Snowdon, Llyn Llydaw & Glaslyn in the snow 30th Jan 2012

On Monday morning i received a txt message saying fresh snow fallen overnight on mt Snowdon and clear blue skys!  i just could not miss this opportunity  as we very rarely get snow especially with blue Sky's :) 

            Here is my first view of Snowdon this morning, with Llynnau Mymbyr  in the foreground.

 I pulled into the Pen-y-Pass car park which is at the top of Llanberis pass , the plan was to walk down the "MINERS PATH" & climb up to the top lake Glaslyn which would give plenty of good photographic opportunities :)
and yes there was plenty of fresh snow and blue sky! Ya !
many of these shots were taken hand held, the light was so good i was getting 1/160th at f18 ,iso 200 which was plenty fast enough with the 17-40L lens!

         First shot after leaving the car park ( £5 for 4 Hours!!!!!!!!  )   is a shot looking across the valley.

    After a short walk along the fairly level wide path, the views start to open out and here is a view looking over towards Moel Siabod in the distance.

What an amazing day to be out in the mountains :)    

As the path winds its way around the mountain side you first come to a small lake on the left called Llyn Teyrn , with Y Lliwedd behind over on the left! 

and a slightly closer view :)

I was quite warm in the sun walking, as i made my way around the path you can see on the right hand side in the above image , i came to a point where the outflow pipe from Llyn Llydaw travels down to the lower valley. this image was shot from where the path disappears near the centre in the above image.   Great view!!!!!!!!!

Very soon i got my first view of Llyn Llydaw !  looking great in the fresh snow!

this is a two frame panorama shot. love the light in this image :)   View Large

 

Luckily part of the lakes surface was almost calm giving good reflections :)  here is a shot with Snowdon in the background on the right covered in cloud!

 

Near the centre of the above image at lake level are the ruins of one of the mill workings, i shot this with my 70-300 is lens.

and another wide view :)

 

Walking around the lake there is a causeway that crosses the lake, where i shot this image, i really like the way lake edge curves around leading into the lake :)

The path runs around the lake shore before starting  to climb steeply up to Glaslyn,  a big climb ahead in increasingly deep snow! but first  i came to the old mill ruins.

After taking this shot the path which has been fairly easy to walk on, really starts to get more difficult in the icy conditions, snow depth starting to increase as the path winds its way up towards Glasyln.

This was my view looking up towards the large waterfall that falls down the mountainside , Yes its steep!!!!!   Lol

 

a wider view :)  starting to cloud over now and wind picking up!   can feel temperature dropping fast as i climb!  Time to put scarf & gloves back on as i was quite warm earlier!  even unzipped both fleeces!  Haha

When i got level to the main waterfall, the 70-300 is came out of the bag, always good to have a longer lens for shots like this!   2 frames merged  pano style

When i got near the top of the waterfall i turned around to take in the magnificent view back down the valley towards Llyn Llydaw!  Awesome!  really lovin this walk/climb today!

       And a great sky also!!!!!!!!!

Nearing the top of the path , another view back down to the lake, snow was now about 8 -10 inch deep on the steep path making it slow going and drifts of over 2 ft either side of the path, had to take care now!!!!!

                      Finally i reached the top of the path where the stream comes out of Glaslyn!
                                                                this was shot with 70-300 is

Turning around i go over the top to see Glaslyn ,  i just had a few minutes before the breeze rippled the surface , i was glad i managed to get this image before hand!

The light had gone by now, so i turned around and made my way down the mountain!  i had a wonderful time, but the day wasn't finished yet!   off to the waterfalls in the Ogwen valley opposite Tryfan :)

All images shot with Canon 5d2, 17-40L & 70-300 IS F5.6