Glyder Fach - For a “Direct Route”, it goes all over the place

It was over a year ago, March 2022, when we climbed this route but I’ve never written it up because I’d almost forgotten about it, though I see it ticked in the logbook. I remember that we parked at the usual Milestone car park overnight and set off promptly in the morning. The previous year, we’d made this same stroll up to Llyn Bochlwyd only to find a rain front descending the crag ahead, cross the lake to meet us and send us packing to Tre
madog instead. On this day, it was fine and perfectly suited to high mountain cragging; but I wasn’t. 

When I’m out in the mountains normally, I feel most alive and full of energy, physical and mental, but here I was trudging, hardly looking around and feeling lethargic. On arrival we warmed up by doing a route on alphabet slab and then took to the main event.

I remember there being multiple options at numerous points that are all considered valid variations of the route; Gibson’s Chimney, The Rectangular Excursion, The Verandah. I can’t remember which we took. I recall a decent view, a varied technical challenge and a long scramble to an always impressive summit plateau with amazing rock features including the baffling Castell y Gwynt looking like something from Mordor.

I then felt knackered. We descended to the car and travelled round to the Llanberis pass where we would climb tomorrow. Where we would have climbed if I hadn’t had a feverish, broken half-sleep and nauseating morning. I had nothing in me, it’s a good job John was driving. He delivered me home. 

In April 2022, we were still testing for something at work.

Confirmed.

Covid.