Sarn Helen and Swallow Falls

Tuesday 3rd September 2019

As the weather deteriorated on my holiday with rain and strong winds, it felt as though my memorial tour of Wales, where I was reliving some of my most memorable walks of the last twenty years in Wales, was falling apart. I was unable to do the walks that I had planned, partly because the very thing that had made these walks so memorable was the great weather that I had enjoyed at the time. In desperation I trawled the internet for inspiration until I found a walk on the mudandroutes.com website for a Sarn Helen Walk from Capel Curig, which seemed a good option for a wet weather walk. Therefore, in miserable, drizzly weather, I parked in Capel Curig and set off onto the byway that passes to the north of the village initially on a route that was the same one that I had taken with a load of guys from my church the day after we had climbed Snowdon together in 2011. It was raining for that walk as well. I followed the byway to the road west of Capel Curig and after passing Plas y Brenin (the National Mountain Centre) I entered the woodland of Coed Bryn-engan. Astonishingly I ended up making the same mistake as eight years ago when I missed the junction in the wood and came to the bridge over the Afon Llugwy that is not far from the Plas Curig Hostel (formally YHA Capel Curig).

This time I realised my mistake and retraced my steps to the junction where I took an interesting, narrow path through the woods that brought me to a footbridge over spectacular rapids beside Cobden’s Hotel. Just downstream of the rocks there are shingle islands that are overlooked by overgrown trees that have combined to create a delightful area that was far more pleasing than the view from the hotels on the main road. Continuing south along the footpath beside the river I passed through a meadow to Pont Cyfyng where I turned right to walk along the road for a bit before climbing steeply up a track that soon made me very hot and sweaty in my waterproofs. I didn’t feel much better once the gradient had eased as now the rain was blowing into my face so keeping my head down I made my way across the exposed moorland until finally I plunged into a dull conifer plantation that at least provided me with some protection from the wind and rain. A gentle descent through the wood brought me down to the bottom of Glyn Lledr in the village of Dolwyddelan where I stopped to attend to a pain in my toes and also took the opportunity to buy some food before setting off once again, now following the valley bottom beside the Afon Lledr.

The rain was now very light, almost negligible and the skies seemed brighter though still overcast so I could almost ignore the poor weather as I happily strolled along the quiet valley bottom lane enjoying my surroundings. Eventually I crossed the river at Pont-y-pant and climbed a short, beautifully decorated path onto a narrow road that gradually climbs out of the valley. At the top of the road I continued ahead onto a lane that is the route of the Roman road Sarn Helen. Soon after I started to climb this track I was startled by a motorbike zooming down the hillside towards me and when he passed said, “You’d better watch out there are five of us.” Once the other much slower bikers had passed I continued up the lane passing over the hill and entering another conifer woodland I passed Rhiwddolion just before the stony lane started to descend steeply towards Betws-y-Coed. It became very misty as I descended, which added a spooky and mysterious air to the surroundings as I carefully made my way down the lane to the A5 road that passes through Betws-y-Coed.

Crossing the road I dropped onto a bridge over the Afon Llugwy that is called the Miner’s Bridge and is interesting to cross because it sits at a steep gradient above the churning waters of the river below with stunning views up and down the thickly tree-lined ravine. From the bridge I climbed steeply up to a road now following the route of the Snowdonia Slate Trail which initially follows the road above the steep wooded ravine of the river Afon Llugwy slowly gaining height until eventually I came off the road to follow a good path that clings to the cliffs above the raging torrent below until finally I reached the spectacular Swallow Falls. I have wanted to visit these waterfalls for many years but despite driving past them many times I had never taken the opportunity having eyes only for mountains. Now the poor weather ensured that I would have my opportunity, but I must say I was very disappointed that I couldn’t get a closer look. The viewpoint from this path is a long way from the falls through a narrow gap in the trees so I didn’t really feel as if I’d been to Swallow Falls, but this sort of thing is typical of waterfalls.

On the path above the falls I was now able to follow the riverbank where many delightful wild flowers decorated the scene until I reached the main road beside the so-called Ugly House. Turning away from the river I walked up a ridiculously steep road that totally wore me out and completely baked me in my waterproofs until I thankfully came to a track high above the valley that took me on an almost straight route all the way into Capel Curig. Occasionally at this time the sun tried to make an appearance, but all day it was either raining or drizzling with hardly any end to the miserable conditions. However, this was not a bad walk for the weather, which was certainly not the weather for going up a mountain with strong winds that would have been horrible up high. Ten or fifteen years ago I might still have gone up Snowdon in these conditions, but I’m not as stupid as I was. I had set myself the target of seeing Swallow Falls on this holiday and I’m happy that I was able to take advantage of the poor weather to see the waterfalls that I’ve longed to see for many years.