UK Mountains Expedition Report

Peaks climbed : Gryn Wigau (643m), Foel Meirch (800m)

Total Distance : 19km, Total Ascent : 1,320m

Parking up in Bethesda there was a bit of a walk through the town to get off-road. Given that we walked along small backstreets it was remarkably busy but eventually we got onto open ground. Gyrn Wigau is pretty straightforward, just follow the obvious track up the obvious ridge and eventually the summit arrives. Unfortunately, so did the rain in buckets! Added to this, the summit was in cloud so the first summit of the trip was a very wet one with zero views! Welcome to Wales.

I didn't stop long and was soon heading off for the valley crossing to pick up the path to Meirch, my second summit of the day. I'd planned the route to cross the River Caseg at a ford, but when I got there, it was impossible and impassable. I took a walk up and down to no avail, there would be no crossing of this river today. I came across a couple of other walkers in a similar predicament and we agreed the only course of action would be to return to Bethesda and cross there. This added a significant amount of time and distance to my day which was disappointing, but I had a plan and it needed to work!

Back down and almost in the town, I took a short-cut path to get to the bridge, this proved a bad decision as it was very overgrown and badly maintained - I got soaked walking through the undergrowth and even had to scale a wall - there was a gap in the wall, but I would have had to crawl through it!

Across the bridge, I started back up again on a well waymarked path which I followed for a while until a smaller path led off towards my destination - the main path went into the valley, to the Llech Ddu Spur, an original plan, but as I haven't done it and the weather was not ideal, I decided to leave it for another day. Meirch is a steep proposition with just one flat section on the way up, otherwise it's 500 metres of steep climbing. The summit is well worth it though, with Daffyd behind and the Llech Ddu Spur over the huge drop. Looking down on it, the route seemed quite doable, even in bad weather so maybe another visit will include it.

I stopped long enough to take some photos, have some food and drink and enjoy the solitude for a while before the inevitable descent back to Bethesda. Again it was straightforward but steep down so the knees complained. Once in Bethesda I followed my outward route in reverse and was soon back at the (free) car park.

Peaks climbed : Craig Eigiau (735m), Pen Yr Helgi Du (833m), Pen Llithrig-y-wrach (799m), Craiglwyn (623m), Craigiau Gleison (678m), Pen Cowlyd (634m)

Total Distance : 23km, Total Ascent : 1,502m

The car park for this route is challenging to say the least. It is several miles up a very thin road with very few passing places. I arrived early in the hope that nothing would be coming down at that time and thankfully the plan worked.

Heading off, it was pretty much uphill from the get go, but on a reasonable path and I made good progress. Forty minutes later I was stood on the first summit of the day, looking ahead to the huge peaks to come. I had a big descent to the valley, a river to cross and then the biggest climb of the day up onto Helgi Du. As I approached, I took a few minutes to plan my assault on the mountain, spying a good track that went left of the old slate works, then more or less directly up.

Descending was all off-path as there was nothing to follow apart from the odd sheep track but I finally got to the river and the slate works. A nice bridge saved the effort of boulder hopping and I was soon on the path which contoured around until a steep climb saw me heading up. It turned out it was actually a stream but I was able to follow it for a good distance before it disappeared and left me to struggle through the heather and undergrowth steadily upwards. It was exhausting work and I was glad to see the summit ridge approaching, although from this angle, it was still some distance and some climbing to stand on the actual summit, but nowhere near as hard as the first section. Helgi Du is a disappointment, having nothing to signify the summit. The views across to the Ogwen Valley do compensate though and with the good weather I could easily make out Tryfan, the Glyders and even Snowdon beyond.

There is a large cairn a little way off the actual summit. Why it wasn't built on the summit I have no idea, but it provided me with a rest stop for a drink and biscuit and to give Rosie some breakfast. Eventually, we packed away and headed off to our next mountain; Llithrig-y-wrach which seemed to tower above but actually is a little lower. Of course, there was the big descent to deal with but we soon got onto the slopes and made our way up on a good path right to the summit. From there, our final three mountains came into view on the other side of the lake. It was a big descent with no path so took some effort going down but we got to the river and bridge and declared lunch time.

After lunch we started up Craiglwyn, again on no paths. The going was extremely tough with heather, fern and wet ground to negotiate but finally we reached the ridgeline path. Due to some meanderings we had to turn right to summit the mountain, then return the way we came and ascend the fifth peak of Craigiau Gleison which, whilst on a good path, sapped what remained of the strength, especially the final section which involved scrambling over rocks. The summit was, however, well worth it, with excellent views back to Llithrig-y-wrach, down to the lake and onward to our final peak.

Another drink break was in order and with the glorious weather, made for a fine stop, but needs must and we packed away and walked over to Pen Cowlyd less than half a mile distant. By now, almost the entire remaining walk was in view but I had a bad feeling about what was to come and I was right! To get down to the dam was completely pathless and thick heather hid rocks and holes, combined with chest high ferns resulted in a bit of a sense of humour failure. I was pleased to get down to the water.

