A traumatic incident occurred to me yesterday during a full round of the
Snowdon horseshoe.
Was it the perils of the East ridge of Crib Goch? the walk along the knife
edged ridge in a stronger than anticipated wind? an attack of vertigo on the
third pinnacle? stampeded by the thronging hoards on top of Snowdon? a
plunging fall down the loose East ridge of Snowdon?
No, all these obstacles and possible events did not happen , the event was
to be coated head to toe in black sticky flies on the top of Lliwedd, in all
my years of walking I have never EVER experienced anything as bad.The worst
part was that the breeze which would have been very welcoming was blowing
them into my mouth,nose and eyes, luckily they were not too crunchy when you
ate them....only problem was trying to keep the contents of my stomach down,
They did rather catch on the back of the throat!
Where did the buggers come from ,are the cliffs of Lliwedd a breeding ground
for them, which would explain why I could only see 2 climbers on the face.
Why were they only on the summit as well, had a hatch of flies decided on a
day out? I seem to recall in Steve Ashtons Scrambles in Snowdonia he
recalled a similar tale of insects upon the same summit.
I am thinking of writing a few lines to recall the event in the future along
the lines of " there was a middle aged walker who swallowed a fly ..etc "
Shaun " holding back the tears " Woodward