Area: Carneddau
Tal y Bont has become something of a new 'starting point' for my regular Carneddau forays over the last few years. It really maximises the climbing and adds the lovely quiet roads poised above the Conwy valley to the mix. High milky cloud today, and no heroics, just a gentle pace up to Cwm Eigiau, which has been a favourite location of mine for 34 years. The road is brutally steep in places but I got to the lake in a little over 30 minutes from Tal y Bont. From here, I took the path past the cottage at the head of the valley and then curved eastwards below Craig yr Ysfa. I have strong memories of doing Great Gully here in the rain many years ago with Tim: it is probably Wales's best known gully climb, an ultra-traditional and unforgettable outing. I'd forgotten how deep and dark it looks from below! Nothing so dramatic today, as I plodded up the supposed 'llwybr' which leads up past Ffynnon Llyffant (the highest lake in Wales, last visited for the cwm's easy winter gully climbs 30 years ago, although we skirted it during our bothy trip more recently) to the main Carneddau ridge below Foel Grach. This is so obscure as to be practically undetectable, but the angle is reasonable even if the terrain underfoot is tussocky. I upped the pace a little for the short climb up Grach, descending past the refuge to the even shorter haul up Carnedd Gwenllian. It was cold but with a reasonable tailwind, which helped for the boggy trudge up Foel Fras. I kept a decent pace going on the descent and the climb up Drum, but began to feel rather ill over Carnedd y Ddelw and slowed dramatically as last night's takeaway curry caught up with me. Unpleasant scenes at Bwlch y Ddaefaen although I recovered a little for the5k jog back down the quiet lanes to the Bull and Tal y Bont.
No comments:
Post a Comment