The Carneddau

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Route: North Wales Path, Blaen y Ddalfa, Drum, Bwlch y Gwryd, Foel-fras, Carnedd Gwenllian, Foel Grach, Gwaun y Garnedd, Carnedd Llewelyn, Bwlch Cyfryw-drum, Cefn Ysgolion Duon, Carnedd Dafydd, Carnedd Fach, Bwlch yr Ole Wen, Pen yr Ole Wen, Bryn Mawr, Afon Lloer, Tal y Llyn Ogwen

Date: 16/02/2019
From: Aber Falls

Parking: Small car park near Aber Falls / Layby on A5
Start Point: Aber Falls
Region: Snowdonia - The Carneddau

Route length: 12.2 miles (19.6 km)
Time taken: 08:15
Average speed: 2.0 mph
Ascent: 1,218m
Descent: 1,108m

Summits:  Drum (770m), Foel-fras (942m), Carnedd Gwenllian (926m), Foel Grach (976m), Carnedd Llewelyn (1,064m), Carnedd Dafydd (1,044m), Pen yr Ole Wen (978m)

Other points of interest: Cwm Lloer, Ysgolion Duon, Bwlch Cyfryw-drum, Bwlch Eryl Farchog

The Carneddau (the cairns) includes the largest continuous area of high ground over 900m in Wales and England, as well as seven of the highest Welsh peaks. The entire range covers nearly 200 square kilometres, about 10% of the area of Snowdonia.

A walk from north to south (or south to north) takes you along the very spine of the range, crossing the giants such as Carnedd Dafydd and Carnedd Llewelyn, but needs a bit of planning to make it happen. Having two cars for this is extremely handy. It is a walk I've wanted to do for a while and things fell into place one mid-February weekend.

After an early start, we left the hostel at Pen y Pass, driving through the drizzly rain to the A5 in the Ogwen Valley. This is where our finish point would be so we left a car in the long layby under the watchful eye of Tryfan. Half an hour later, we were stood in the sunshine in the small car park at the very end of the narrow lane that leads past the famed Aber Falls. The weather had been forecast to be fairly grim, with low cloud predicted for much of the day, so the pleasant sunshine came as a bit of a surprise. It was still, however, due to be very windy.

It was a nice, sunny morning in north Wales

Approaching from the north, the Carneddau are actually quite tame, beginning life as a series of broad, grassy hills of increasing size. In fact, the first three miles of this walk are a gentle climb along a well-made path which winds between the foothills of the Carneddau before reaching its first summit at Drum. Views across to valley to the neighbouring Llwytmor were impressive.

Foel Lwyd and Bwlch Ddeufaen

The Carneddau ponies

Looking along the tack towards Drum

Foel-fras

Llwytmor

Llwytmor

Close up of the crags above Llyn Anafon

Shelter atop Drum

We paused at Drum to take shelter from the strong wind among the stones on the summit before eyeing up our next objective, Foel-fras - the first of the 3,000ft peaks on this walk. While the path deteriorates from Drum onwards, it's still easy to follow as it travels alongside a fence much of the way. It dips down into the marshy Bwlch y Gwryd (aided by some strategically placed blocks of stone) before climbing more steeply to Foel-fras' summit.

The entrance to the Menai Strait from Drum

The sweeping ridge of Foel-fras

Looking across towards the Conwy Valley

Clouds build over the Glyderau

Llwytmor

Looking back towards Drum over Bwlch y Gwyrd

Pen y Castell

The final climb towards Foel-fras

Foel-fras' summit

Foel-fras it topped by a cap of boulders, strewn around in all directions. In fact, the remaining high fells of the Carneddau sport a similar appearance with grassy slopes topped by boulders. Despite being February, little in the way of snow remained after a series of warm, wet days had managed to wash the majority of it away - quite different to this day I had on Snowdon only a couple of weeks before. At Foel-fras, the path meets a drystone wall which runs along the top of the mountain.

