Conwy Valley-Carneddau run

Peaks: Pen Llithrig y Wrach
Area: Carneddau, Eryri
An exercise in making the most of a small hill. Or to put it another way: Pen Llithrig y Wrach the hard way! Early in the morning, I parked at the base of the Conwy Valley in Tal y Bont (10m above sea level), then after a mile-long warm-up started the vicious (in places) climb up to Cwm Eigiau. This contains two or three very steep hairpins interspersed with gentler sections, but gains height quickly. Above the road levels off and the terrain opens out into the glorious lower reaches of Cwm Eigiau: ahead a perfectly straight track leads to the old dam. We were last up here for the bothy trip in Easter 2017 - and there were three cars parked up this morning. Maybe closing the road would keep it quieter? Excellent running through the magnificent scenery of Cwm Eigiau. The peaks were clagged in, the head of the cwm a tad oppressive, although the cloudbase appeared to lifting very slightly. It's been quite a while since I last ran this way, although the Rab Mountain Marathon took in some of the same terrain. I took the contouring path on the eastern slopes, through some thick heather to gain the very steep and untracked climb up to Bwlch y Tri Marchog. This is a wet slog and gained a cold bwlch with the clag just above, allowing for vague views down to Ogwen. The climb up Pen Llithrig was claggy and chilly, and I didn't hang around at the summit, taking a bearing north-east to avoid the crags, before plunging east down steep scree and heather to gain Llyn Cowlyd - a wonderfully remote spot. From here, the descent to Dolgarrog is long but gloriously runnable and enjoyable. The Cowlyd path is boggy and leads eventually to the hideous pipeline, a grotesque intrusion. The track eventually leads to the top of the Pipe Dream fell race route, which gives a slippery and steep descent to Dolgarrog and Tal y Bont: three hours and an excellent, largely runnable circuit. Later, a 6m+ headtorch run from Llanarmon yn Ial. Tiring, but I told myself it was all good training for Brecon-Cardiff in February.