When you hear about a pass in a mountainous landscape, you think of Alpine mountaintops reaching a couple of thousand metres altitude. Here in Wales the Pen-y-Pass is 360 metres above sea level, which is high enough for the local hostel to proudly announce it on its website. As I have just sent to friends of ours a few images of Jennifer’s and my journey across the Andes, where we travelled at an altitude of 4,400 metres; when I am writing this, it wasn’t the altitude that impressed us, but the light with fast-moving clouds changing the landscape all the time.
The first images are of Lake Gwynant on the southeast side of the Snowdon massif. Then we took the road over the Pen-y-Pass just north of Mount Snowdon and followed the Afon (river) Nant Peris down to Llanberis. Whereas we had lots of blue skies above us, the Snowdon massif was covered in thick clouds that prevented us seeing the mountain itself.
Further down towards Llanberis we passed the lake of Llyn Peris, where a quarry had been operating in the past. It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales (and in the world) and employed 3,000 men at the height of its activity. The quarry closed in 1969, but it is now a slate museum.
