May 2012 - Ascent from Idwal Cottage. A fantastic long walk (without sticks today as they both broke yesterday! Teach me not to be a sucker to Blacks’ ‘excellent deals.’) A gruelling steep ascent of Pen y Ole Wen with plenty of exhilarating scrambles was followed by plenty of high level walking as I ascended and descended between summits. The retrospective view back to the Glyders and Tryfan was as compulsive as ever. Excited today because this walk marks my completion of the Wales 3000ft-ers. The welsh translation for Yr Elen is 'the leech' and it certainly sucked the energy out of me as I traversed onto it from Carnedd Llewelyn. Despite glorious sunshine, there was at least an hour of snow. The descent (scrambles in reverse) of Pen y Ole Wen was a real challenge with tired legs.