My first time back in glorious Snowdonia after my ankle incident, and it was wonderful to be back, and wonderful also to be paying a long, long overdue the Carneddau. I last summited Carneddau Llewelyn and Dafydd when I was 17, on a school weekend trip almost half my lifetime ago. It was then that I first fell in love with the Ogwen Valley and all the wonders surrounding it.
This time I had a slightly different objective, I was starting from Gerlan (above Bethesda), the goals were Carnedd Dafydd, Carnedd Llewelyn, Foel Grach and whatever else I felt suited on the way back.
a choice of stiles
OK, so things got off to a dodgy start. I decided I knew better than to bother reading the guidebook and that the more direct path towards Cwm Pen-Llafar was on the left of the river (it's actually on the right). I was skirting around a farmyard with a hoard of dogs going completely mental within moments, then I briskly made my way up on a more-or-less trackless route through fields and reeds. I got a bit lost around some ruins, I crossed the rather broken stile on the right of the photo above and had to precariously cross a barbed wire fence, trying to avoid damaging my new pants. I thought crossing the river to join the path would be straightforward but it simply wasn't. I saw the good path up the Mynydd Du, and despite best efforts, I was unable to cross to reach it.
I decided at this point I would try the Crib Lem / Llech Du scramble after all. My first proper scramble for a good while as it goes... So I progressed on the non-path side of the river through reeds, bogs, etc up the Cwm before eventually finding a suitable crossing point. We live and learn.
not 'the' infinity pool, but maybe it's 'an' infinity pool?
the sun hitting the slopes above
The going was much easier once I got on the good path on the right / West side of Cwl Pen-Llafar. It's a veritable motorway for the hillwalker by all accounts.
looking across the cwm toward Yr Elen
I found the walk up through Cwm Pen-Llafar completely gorgeous. It's so unspoilt and prime for wild-camping. I'll be back without a doubt. It's also really remote, and the sense of disconnection from the bustling world made the prospect of the forthcoming scramble feel all the more serious, even if it is rated at grade 1.
I had photographs of the pages of Steve Ashton's book for this scramble in my phone, on studying these I came to understand that the approach route could have been a lot easier. I also figured out where I needed to go next. I'd recommend always taking a guide for these sorts of things, and using it from the off!
The guide advises one to 'avoid the temptation' of going headlong up these cliffs. I wasn't so tempted anyway as it goes. The route goes up to the right and appears fairly well trodden.
Cwmglas Bach
Foel Meirch - a Nuttall by all accounts and thus on the to-do list for another day
a grassy ramp leads up to the start of the scrambling proper
Carnedd Llewelyn
some high-level sheep to be spotted
as I surmounted the shoulder of Crib Lem I heard a lot of noise behind me. The farmers and their sheepdogs were rounding up the sheep. Given the positioning of the sheep, it appeared they had quite the day ahead of them!
Looking up the Crib Lem ridge. Awesome stuff in the most awesome of surroundings
Yr Elen looking all the more impressive from this position
I'm referring to this as 'the famous bit' on the Crim Lem route. I used the ledge to the right on this photo. When I go back I'll definitely be up on the slab though.
Tryfan and Pen yr Ole Wen from Carnedd Dafydd summit
in a bit of a cloud sadly
Cefn Ysgolion Duon
Carnedd Llewelyn summit. The cairn is actually the summit. I spent a wee while figuring this out as the rocks on the left can't be much lower. This is indeed the very top of the Carneddau and the third highest point in England and Wales. The picture doesn't show it but the wind was full-on up here.
looking back to Carnedd Dafydd from whence I had come
The path from Carnedd Dafydd to Foel Grach is not entirely obvious, I took a bearing and over grass and a few rocky bits before finding it all come together as more of a trod. It's a steady cross-country walk vibe between the peaks of the Carneddau, and if it were not for the 'top of the world' style views you might as well be anywhere. Easy going walking in the most part, but the atmosphere is incredible and, despite the presence of a few fellow hillwalkers here or there, these are some of the most remote locations available in England and Wales and the extra distance between here and 'civilisation' makes the prospect of rolling an ankle, or worse, feel all the more sinister. Unlike Snowdon, this mountain is not abandoned to the tourist. There are no railways, pipelines, nor ill-equipped chavs.
approaching Foel Grach summit
Foel Grach summit rocks
the emergency shelter
The emergency shelter at Foel Grach provided enough cover from the wind to be able to enjoy a wee sandwich. Here I met a fella and two lasses who turned out to all be on a double-date (he was under a lot of pressure as he had to make a pick when he returned to sea-level), and a couple of brave MTB dudes. I don't take umbridge to meeting cyclists on terrain like this - granted they were illegal and not on a bridleway, but bicycle tyres don't do any more harm than footprints in the majority of instances, and anyway, there is more than enough space for everyone on the Carneddau. The local wild ponies likely churn the ground up more, and they are also not on a bridleway. I'm a fell-walker but I was once an MTB dude myself, and I want us all to get on better than we apparently do sometimes.
Whilst consuming my sandwich I observed that Carnedd Uchaf (or Gwenllian if one feels inclined) was much in a cloud. I decided to skip this summit and to take the trod on it's western slopes. I was tired and not in the mood for navigating pathless in fog, and decided a direct return was wiser than trying to include Bara Bach and Drosgyl this time, bearing in mind also that I had taken on the more arduous scrambling option of Crib Lem earlier in the day.
This trod is faint but relatively easy to follow and is rather fantastically marked with stones which have been remarkably wedged and balanced to fashion vertical waypoints. I wound up off-course at one point but only by say 40 metres.
Yr Elen looks splendid - I'll be back to bag this one!
a wild pony - they really aren't shy
Toward Cwm Caseg from Gyrn Wigau
the zip-world quarry in the distance
A steep descent through slopes that I can best describe as 'sheep central' took me to a track. On reaching the pumping station I ran into the day's final obstacle in the form of a sheep-herding operation in the track that I wanted to use to get back directly to the layby in which I had parked.
I wasn't even sure if said track was a right-of-way (it's one of those lanes in white on an OS map...). I decided to leave the farmers in peace to crack on with what I reckon is fairly tough work, and I reverted back up the hill to meet a definite right of way, a swift ten-minute detour brought me back to the car.
To conclude I thoroughly enjoyed my day out on the Carneddau, the vibe is different to the Glyderau and Snowdon range, it's all that bit more remote. These mountains aren't without interest either, there are beautiful cwms and crags, and as for scrambling the Crib Lem scramble was fantastic, underrated to say the least. As for the potential wild-camping opportunities, it's somthing else! I'll certainly be back here in the spring for a summit camp or several.
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