Sunday morning, the forecast for north Wales was for "sunny intervals"
but it didn't look too good when I got up. I went up to Graigddu Isaf
at the end of a narrow road off the main road from Dolgellau to
Porthmadog, near Trawsfynydd. There are a few photos at
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/050612.html .
The area is owned by the Forestry Commission. The rights of way have
changed a bit since the current OS map was produced.
After leaving the forest, the path climbs up gently onto Bwlch Drws
Ardudwy, the pass between Rhinog Fach and Fawr. Both are very steep
and covered in rocks and heather. I had previously found a good way
up Rhinog Fach starting at SH666282 following a sheep track through the
heather, then getting onto a rocky platform facing SE and finally
turning SW up a wide heathery gully. This emerges at a path that
comes up from due north, which then continues to the main ridge.
This time, I couldn't find the start of the route - there aren't any
sheep this year, and the sheep track I used seems to have overgrown.
So I used a very steep path beginning 100m or so further west, which
turned out to be the path that I used to meet higher up on my previous
route. A nasty cold wind blew through the bwlch as I got higher up.
At the top I was just below the cloud base. After putting on my coat
and catching my breath I moved on straight away. The view from near
the proper summit over the boulders on the slope towards Llyn Hywel
and y Llethr was good despite the murk.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/05061277bpLlynHywelLlethr.jpg
I met a few other walkers on the way across Rhinog Fach and down to
the col just above the lake.
The way up y Llethr - the Slope - is another very steep ascent. It
is normally grassy, but the scar along the path is getting wider and
wider each year. It's getting difficult to find a safe way up in a few
places without straying from the path and helping spread the erosion
problem.
Near the summit cairn of y Llethr I met another walker who I only
noticed when we virtually bumped into each other as it was very
misty and I had got carried away a bit as sometimes happens when
putting one foot in front of the other without any views. He had
started in Cwm Nantcol but was otherwise doing the same walk as I
but in reverse.
The route now follows a wall along the main ridge for nearly four
kilometres past Diffwys. I was permanently in cloud, but Llyn
Dulyn just down to the right was sometimes visible and on one occasion
the Mawddach estuary showed up briefly.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/05061278bMawddachEstuary.jpg
I left the ridge after passing the cliffs south of Llyn Bodlyn,
walking down without a path and heading for Pont Scethin, the bridge
on the old post route to Harlech. Steep grass at first, then heather
with a few rocks scattered in, then bog. As I reached the bridge,
the sun came out and I had a clear view of y Llethr's cairn!
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/05061279bPontScethin.jpg
After the bridge, it is the opposite arrangement: bog, heather and
rocks, steep grass. The right of way on the map doesn't exist on
the ground; instead there is a faint path to the access track to
Llyn Bodlyn, and then it is better to head for a gate near SH638249.
As the weather was now getting much better, I had my first proper
break with some decent views back to Rhinog Fawr and Fach and north
as far as the Nantlle ridge.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/05061280bRhinogFawrFach.jpg
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/album/05061281bNantlle.jpg
On the narrow road back up Cwm Nantcol, I bumped into the walker from
the Llethr summit again. He was almost at the end of his walk and
looking for his car somewhere along the road. I moved on past
Maes y Garnedd at the end of the road and walked back through Bwlch
Drws Ardudwy, looking up the steep path where the walk proper had
started and then headed back to the forest and the car park.
The weather wasn't too pleasant, but I did enjoy the climb up Rhinog
Fach and the ridge walk, and the opportunity to stretch out in the sun
towards the end was very welcome. "Sunny intervals", just as promised!
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales