Carnedd Dafydd

Tuesday : Up 08:00. away 10:45. Today is my continuation over the Carnedd mountains that I forshortened on Sunday because of extremely strong wind.

After leaving the Hostel, walking along the A5 then up the foot path alongside Afon Lloer I carried on to the tarn at the bottom of the Cwm that is the source of the Afon Lloer. This was far wetter than my route down on Sunday when I had 'cut the corner' and walked further east. Lesson learned. I then retraced my route up the green hillside to Cefn Ysgolion Duon. Some wind at the top but nothing like as strong as on Sunday.

Left/west turn here for a straightforward walk up to Carnedd Dafydd. Initially over grass, latterly small rocks. Quite an elaborate wind shelter here built with entrances in 3 directions on this, the second highest of the Carnedd peaks.

Route down to Bwlch was rocky then grass before short ascent up Pen Yr Ole Wen. The whole of this walk was a circuit around a Cwm with the tarn at the bottom always in view.

I had been dreading the descent from Pen Yr Ole Wen knowing how steep it was. I had asked YHA Idwal cottage warden Jerone for advice, having found ascending it in 2022 required climbing. The descent did prove challenging taking 1:40. One day I will return to establish which is the best route up and down.

Once at the bottom I walked along the north side of Llyn Ogwen lake instead of the road. I discovered it is part of the Snowdonia slate trail. There were lots of ups and downs over rocks & wet ground and the final 100 yards were a particular challenge over precipitous rocks.

Today's timings -
11:15 reached east end of Llyn Ogwen,
12:00 reached wall half way up Afon Lloer,
13:45 reached Cefn Ysgolion Duon,
14:15 reached summit Carnedd Dafydd,
15:00 reached foot of Bwlch,
15:10 reached summit Pen Yr Ole Wen,
16:50 reached wall half way up Afon Lloer,
18:30 returned to YHA Idwal cottage

Chatting to warden Saskia after supper she mentioned a guest had cancelled their booking. This was for the single toom inthe Hostel (there is only one). So I managed to 'upgrade' my tent pitch to the single room. This allowed me to strike tent while it was dry and pack everything for an early tomorrow morning on what I expect to be a hard walk over Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr and down to Pen y pass.

9 miles from to completed at end of day 36th of walking and 4th on the Cambrian Way.
Total miles so far : 363
Average speed : 1.3 mph
Weather sunshine for most of the day with 20 minutes of rain around 12:30.
Number of people passed : 6
Objective tomorrow : Over the Glyders to Pen y pass.Read more