appearing and then vanishing only to re-emerge 30 metres higher up so wide that you cannot imagine how you lost it. Eventually the angle relents and the path becomes clearer as it delivers you onto the often-soggy col between Moel Wnion and Drosgl.
Carry on across it to reach a path between the two hills and turn left to begin the climb up Drosgl. As the ground begins to slope upwards a vehicle track, the best you have seen for well over an hour, appears. However, this is no walkers’ route and visits none of the summits. To do that you have to forsake the track and climb the open slopes.
The rounded, grassy summit of Drosgl holds a last minute surprise, a vast mound of stones which is said to be a Bronze Age burial cairn. Certainly it represents a huge effort on someone’s part.
From the summit, looking eastwards, the twin rocky tors of Bera Mawr and Bera Bach are visible across a shallow depression. The shapely cone of Bera Bach is our next objective: it is soon reached, and proves to be a shattered pyramid. From it carry on over the largely pathless jumble of boulders interspersed with broad stretches of grass where your only companions are likely to be sheep and the semi-wild mountain ponies which roam here. The next target is another rocky knoll, Yr Aryg, at the top of the next slope, which is passed on its right to press on to the next pile of stones on top of Carnedd Uchaf, which has recently undergone a double promotion, having been elevated by a re-survey to the Welsh 3000ft club and given a second name, Carnedd Gwenllian.
The new name Gwenllian commemorates the daughter of Llewelyn, the last Prince of Wales. Her mother, who is commemorated in the name of Yr Elen, died in childbirth and shortly afterwards her father was killed in battle and her uncle Dafydd captured and executed. King Edward I of England saw his chance to snuff out the Welsh royal line and imprisoned her in convents for the rest of her days. The elevation of the peak to a separate 3000ft summit (as shown on the latest maps) has caused controversy among long distance walkers and fell runners since it has added an extra top to the long-established classic round of the Welsh 3000s, playing havoc with the record books.
From here everything is about to change once more. As you leave the summit rocks you quickly reach the main north-south path which traverses the spine of the Carneddau. Here things become a little busier and the paths easier to follow although the day’s work is far from over as you press on along the rocky track to Foel-fras, at 942m (3089ft) the highest point of the day.
From here there is a long grassy descent and climb northwards to Drum, with its summit cairn safely tucked away behind the fence. Following the main track would eventually bring you back to Pont Newydd but instead, from the summit, cross the path and head off down the steep grass slope aiming for the access track of Llyn Anafon directly below. There is the faintest of green paths which I have sometimes stumbled across and sometimes not: it is so vague that I suspect it moves about over time and down the years I have learned to treat its occasional appearances as something of a bonus rather than anything to be expected.
Ponies on descent from Drum
At the end of a fairly long day this beautiful, lonely valley is a delight to walk with the going underfoot easy and all navigation problems at an end: admire the views of the heather-covered hillside and enjoy the company of the mountain ponies grazing beside the lively stream which emerges from the reservoir, until the track reaches the road which is followed back to the car park.
WALK 3
Cwm Eigiau Horseshoe
| Start/Finish | Parking area in Cwm Eigiau SH 733 664 |
| Distance | 16km (10 miles) |
| Total ascent | 1075m (3525ft) |
| Grade | Strenuous |
| Time | 6–7hr |
| Terrain | Untracked hillside, steep ridges and tracks; brief easy scramble |
| Map | OS OL17 Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa |
| Access | Take the B5106 to Tal-y-Bont in the Conwy Valley and turn left on an unmarked lane 100 metres south of the Y Bedol pub (note: this is not the road next to the pub signed to Llanbedr-y-Cennin). The single track road leads steeply uphill and at a junction carry straight on. The road, which has several gates, ends after a little over 5km (3 miles) at a small parking area by a locked gate. |
| Parking | By the locked gate |
| Note | Leaving Foel Grach involves crossing an untracked and featureless hillside aiming for a grass track. It would be very easy to go wrong here so the walk is best avoided in bad visibility or if there is a likelihood of low cloud. |
Although they contain a cluster of summits over the magic 3000ft mark the Carneddau are remarkably quiet compared with the Glyderau on the other side of the Ogwen Valley or the Snowdon massif. This is especially true of the deep valleys below the main north–south ridge, and nowhere more so than in the broad basin of Cwm Eigiau. Here, even on days when Snowdon is groaning under the weight of school parties and Three Peakers, it is possible to have entire mountains to yourself. Driving along the narrow lane from Tal-y-Bont it is impossible not to be affected by the lonely sweep of this once bustling valley and its overwhelming emptiness.
From the parking area much of the walk remains hidden beyond the curve of Cwm Eigiau but it is possible to weigh up the first objective, Pen Llithrig y Wrach (‘The Slippery Head of the Witch’).
Who the witch was and why her head should be slippery has been lost in the mists of time. Asked the story behind the name, a local farmer shrugged and admitted he was baffled.
The walk starts in friendly enough fashion, crossing a ladder stile beside the locked gate and striding out easily along the continuation of the road which runs up to a huge wall. This proves to be the breached dam of the ill-fated Llyn Eigiau Reservoir. In 1925 the dam failed and 16 people were drowned in the resulting flood.
Cwm Eigiau’s breached dam
The road passes below the dam and then up to the whitewashed cottage of Hafod-y-rhiw, which must be one of the most isolated houses in Wales. Beyond the house the track almost immediately vanishes and becomes as tricky as the first stretch was easy, as the witch decides to test her suitors. This is perhaps the toughest part of the whole walk, climbing through ankle-snagging heather and rushes. Paths whimsically appear and then just as quickly vanish, waxing and waning without apparent rhyme or reason. The general line is a leftward slanting valley taking you below the line of outcrops at the top of the slope. Having passed these the various paths coalesce into a single grassy track weaving between rocky knolls, craglets and mini-gullies to arrive on a bald subsidiary top. Happily, the worst is now over but there is still a long way to go, crossing a couple of boggy cols before climbing the final grassy slope to the summit of Pen Llithrig y Wrach.
On the final approach it is possible to look down to the left on Llyn Cowlyd, reputed to be the deepest lake in Wales at more than 70m (230ft), with the unmistakeable shape of Tryfan and the Glyderau beyond and Snowdon peeping over their shoulders. Ahead the giants of the Carneddau beckon you on.
In all, the ascent to the comparatively lowly summit at 799m (2297ft) that seemed so innocuous from the car park will probably have consumed a couple of hours or more.
Having worked so hard for the summit, the ridge to the next top, Pen yr Helgi Du, only a little higher at 833m (2732ft), involves a frustratingly long descent of more than 160m (525ft) to the Bwlch y Tri Marchog (‘the pass of the three horsemen’), another intriguing name: but sadly, like the witch, the riders have also been forgotten. Beyond it is the grassy shoulder of Pen yr Helgi Du and a 200m (660ft) climb, while further along the ridge are the vast plunging buttresses of Craig yr Ysfa, which might have been placed there deliberately to give the lie to the old accusation that the Carneddau are just grassy lumps.
Once over the broad summit of Pen yr Helgi Du, with its slightly misplaced cairn, the character of the walk changes markedly. The ridge ahead becomes narrow and exposed, with a steep drop down