The Nantlle Ridge and Cnicht

Tuesday 1st September 2009

My tour of the greatest mountains in Wales continued with the Nantlle Ridge, a fabulous narrow ridge near Snowdon. After parking near the village of Rhyd Ddu I set off across sodden fields and up the steep unrelenting slope of Y Garn. This is a fabulous path that has not been blighted as others have been in the area: it’s not been manufactured, so it’s simply formed by the tread of many walkers in the past, including myself. I have climbed this slope several times and each time I have been rained on during the climb; as this was the norm for this week it’s obvious I was also rained on this time as several showers passed over me before eventually I reached the summit of Y Garn and the northern end of the Nantlle Ridge. Astonishingly I had clear views from the top as the skies cleared and from this point I began a fantastic walk scrambling along the top of the ridge. The scramble up to Mynydd Drws-y-coed is first rate, while the sheer cliffs to my right and the wet rocks ensured a hair-raising experience. I have never been on this ridge in good weather, so I was enjoying the clear views that I now had, but as I reached the top of the mountain clouds descended onto the ridge and normal service was resumed. While battling strong winds I made my way along the ridge to the top of Trum y Ddysgyl. With the Nantlle Ridge half complete I sadly had to leave it behind and make my way back down into the valley. The Nantlle Ridge is a wonderful walk, it’s really quite special, but it does not lend itself easily to round walks so after walking along the best part of the ridge, the scramble up Mynydd Drws-y-coed, I decided to descend the south ridge of Trum y Ddysgyl and go elsewhere for another walk.

Near the bottom of the descent I looked back at the Nantlle Ridge and found the whole ridge completely clear of clouds. I was almost angry with the ridge for waiting until I’d descended before clearing! Fortunately it didn’t stay clear for long. At the bottom of the grassy ridge is the pass, Bwlch-y-Ddwy-elor, where I joined a bridlepath that passes through into a lovely display of the pink flowers of heather. One of the advantages of walking at this time of the year is the wonderful colour of the heather-clad moors that make a real treat of what at other times is dull terrain. On plunging into a wood a wet, muddy path took me all the way down to my car. Immediately, I drove through the Pass of Aberglaslyn to the village of Croesor and a car park where I had my lunch.

After I had eaten I began the second walk of the day as I climbed up to the top of a mountain that is sometimes described as the Welsh Matterhorn, for its conical appearance from Croesor: Cnicht. Climbing steeply at first I turned into an area of heather and bracken where Cnicht could be seen ahead of me looking intimidatingly steep, but annoyingly with its top covered in clouds. As I climbed higher the path became more fun as rock was more prevalent while the gradient was steeper. After much fun I plunged into the clouds with the howling wind blowing around me and soon, after more scrambling, I reached the summit, where I found a grassy ridge behind the perfect mountain peak. This was still fun to walk along until the ridge deteriorated and widened into moorland where I had to take great care in the poor weather as I made my way across the moor to a path that crossed mine.

Turning right I followed this path across the undulating terrain, though it does not seem to agree with that on the map but parallels it heading south past the lakes, LLynnau Diffwys, until I reached the bottom of the saddle on the top of Cwm Croesor at a miners' road. Turning right it was really fun walking along this track that was perched high above the valley on a ledge that would have required some great engineering in its construction, but soon stopped at the top of a steep incline down to the valley floor. An attempt to descend the incline in the wet weather would have been suicide so I sensibly decided to return along the track to the point where I’d joined it. There I found a much more disintegrated miners' path that descended over a stream and ingeniously crossed the slopes of the southern side of the valley. I love miners’ tracks on mountains because even though the mining ceased decades ago they remain as a testament to the skill of those long-forgotten miners.

Before long I was at the top of another incline though this one was grass covered and less steep. Without a moment's thought I took the plunge and started walking down the incline but soon, inevitably, I slipped over on the wet grass so deliberately allowed myself to slide all the way down on my backside. There’s not a more fun way down a hillside! At the bottom I walked along the bed of an old tramway all the way back to Croesor. Despite the bad weather and the difficulties with the path on the moor I really enjoyed this walk, especially the climb up Cnicht, a truly great mountain. This is a fascinating area from a mining point of view and I would love to return and explore the old miners’ tracks some more, but preferably when it’s not raining. I’m getting a bit fed up of being rained on.