Helo Wales! 6: Snowdonia National Park - Glyderau

We were in Snowdonia National Park within about 20 minute after we left Caernarfon. Snowdonia National Park is the second-largest National Park after the Lake District. Over 100 summits of varying heights of mountains and over 100 glacial lakes in the park create dramatic landscapes.

J chose a hiking path around Llyn Idwal, a small lake that lies within amphitheatre-shaped Cwm Idwal (Cwm is a valley in Wales) in the Glyderau mountains. The mountain view from the shore of the lake solemn and mysterious. It was cloudy with light rain when we got to the lake but the weather started getting better while we were walking around the lake.

I thought we were going to walk around the lake but J started climbing up a rocky path. Ok, I followed him...

We climbed up a lot! The lake looked far away. The view was stunning!

J kept going up. When we reached a spot where I didn't see any trail but just rocky walls, I thought we would need to return on the same way we came. I was wrong. J and another hiker who just happened to pass by us encouraged me to climb up the rocky walls that would lead us to another path to go down to the lake. Alright, I managed to do so somehow.

Yes! We found a new path that went down to the right side of the lake. The lake looked really far away! The view was  marvelous! Plus, the weather has improved a lot by that time.

n addition to the new path, there was another path that goes up to the summits of the mountains and then down to the opposite side of the mountains, where you would find another lake, via so-called Devil's Kitchen (the actual name is Twll Du, meaning 'black hole'). I looked up at Devil's Kitchen - the dark crack splitting the huge rock above us. Perhaps I would be able to see the peak of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales and England if we take the path. I would love to see Snowdon... However, we have already done a lot. We saved the challenge for the next time. By the way, why is the crack called Devil's Kitchen? It is said that the plume of steam is often seen rising from the crack resembling a chimney, and when steam can be seen rising from the chimney, the Devil was cooking. I didn't notice steam, so nobody was cooking.

The path to go down to the lake wasn't as steep as one that we climbed up although it was very stony which was hard on our feet! Anyway, we reached the lake safely. The lake's name 'Idwal" stems from the name of an ancient prince. A legend says he was the son of the 12th century prince Owain Gwynedd; another legend says he was an eighth-century prince. Both legends tell a similar tragedy - he was unfortunately murdered in the lake. It is also said that the birds that inhabited the lake flew away in sorrow at the horrible thing done. So, no birds fly at the lake. I didn't remember seeing any birds there actually.

After the great hiking, we drove to a small village called Beddgelert, nested in Snowdonia National Park, where we stayed at a B&B two nights.

We had a dinner at Glaslyn, a pizza and ice cream shop in the village. We both had a medium plate of salad and shared a whole pizza with ham and mushrooms, followed by a scoop of artisan ice cream! It was a nice and unexpected meal and dessert in such a small village surrounded by the mountains.

To be continued...