| Cadair Idris | |
|---|---|
 Llyn Cau within the steep rock walls of Craig Cau. Penygadair, the summit of the mountain, is to the right |
|
| Elevation | 893 m (2,930 ft) |
| Location | Gwynedd,  Wales |
| Range | Snowdonia |
| Prominence | 608 m |
| Parent peak | Aran Fawddwy |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 124, Explorer OL23 |
| Easiest route | hike |
| OS grid reference | SH711130 |
| Listing | Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall |
| Translation | Chair of Idris (Welsh) |
| Pronunciation | Welsh: [ˈkadair ˈɪdrɪs] |
Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in Gwynedd, northwest Wales that lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park.
The mountain, which is one of the most popular in Wales for visitors, [1] is composed largely of Ordovician igneous rocks, with classic glacial erosion features such as cwms, moraines, striated rocks, and roches moutonnées.
Contents |
Names
Cadair Idris (English: the chair of Idris) is in reference to a giant of Welsh mythology who was said to have used Llyn Cau as an enormous armchair. The spelling Cader Idris is also found in both Welsh and English, as reflected in the name of the local secondary school, Ysgol y Gader (never Ysgol y Gadair). Although cader is not incorrect, Cadair Idris is the form used on current maps in reflection of modern standardised Welsh spelling.
It should be noted that the entire mountain is called Cadair Idris but its summit is known as Penygadair (English: top of the chair).
Ascent
| Listed summits of Cadair Idris | ||||
| Name | Grid ref | Height | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mynydd Moel | SH727136 | 863 metres (2,831 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
| Cyfrwy | SH703133 | 811 metres (2,661 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
| Craig Cwm Amarch | SH710121 | 791 metres (2,595 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
| Gau Graig | SH744141 | 683 metres (2,241 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
| Tyrrau Mawr | SH677135 | 661 metres (2,169 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
| Craig-y-llyn | SH677135 | 622 metres (2,041 ft) | Hewitt, Nuttall | |
There are three main trails that lead to the top of Cadair Idris. The summit, which is covered in scree, is marked by a trig point. There is also a low-standing stone shelter with a roof.
Pony Path
This route, which begins in the north from either Dolgellau or the Mawddach estuary, is the easiest but the longest of the main trails. Its length from the mountain's base is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) with a 600 metres (2,000 ft) climb.
Fox's Path
This is the most direct way to the summit as the trail leads straight up the northern face. The 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) ascent involves a climb up a 310 metres (1,000 ft) cliff-scree face. However this part of the Fox's Path has been heavily eroded in recent years by scramblers making the descent dangerous.
Minffordd Path
This route starts on the southern side of the mountain near the glacial Tal-y-llyn Lake. Hikers using this ascent climb past Llyn Cau and along the rim of Craig Cau (rockwall) to Penygadair. Its length is 4.4 kilometres (2.7 mi) and involves two climbs of over 300 metres (980 ft).
Geology
The crater-like shape of Llyn Cau has given rise to the occasional mistaken claim that Cadair Idris is an extinct volcano. This theory was discounted as early as 1872, when Charles Kingsley commented in his book Town Geology [2]:
| “ | I have been told, for instance, that that wonderful little blue Glas Llyn[3], under the highest cliff of Snowdon, is the old crater of the mountain; and I have heard people insist that a similar lake, of almost equal grandeur, in the south side of Cader Idris, is a crater likewise. But the fact is not so. | ” |
The natural bowl-shaped depression was formed by a cirque glacier during the last ice age when snow and ice accumulated in the corries due to avalanches on higher slopes. In these depressions, snow persisted through summer months, and becomes glacial ice. The cirque was up to a square kilometre in size surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs. The highest cliff was the headwall. The fourth side was the "lip" from which the glacier flowed away from the cirque. Over thousands of years ice flowed out through the bowl's opening carving the chair of Caldair Idris.
As the glacier eroded the lip down to the bedrock, there are several tear-drop shaped hills above the edge of Lyn Cau. These geologically-important rocky outcrops are called roche moutonnée (English: sheep-like rock) and were formed from the abrasive action of the ice.
Much of the area around Cadair Idris was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1957, and is home to arctic-alpine plants such as purple saxifrage and dwarf willow [4].
Myths and legends
There are numerous legends about Cadair Idris. Some nearby lakes are supposed to be bottomless, and anyone who sleeps on its slopes will supposedly awaken either a madman or a poet. This tradition (of sleeping on the summit of the Mountain) apparently stems from bardic traditions, where bards would sleep on the mountain in hope of inspiration.[5]
The mountain's name refers to the mythological giant Idris (Idris Gawr) who was said to have been skilled in poetry, astronomy and philosophy.[5] The name has sometimes been mistranslated by some popular authors as Arthur's Seat, in reference to King Arthur (and to the hill of the same name in Edinburgh), an idea used by author Susan Cooper in her book The Grey King. However, this is a modern invention and there is no etymological or traditional connection between Idris and Arthur.
In Welsh mythology, Cadair Idris is also said to be one of the hunting grounds of Gwyn ap Nudd and his Cŵn Annwn. The howling of these huge dogs foretold death to anyone who heard them, the pack sweeping up that person's soul and herding it into the underworld.
References
 |
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Cader Idris. |
- ^ "Cadair Idris". SnowdoniaGuide.com. http://snowdoniaguide.com/cader_idris.html. Retrieved October 31 2006.
- ^ Charles Kingsley. Town Geology at Project Gutenberg
- ^ "Glas Llyn" here refers to Glaslyn.
- ^ "Cadair Idris National Nature Reserve". United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/pa/0654v.htm. Retrieved October 31 2006.
- ^ a b Celtic Mythology. Geddes and Grosset. 1999. p. 480 Pages. ISBN 1-85534-299-5.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cadair Idris |
- Computer generated summit panoramas North South index
- A description of and guide to climbing Cadair Idris from h2g2
- www.geograph.co.uk : photos of and from Cadair Idris
Coordinates: 52°41′59″N 3°54′31″W / 52.699828°N 3.908693°W
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