Monday 31st August 2015
On this holiday I had set myself the goal of visiting the top of all fifteen of the Welsh mountains above three thousand feet, and over the previous two days I had done the seven peaks around the Carneddau. Now I turned my attention across the A5 road to the Glyderau range of hills that stretches from Elidir Fawr in the west to Tryfan in the east. Many years ago I had thought of an innovative route up the western hills but until now I had not had the chance to try my route to see if it was as good as I’d hoped. I had not been on these hills
since 2009 when the weather had been poor, so I was eager to return to this area and explore these fabulous mountains. Under grey skies and with damp ground underfoot I set off from the car park beside Llyn Ogwen and up the constructed footpath that climbs steeply up the north-west ridge of Y Garn. Not far up the path I came off the clear way and headed across pathless grassy slopes below Pinnacle Crag and into the mouth of Cwm Cywion, which is a fabulously quiet valley with hardly any sign that anyone else had been there before.
It is astonishing that only because the maps don’t mark a path in this area few people venture there, but Cwm Cywion is a magical place with awesome crags and many options for safe exploration. On the steep grassy slope, after crossing the stream that comes out of Cwm Cywion, the sun began trying to come out and afforded me with some great views back over Llyn Ogwen and towards the distinctive skyline of Tryfan. When I eventually reached the top of the ridge, Y Llymwyd, I plunged into patchy clouds that gave me fleeting views across the valley and into the steep sided Cwm-coch on the other side of the ridge. The cold, northerly wind that I suffered with on Saturday, and was pleasantly absent on Sunday, was now back forcing me to wrap up as the clouds billowed through the gaps in the ridge. A clear path had now emerged on the top of the ridge reassuring me that I wasn’t the first to walk here as I made my way along the short ridge and up the scree to the grassy top of Foel-goch.
The appeals of this new route were actually short lived with the main advantage being that I’d never done it before and that it’s rarely walked by anyone. The top of Foel-goch was in thick clouds and the poor weather continued as I headed along the path down the scree on the other side of the hill and around the top of Cwm Dudodyn. Still in thick cloud I came off the path and climbed a steep, grassy slope up to the top of Mynydd Perfedd. Turning left I followed the narrowing ridge until it steepened to a rock step above the excitingly narrow Bwlch y Marchlyn. This is a delicious ridge that was a delight to walk over despite the strong winds that were forcing me to wrap up tight, but I was enjoying this ridge too much to be concerned about the wind. As I started climbing the gloriously rocky slopes beyond the saddle towards Elidir Fawr I was reminded of great mountains in Scotland and thought that it is a tragedy that what in Scotland would be a proud Munro is here a neglected hill overshadowed by its vastly more popular neighbours.
The craggy climb took me all the way up to the top of this great mountain where I stopped near the summit, sheltered from the cold winds, and had my lunch. As I began to leave the summit I was thinking that Elidir Fawr must be one of the best mountains in Wales, which is praise indeed. In response, as I passed back along that fabulous ridge again the weather began to clear so that by the time I was passing across the slopes below Mynydd Perfedd the sun had come out and the weather continued to improve throughout the afternoon. The cold wind seemed to have changed direction during my lunch and had eased by the time I reached the summit of Y Garn with the clouds lifting to enable me to enjoy fabulous views back towards Elidir Fawr. I had originally planned on descending back to the road from Y Garn but with the weather getting better I knew that it would be madness to stop now, so after coming down the long slopes of Y Garn to Llyn y Cŵn I kept going and started climbing the horrendous scree slopes of Glyder Fawr.
I knew from experience that this route up Glyder Fawr is a dull trudge up loose stones in surroundings that are totally devoid of vegetation in a landscape that has been described as a moonscape. Piles of stones mark the route up a scree-filled rake and across a featureless scree-field eventually reaching the summit on one of the many rock stacks that litters the top of the mountain. I was relieved to finally reach the top of Glyder Fawr, but the sunshine and the stunning views behind me across the gap of Llyn y Cŵn towards Y Garn were awesome and made the climb seem less frustrating than it could have been. By the time I reached the top the clouds had lifted even from here but were not far above the tops as I made my across the shattered summit rocks of Glyder Fawr towards Glyder Fach. I had thought of descending Y Gribin between these two mountains but the good weather made me change my plans once again.
The sight of Glyder Fach ahead of me as I descended towards Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder proved irresistible and so invigorating that I leaped up the rocks to the top of this mountain seemingly with the vigour of youth. I have no idea where I got this from but I was abounding with energy as I leapt from boulder to boulder past Castell y Gwynt and over the vast collection of enormous rocks that make up the summit of Glyder Fach. I have always thought that this fabulous mountain is considerably more fun to walk over than its slightly higher neighbour and I’ve always thought it a tragedy that the elemental forces that shaped these mountains should have made the greater mountain slightly smaller than its tedious companion. I jumped and leapt over the summit rocks until I eventually reached and straddled the boulder that is the very highest point of Glyder Fach. Feeling ten years younger I was reluctant to leave the summit but eventually I made my way back to the col and to top of Y Gridin.
I had only once before descended this ridge,
in 2005, and now I was definitely feeling ten years older as I had a little problem finding a route scrambling down the steep rock face. I was relieved when I finally reached the bottom of the scramble where the ridge levels and I was able to relax while passing a few mountain goats before the ridge narrowed for the final descent to Llyn Bochwyd. There I found a path around Bochlwyd Buttress and down the boggy slopes back to my car at the end of this awesome walk. In changeable weather I had been over some great mountains, and others that were in the way, on a walk that seemingly had everything. Cold winds in the morning were replaced with stunning sunshine that had me leaping about like a teenager. I really enjoyed this walk amongst stunning rock scenery in this fabulous area.
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