The Carneddau

Around the southern tops

When I came back to finish my cross-Wales walk in 2006, I only had a single full stage to complete, the traverse of the Carneddau recounted below. There was a clear need to do something else while I was there; completing the Welsh 3000 footers was my choice. The northern Glyders formed one walk, and this round of the southern Carneddau the other. 
 
There is a good panorama of the southern tops of the Carneddau from the vicinity of Gwern Gof Isaf. I had plenty of time to savour this over three days, just by stepping out of the farm's bunkhouse door. But they are laid back somewhat from here, and for more dramatic views you need to get closer up. The view from Ogwen Cottage of the first on the circuit, Pen yr Ole Wen (pictured left), is especially dramatic, its shattered southern face looking daunting, as indeed it is; primarily scramblers' territory, there is a walkers' route but erosion is taking its toll. I chose the south-east ridge from above Ffynnon Loer, an enjoyable climb after an indistinct start above the wall at 667617, with a good little scramble (pictured right) just above a patch of quartzite visible from some distance away.
 
It's a characteristic of the Carneddau that once on top there is little up-and-down. Indeed in the mist I went a few yards past the top of Carnedd Dafydd before realising it was there. The cloud lifted thereafter and to pick up Yr Elen I contoured below Carnedd Llewellyn's peak on its western flanks, coming out just above the col between Llewellyn and Elen. I found no contouring track but no difficulty either. Yr Elen (pictured) is a lovely little viewpoint, with good views back where you had come and down into the cwms below.
 
Carnedd Llewellyn itself has a reputation. Guide books say it is confusing in mist owing to the breadth of its summit and the multiplicity of paths and ridges. Well, I was a newcomer, a little bit of cloud hung around, but it was nothing like a conundrum. From the col after Yr Elen, or anywhere else really, it's just a case of walking uphill till you can't any more. Once on top, take a bearing certainly, locate the relevant path and keep on line. It might have been different long ago (1974?) when the hills were less walked, perhaps. On my route off, above Craig yr Isfa, there is one little scrambly descent that needs respect, but no more. By the col below I had enough time in hand to pick up Pen yr Helgi Ddu as well; it's a sharp pull up from the col (not one I would have been keen on in descent), but the top is broad, the summit not immediately obvious but pick the big circular cairn, and a long, easy, grassy descent with Tryfan and the Glyders in full view follows. By the time you reach the leat draining Llyn Cowlyd (pictured right, Pen yr Ole Wen ahead), you're nearly home.

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Along the northern tops

Cross-Wales walk , day eighteen: Capel Curig to Llanfairfechan, across the Carneddau  
 
This famous traverse is nowhere near as demanding as it is sometimes made out, at least in the relatively clement conditions I encountered - all the hill tops save Drum were in mist, but from Carnedd Llewellyn onwards the ridges are so broad, with mostly well-trodden paths, that it's only GCSE navigation work, not A level or beyond. From my start point at Gwern Gof Isaf, it was a simple tramp up the reservoir road from the bunkhouse before climbing to the saddle above Craig yr Ysfa. Carnedd Llewellyn is a long mile from here, with one little scramble, and it was perhaps a bit reassuring to have travelled the opposite way on the previous circuit. The mist briefly broke to show cloud rolling dramatically off the ridges to the west (pictured).
 
Foel Grach, Garnedd Uchaf and Foel-fras all then follow easily enough; the central of these looks the least inspiring from the map but has an intriguing collection of boulders for its summit. If you top out on Foel-fras without noticing a really big wall and a trig point (pictured left) then you're either on the wrong hill or it really is a claggy day. Shortly after Drum the broad track becomes a lane, dropping to join the North Wales Path at power lines. This passes through a gorsey quasi-park with Llanfairfechan (pictured right) soon in view; enter it by passing around the farm at the top of the small town. On this Sunday afternoon its central area felt a bit nondescript, but after crunching over limpets to the edge of the sea followed by a decent fish tea in a big barn of a seaside cafe, I could think back over many happy miles across a great little country to walk through.
 
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Site created by Peter Aylmer of London

page created 25 November 2006, amended 9 May 2007