The drystone wall (or fence in many places) runs much of the length of the Carneddau ridge and we followed it from Foel-fras to Carnedd Gwenllian - a small rise, nestled among the more prominent hills. Carnedd Gwenllian was called actually Garnedd Uchaf until very recently. For some years there was a campaign by the Princess Gwenllian Society to have the name of this peak changed to Carnedd Gwenllian. Gwenllian of Wales was the only daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (who lends his name to Carnedd Llewelyn). In 2009 the summit was officially renamed Carnedd Gwenllian and the Ordnance Survey has agreed to use the dual name on its maps from 2010 onwards.

The craggy peaks of Bera Mawr and Bera Bach

Carnedd Gwenllian and Foel Grach

Foel Grach

Looking back to Foel-fras

The rocky peak of Carnedd Gwenllian

Foel Grach

Clouds were being kicked up by the larger mountains on the ridge, sweeping over the hills to the north, casting roving shadows across the landscape. As we made the short climb to Foel Grach, we entered the gloom. We had expected to use the stone-built emergency shelter to take a break from the wind while we stopped for lunch but, sadly, the door was blocked by a pack of solid snow, barring our entry. we had to make do with sitting in the shelters' shelter, so to speak.

Yr Elen

Clouds creep in over Foel Grach

The path to Foel Grach

Clouds over Yr Elen

Looking back to Foel-fras

The summit of Foel Grach

The shelter below Foel Grach's summit

We pressed on, now entirely within the cloud. The climb to Carnedd Llewelyn is easy enough, though the obvious paths evident earlier in the day now stat to diminish. Given the time of day and the weather, we decided against heading out to Yr Elen on this occasion. By the time we had reached the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn, it had started raining and the wind had picked up again. It was looking like a wild couple of hours.

Foel Grach

Yr Elen disappears into the clouds

Climbing Carnedd Llewelyn

Carnedd Llewelyn's summit stones

We descended southwards down the eroded path which leads off the Carnedd Llewelyn's, bound for the narrow ridge which links Llewelyn to its neighbour, Carnedd Dafydd. On a nice day, this ridge is spectacular as it falls almost vertically into Cwmglas Mawr below. Today, however, we had to contend with fog and a very strong crosswind which threatened to push us off course, though we did get some very fleeting glances of the scenery around us.

The narrow ridge at Bwlc Cyfryw-drum

Bwlc Cyfryw-drum

Approaching Cefn Ysgolion Duon

Ysgolion Duon

By the time we reached Cefn Ysgolion Duon any hope of the weather lifting was extinguished and, in fact, things only seemed to get more challenging. After a slight lull, the exposed crest of the ridge caught the full force of the wind as we made our crossing. We passed the summit of Carnedd Dafydd, making tracks towards Pen yr Ole Wen and the shelter of its east ridge.

Carnedd Dafydd

Carnedd Dafydd is Wales' third highest mountain (fourth if you include Crib y Ddysgl) and forms the border between Gwynedd and Conwy. Its name translates to "David's Cairn", named after Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the younger brother of Wales' last independent prince.

We hastily crossed the summit of Pen yr Ole Wen, eager to start our descent and get out of the fierce wind. After dropping down the east ridge, it wasn't long before the wind began to ease and the views of the valley below began to appear. Some easy scrambling leads off the ridge into Cwm Lloer where a very boggy path makes its way back down to the valley, crossing Afon Lloer a number of times.

Pen yr Ole Wen

Pen yr Ole Wen's dramatic east ridge

Ogwen appears from the cloud

Looking into the Ogwen valley

Looking down on Bryn Mawr

Entering Bryn Mawr

Afon Lloer

A damp Tryfan at last light

We made it back to the car after dark but now had to contend with ore driving to collect the car parked near Aber Falls. It had been a wild afternoon after a morning of promise, however, given the forecast at the start of the day, I can't complain. To have the sun with us until lunchtime was an unexpected bonus but north Wales showed its ability to flip the weather on its head by the afternoon. A fine example of why you should be prepared for anything in the UK mountains.