It was an early start for Mark and I to arrive at Llyn Ogwen for 9.00am. The start of the walk was dark and cloudy but as we ascended Pen yr Ole Wen the weather started to become much brighter. After parking the car on the roadside of the A5 east of Llyn Ogwen we walked by Glen Dena and Tal y Llyn Ogwen Farm to a ladder stile crossing the wall above the farm. The path was quite indistinct until we reached a second ladder stile. There are posts up the mountain side which should be followed. The path climbs above Ffynnon Lloer and on to the east ridge. There is a small amount of scrambling at this point.

On arriving at the summit of Pen yr Ole Wen we were in the cloud. We continued on to the south ridge where the edge of the mountain path drops very steeply down to the west end of Llyn Ogwen. The cloud was clearing and the views across to Tryfan and the Glyders were fantastic. We retraced our steps back to the Summit of Pen yr Ole Wen then took the ridge path to Carnedd Fach (where there is a huge ancient cairn) and Carnedd Dafydd. On arriving at Carnedd Dafydd we entered the cloud once again. Our route carried onwards along Cefn Ysgolion Duon and down to Bwlch Cyfryw-drum. We then ascended to Carnedd Llewelyn (the highest point of our walk at 1,064 metres).

Carnedd Llewelyn was visited twice on todays walk and in fact we took paths in every direction from/to the summit. The walk also kept us above 900 metres from Pen yr Ole Wen until we descended down to Pen yr Helgi Du (ie the majority of the walk!!!). From Carnedd Llewelyn we took the path to Yr Elen. The ridge route is quite an easy one but looks difficult from a distance. The views from the top were great to Bethesda, the Irish Sea, and the Northern Glyders (including the conical shaped mountain of Elidir Fawr).

We retraced our steps back to Carnedd Llewelyn (this time not to the summit) and then headed across to Foel Grach. Again there were excellent views this time to Garnedd Uchaf and the Conwy Valley. For the last time we arrived back to the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn.

Our return journey was via Craig yr Isfa to Pen yr Helgi Du. This was an exciting part of the walk as we had to scramble down Craig yr Isfa to Bwlch Eryl Farchog then up to the summit of Pen yr Helgi Du. There was a young teenage lad who was struggling to scramble down to Bwlch Eryl Farchog. We saw them again towards the end of the walk as we neared the A5. They had taken the path down to Ffynnon Llugwy Reservoir instead of ascending Pen yr Helgi Du. The path from the summit of Pen yr Helgi Du down the ridge to the A5 is quite a long one.

This was an excellent walk which we both enjoyed.

Reference Books Used