Last weekend’s MPS trip was Tryfan-tastic, continuing my recent trend of visiting nowhere else in Snowdonia.

Saturday was the first time I’ve been out since April, so I wanted to get on easy routes in boots to get myself back into the swing of things before winter starts. Sean, Josh and I pootled up four routes on Tryfan Bach in conditions starting at “wet” and ending at “damp“. First we went up the Mod / Scramble that I’ve done a few times before, and then I led a Diff which I think was Crack 4. The first pitch was fine, but on the second I trended off to the right and ended up in Chimney Crack; I think the sensible route was to carry on up the slab even though there was less gear. Nevertheless, the required move (described by Sean as “a bit sketchy”) certainly got my heart racing and was a good first play around after six months off. Sean then led something with a lovely top pitch on Mossy Slab, and we finished with Chimney Crack, another Diff. The day was designed as a confidence-building exercise, and worked well in that respect. We also finished in time to get ice cream in Llanberis.  :)

Sunday dawned dull and rainy, so a group of us opted for the North Ridge of Tryfan, always a safe choice in cruddy weather. It was Chris’ birthday, but I get the distinct impression he spent it cold and wet! He did get presented with a lovely specimen of golden syrup cake on the top of Tryfan though, so hopefully that helped salvage the day. On reaching Bwlch Tryfan I left the rest of the group and went up past Llyn Caseg-fraith to Y Foel Goch. From here I did my first actual run in the hills, down to Capel. It wasn’t very far, and was distinctly boggy, but was great fun. In other good news, I wasn’t crippled the next day, so fell-running here I come!