are quite technical such as the Devils Kitchen and Bristly Ridge. Others are much easier, but tend to be quite a lot longer. Such as the Miners’ Track from the Pen Y Gwryd Hotel near Pen y Pass.

My vlogs featuring this location:

#086: Cwm Idwal And The Glyders, Snowdonia