Along the waters edge and over the dam, we got onto good paths which bought us eventually back to the car and the end of the toughest day (I hope). All that remained was the drive down the road with prayers being said to the God of roads that nothing would be coming up at this time. The prayers were answered and we got to the bottom without incident. In fact, just as I turned onto the main road, a car signalled to go up the lane - if we had left a couple of minutes later, we'd have met it on the way up!

Peaks climbed : Tal y Fan (610m), [Foel Lwyd (603m)], Carnedd y Ddelw (688m), [Y Drum (770m)], Pen y Castell (623m)

Total Distance : 12km, Total Ascent : 838m

Having my good friend Ken along for the day was a triple bonus. First and foremost, Ken is great company on a walk, secondly, he knows the area really well and thirdly, having two cars meant we could avoid a long road walk by parking one just below Pen y Castell and the other at the start of the walk a couple of (road) miles away.

Setting off in fine weather we had a little road walking to do back down to the path, but it was then off road and onto a fine path which took us steadily uphill and onto the slopes of Tal y Fan, our first peak of the day. That conquered we retraced our steps down and headed across to take in Foel Lwyd which at 603 metres, didn't quite make the grade but it was on the way, so why not?

Our walk followed the Cambrian Way on a good path and up the long ascent to Carnedd y Ddelw, an entry in the mountain tables book, but not in Nuttalls as it has been downgraded due to the lack of drop. Again, we did it anyway as it was on the way. Passing quickly by we continued upwards to Drum which at 770 metres was the high point of the day. I'd done that on a previous walk but there was no problem doing it again. The weather was still nice, but the wind had picked up to the point that I needed to put on my Alpkit jacket as a wind stopper. There is a convenient shelter on Drum so we took advantage for some food and a rest.

Standing up we were almost blown over, the wind was so strong. Off we went on a direct line to the final peak, not only of the day, but for me, the entire Carneddau range and even more exciting, the whole of Wales! We arrived to no standing ovation, no music playing, the Lord Mayor wasn't there, and in fact, Ken had to tell me it was the summit as it was distinctly underwhelming.

Handshakes and photos, we then wandered around to locate the exact OS Map summit which we did, mindful that there was a rocky outcrop definitely higher than us a little way off, so to be on the safe side, went over and bagged that as well. Nuttalls, I later read, defined that as the high point so I was pleased I'd done it.

The walk down to the car was uneventful but also on rough ground with the vaguest of paths, but no worse than I'd had on previous days. We'd done it, I'd finished the whole of Wales, I could relax.

Peaks climbed : Moel Eilio (546m)

Total Distance : 11km, Total Ascent : 681m

Having completed all of the Nuttalls, I decided an easy day was in order, so elected to climb Moel Eilio near Dolgarrog. Unfortunately, the mountain had other ideas and it became quite an outing!

I parked in Dolgarrog and after a short walk along the road, turned off to follow a footpath. Initially it was a gentle slope but soon became an extremely steep undertaking, probably 45 degrees. This went on for some time before reaching a level section where the path disappeared into the forest. I followed, to be presented with a warning sign that the path was closed as being dangerous. Having ascended so far, I chose to ignore it and headed on up the steep zig-zag path. Other than a fallen tree, held in place by wires, there was nothing to be concerned about so I concluded it was a case of Health and Safety gone mad as usual.

Reaching a clearing I noticed I had ascended more than 200 metres of altitude in around 20 minutes which I thought was good going. The gradient eased considerably and I popped out onto a good forest track which I followed until Moel Eilio came into view. Turning off the track I was on a grassy but equally good path. Other than the steep climb, I felt I was finally having the good easy day that I'd promised myself, but then the path came to an end!

From there, it was another very steep climb on the final ascent, fighting through deep heather and undergrowth, plus the wind, which had now picked up strongly. My easy day had been replaced by a tough, pathless, windy climb to the summit. Once on the top I decided not to stop as it had now got quite cold so continued on my plan to descend on the far side. This was equally pathless and as I made my way down, I realised it was far steeper than the ascent, much tougher going with what appeared to be an impenetrable forest ahead. I had no choice but to turn back, re-ascend and retrace my steps back to the good path. I arrived exhausted.

Rather than return to the very steep descent, I chose to walk around and pick up my originally planned route which would take a gentler descent. This worked well and I felt confident as I descended to the short section of road. A path following a stream appeared exactly where it was supposed to and I followed that for a while until it vanished, leaving me in a field with no obvious means of escape. Finally I located a small stile which led into a field and then to a farm. Perhaps someone there could help? Of course, it was deserted but I figured out where I was and where the paths were on the map.

Clearly the paths were the imagination of the cartographer but I made my way along and down in the rough direction of that needed. Finally I popped out on another path which led me down to some houses and a final path down to Dolgarrog and a short distance along the road to the car. I'd walked a couple of miles further than planned and expended a considerable amount of energy that I hadn't planned for a mountain that only comes into the 500 metre category. Oh well, tomorrow will be an easy day!