…one night was stormy with heavy rain, thunder and the odd burst of lighting illuminating the inside of my tent. By pre-dawn the storm had passed and there were stars in the sky. Hoping for some mist that would separate the island from the background - image above - I headed out in the dark arriving just before sunrise.

Finding a suitable place to camp on the top of Glyder Fach was tricky as it's just one mass of shattered, weathered rocks each way too big to move.  But after some searching I found a spot just large enough for my little tent on the South-Western side beyond the the summit.  It was a reasonably sheltered spot and had a great view across the valley to the Snowdon massif.

Soon after returning from my previous trip  - see here - to Snowdonia I knew I'd be returning again.  Last time we were just coming to the end of winter but with Spring, perhaps even early summer now here, my thoughts returned to camping as it's just so much easier than a hotel.  There is no creeping quietly out trying not to let a door slam or bang a camera bag against a wall whilst everyone is asleep and importantly, there is also no need to align my plans with breakfast/dinner times - a real plus.  

Wind the clock back to December when this trip was conceived and it was to be a week in the Scottish Cairngorms surrounded by snow-covered mountains and fabulous light.  Well, that was the idea.  With hind-sight, perhaps the idea was a little optimistic but, at the time, sat in front of a warm fire with a glass of Jura anything seemed possible.  The closer the trip came, the less it looked like my fire-side dream would be realised.  The Cairngorms were devoid of snow.