Cader Idris

We left CAT in the afternoon
On the signs to Dolgellau
We were going to the mountains
I was not quite sure now how
I could ever climb up there
The Chair of Idris who
Had been a giant and a poet
Of Welsh Legend which threw

Me slightly I am old now
And my legs are very weak
It was pouring from the heavens
But getting to the peak
Is laborious and heavy going
And clearly on this day
Wasn’t going to be easy
For the mists can really prey

On walkers on those high plateau’e
Which ever path one takes
And so we decided to sit beside
The river for all our sakes
On the great souls apron
Many streams can be
Flowing white and crisp and cold
And underneath a tree

A chestnut tree we camped a while
Watching the walkers come
We threw chestnuts into the river
Watching them float and some
They float off into the distance
Over the waterfalls
Despite the rain it was beautiful
It kind of overhauls

The senses in so many ways
A glorious mountain sits
And watches over Snowdonia
The giant warrior pits
His massive strength and melody
You kind of felt it here
All the power of Nature
With the rugged cliffs so sheer

My friends had really wanted to
Go further that I knew
And I was holding them back
That much I felt so true
An old man really shouldn’t
Expect the youth to be
Curtailed by his inability
The frustration though could see

It’s the nineteenth highest mountain
In Wales
But actually
the second, most popular
The perspective is the key
The north face is quite brutal
And dangerous the ascent
The south face still takes 5 hours
But this time it wasn’t meant

For us to climb to Penygadir
Besides the mists were there
And the wonderful panorama
Would have been hard to share
With all the rain it clearly does
Spread its veil abroad
And the scenery that is clearly there
It’s then hard to afford

Still we sat there getting wetter
But the air up there is clear
Fresh and wild I felt like a child
Again the stream so near
The energy of Cader Idris
Thrusting on and on
And all of this not far from CAT
And I felt sad when we had gone

It was a great experience
Despite the heavy rain
Lots of cars were parked up there
Most with two sticks, again
They all walk with these special sticks
And most were set to be
Had all the gear and not an ounce of fear
For they were going to see

Up the fox path to the cliffs
Where the scenery would be
Set in the clouds and rising fast
With so much intensity
The splashing of the rivulets
The harmony of thought
The old legs straining upwards
Exalted by the sport

Water has that energy
It enlivens you and I
Was looking up at the great mountain
Up into the sky
Possibly I might one day come
And climb and sail
Like birds like chestnuts in the stream
Take a mountain trail
In the quietness and tranquility
Asking myself who was I
To hold back my accompanying friends
Who wanted to reach the sky

There is a dark frustration
An element of pain
When one become a nuisance
There is nothing left to gain
It’s a kind of stagnancy
It’s Gestureless I feel
Though the rain was really coming down
Clearly some conceal

The joyfulness of walking
Of stretching the muscles wide
Of climbing to the summit
Aware of the great ride
And being asked to stay down
On the river banks below
In a place all set for climbing
When ones vehicle is slow

The traction and reaction
The shortcoming we feel
What apparently is scalable
For me is very real
Clearly it’s a milestone
In what life one has left
Perhaps a ponderation
For the aching limbs bereft