The Carneddau
Date: 22-Jul-2008
Map: Landranger 115
Weather: Warm sunshine below a cloud base obscuring the summits
A Carneddau round, up to Cwm Lloer and Pen yr Ole Wen. Along the ridge to Carnedd Fach, Carnedd Dafydd. Then above the cliffs at Cefn Ysgolion, and up to Carnedd Llewelyn. Down to the ridge of Bwlch Eryl Farchog, follow Y Braich down to the valley and return to the start: 9.9 miles on the map, but we’ll call it 10 shall we?
A quick check on the
Metcheck site -
http://www.metcheck.com suggested that the weather maybe
ok for this ridge walk. The peaks were high and only second
to
The
way ahead is past the farmstead and up the centre The
view over Llyn Ogwen towards Foel-goch covered in cloud I didn’t
start too early today, but there were plenty of car parking
spaces alongside the A5 road, and not a traffic warden in
sight. It was lovely and warm in the sunshine, and true to
form stupid me didn’t put enough sunscreen on – I ended the
day with a beetroot head. My excuse is that the scenery was
so good I forgot about everything else. My starting point
was just past the end of Llyn Ogwen. I crossed a small stone
bridge and walked up the lane to the farm at Tal y Llyn
Ogwen, and here the route turned up the hillside. There was
a school party just ahead of me with the usual mix of ‘I’ll
get to the top first’ and ‘am I bothered’ teenagers. But I
soon left them behind as they kept stopping to look at
various features and wait for the stragglers. The
path more or less follows the stream up the hillside A
beautiful scene, almost alpine in nature – it only lacks a
bit of snow The path
up the hillside wasn’t too steep and passed through a mix of
bracken and rough grass, although the ground was wet it
wasn’t boggy and it made a pleasant change not to worry
about sinking up to my shins. There were wooden marker posts
along the way to try and keep people to the path, but
judging by the number of different trails up the hillside
they’re not too successful. The views back across the valley
were superb with Tryfan dominating the skyline, as it did
all day - when I could see it. The alternative route up to
Pen yr Ole Wen would be to set out from Idwal Cottage before
Llyn Ogwen, but that would be an unrelenting slog directly
up the hillside. I followed the stream up until just below
the Ffynnon Lloer tarn and turned to my left to climb away
from the water and up along a natural rock channel
(apparently there are some remains of a crashed plane down
around the tarn). This took me up to the top of Pen yr Ole
Wen, but it did involve some scrambling.
Carnedd Fach above Cwm Lloer The
rock channel up from bottom right to middle left The
worst of the scramble is a squeeze up the rock face on the
left The
view behind you after the scramble, the tarn is to the left
Looking east from the ridge up to Pen y Ole Wen
Looking down on Ffynnon Lloer The
clouds sweep in over Tryfan Most of
the foot and handholds are good even where a bit of
stretching was involved. I was soon up and over the rocky
scramble and then onto good paths as the rocks become shaley
slate up to the top. There is a big drop down to the tarn
over the cliffs to the right, but unless it was blowing a
gale I would feel safe coming up this way. As I gained
height the views gradually disappeared until I became
enveloped in mist. I knew that the ridge was stony along the
way, and it all looked the same in places, so I had to use
map and compass to be sure of where I was heading. On a good
day the way ahead would be easily seen, with big stone The
view down from close to the top of Pen y Ole Wen Not
much to see here – the way veers around to the east towards
Carnedd Dafydd
Carnedd Dafydd and the stony summit cairn An
easy path along, but there are 600ft drops to the north – so
watch your step My
lunch companions appear from the mist on top of Carnedd
Llewelyn After a
good break I got up and wandered around the large summit
area to find my route down off Carnedd Llewelyn. Easy enough
in good light, but I had to rely on the compass again. But
when I found the route, it was easy enough to follow down
the slopes. Once again I was denied some spectacular views
to the east this time, and I was also aware that there are
some big drops here. I quickly walked along the grassy slope
of Penywaun Wen
and eventually it brightened as I dropped below the cloud
base just in time to see the Bwlch Eryl Farchog
come into view. The
way down to the ridge More
great views – not, big drops here too
Sunshine and fun – the Bwlch Eryl Farchog ridge From
this point to the finish I was in bright sunshine, and
stupid me didn’t have my hat on because it was absolutely
drenched. So as I sit here typing this out the laptop screen
has a strange reddish glow from the reflection of my beacon
like brow! By the way, I shall be taking two baseball hats
on my next walk – one to sweat into on the way up, and one
for a more comfortable journey down. The ridge itself was a
delight to walk along, there is an initial scramble down to
the ridge itself – some care needs to be taken, but its not
too much of a struggle. There are plenty of good handholds
and footfalls to guide you down. The views from here were
spectacular as Tryfan comes into view across the valley,
beyond the black water of the Ffynnon Llugwy reservoir. I
could hear a couple of buzzards screeching around the crags
but didn’t spot any. There were plenty of Skylarks and
Wagtails around today, and as you would guess sheep
everywhere – not many had been to the shearer yet and it
must have been toasting in that woolly jumper. I did meet a
rather large beast towards the end of the walk, and judging
by the look he was giving me I was glad to be the other side
of the fence.
Looking east over the disused slate works of Cwm Eigiau The
path across to Pen yr Helgi Du – veer off to the right
before the top
Looking back up to Carnedd Llewelyn, still shrouded in mist Back
along the Bwlch Eryl Farchog ridge A
great view across the black waters of Ffynnon Llugwy
reservoir On
the narrow sheep track that leads to Y Braich At the
end of the ridge I had a choice of climbing up to the top or
traversing along the side of Y Braich on a narrow path. I
chose the latter as it was misty looking to the east and I
had better views of the ridges I walked and of course Tryfan
across the valley. I was high above the reservoir now and
the path was little more than a sheep track, very loose
scree in places but ok if you take care. Eventually it
climbs to crest the ridge of Y Braich which continues down
to the valley on a wide grassy track. After crossing over a
wall I continued down until the water channel (that takes
water from the Afon Llugwy to the Llyn Cowlyd reservoir
to the east), and here I turned west for a very
peaceful short walk along by the leet. I rested a while to
take in the views along the valley, with no noise until the
jets arrived! But even they were flying slowly as they
banked and turned at 90deg to pass over the end of Llyn
Ogwen to follow the Nant Ffrancon valley to the north. Not
so much a roar of jet engines, more a gentle purring as if
trying not to disturb the peace. I took a picture and you
can see the jet passing by Tryfan if you look very closely.
The
reason I didn’t see much on top The
view back to the start of the day, a steep climb up the left
side of the Cwm
Tryfan with Glyder Fach behind The
water channel with the Llugwy valley stretching away beyond
to Capel Curig Prime
Welsh Beef – you looking at me?? From the
water channel I turned down a metalled road to the A5,
followed the road for a little way before crossing over and
walking up to a track that ran parallel to the road back
towards the car.
By now the cloud had all but disappeared from Tryfan, but
still lingered over the higher peaks. I had a good view of
the ‘Adam and Eve’ pillars at the top. It was a lovely easy
stroll back along the valley, passing by a couple of
campsites beneath Tryfan before recrossing the road back to
the car. Who knows how long it would have taken me to walk
along the ridges if the views had been good – maybe I would
have run out of memory on my camera? It was 6 hours in the
mist with a good long lunch break. As I drove back along the
North Wales coastline I had far reaching views across the
Cheshire plain to the Pennines, ironic when I couldn’t see
more than 10m earlier. Hard work on the way up, but a
pleasant stroll on the way down. Spot
the jet – its centre picture – hard to spot against Tryfan Now I
know walking is good and keeps me fit, but flying up these
valleys in a jet – it must be Brilliant.
