its tussocky shores. The spur caries on to the slender neck of Drws Bach (Little Door) where it narrows to a whisker and a cairn at 863214 commemorates a member of the RAF who was killed by lightning in 1960. The views are tremendous: a 1000ft drop into Hengwm on one side; the Arans' E face on the other, as majestic and thrilling as anything in Wales. Beneath the cliffs lies the sparkling Creiglyn Dyfi, flat and bland-looking as you stand by its shores, but the very quintessence of a mountain lake from this lofty eyrie (never more so than in winter when it mirrors the blacks and whites of the snow-capped peaks all round).
Aran Fawddwy: the final approach from the south
Stay with the fence that straddles the spur beyond Drws Bach until you are invited to cross it at a ladder-stile. The terrain changes abruptly from grass to rock hereabouts and the well-worn path that scales the mountain's final defences, leading first to the knuckly S top and then to the breezy trig point, is amply cairned.The tarns at 860215 scarcely merit a diversion, short though it would be.
Cwm Dyniewyd route (AN7)
For a day with a difference try starting from Llanymawddwy.
You can choose from two routes, both of which are all but forgotten. Darren Ddu is perhaps best saved as a steady downhill trek for tired legs in the evening, but Cwm Dyniewyd gives good sport either way. Both join the Hengwm route at Drysgol.
The lane by the chapel at 902190 is easily missed as you drive through the village, but it is there all right, climbing steeply beneath an awning of pines, then cutting through bracken before entering Cwm Dyniewyd above a glen (mauve with rhododendron flowers in spring). The cwm is still as nature intended; the black slippery rocks at its head festooned with the silver thread of Pistyll Gwyn. At some point you must gain the ridge. Probably the easiest course is to make for the tiny col just W of Pen Foel-y-ffridd, one of the hills that stand guard over Llanymawddwy. A stiff slog but worth every pant.
Follow the forest boundary as it curves above the falls and then let your compass guide you across the barren moors to Drysgol. Be sure to inspect the gaunt unknown cliffs of Gallt Ceiniogau and Llam Llai as you glance back across the Dovey.
Darren Ddu route (AN8)
Leave Drysgol on a bearing of 120° and set out down the peaty fells of Gwaun Lydan. Before long you will see a track wending through the grass near the S rim of Darren Ddu. This will see you safely down to the road at Bryn Hall (907194) via Brynuchaf Farm. In contrast with the friendly tranquillity of Cwm Dyniewyd the harsh gash of Darren Ddu is lifeless and sombre, but impressive nonetheless.
Llaethnant route (AN9)
Follow AN4 to Erw y Ddafad-ddu and then advance L across the stony waste to cross a stile over the fence around Aran Fawddwy's N approaches. A cairned path then weaves up the final rocky pyramid to the summit.
Drysgol N approach (AN10)
You can use this trackless route to make a direct descent from Drysgol to the Llaethnant Valley.
Proceed E from Drysgol for a few minutes until, at about 878212, an easing in the slopes permits a roughish descent over mosses and stone-encrusted grass. You can then either cross the stream to link up with AN4, the Llaethnant route (thus regaining the road at 905212) or follow farm tracks to Pont y Pennant (904203).
W approach (AN11)
It is impossible, unless you have a friendly chauffeur, to combine this route with any other that would form a worthwhile round.
The Arans present a dull face to the W. They are prettily wooded, but the ridge looks rounded and whale-backed with no hint of excitement. This more or less sums up the long tramp which is given here for completeness (and because it is one of the permitted paths) rather than on merit.
The route starts from Esgair-gawr Farm (816224) where a car park has recently been constructed and where a mounted Mosquito engine commemorates two airmen who crashed in the Arans in 1944. Pass through the farm and then bear R on a Land Rover track which leads across fields and a forest plantation (where the path is wet and scrappy) before finally emerging on the open fells. The Arans are by now clearly impressed on the skyline ahead, but the best views are of Dduallt and Rhobell Fawr behind you. As on all the permitted paths there is a proliferation of arrows on rocks and markers on fences to prevent straying – so it is only a matter of time before you meet the fence and path mentioned in AN5 at 856216.
Erw y Ddafad Ddu
The name (Acre of the Black Sheep) says it all. The stony top with its sprawling cairn may not literally occupy an acre, but it certainly has that sort of feel about it – an unexpectedly flat interlude on the high-level tramp between Aran Benllyn and Aran Fawddwy. It is a superb viewpoint, on a par with the two Arans themselves but with the added advantage that they are also included. As for routes, anything leading to the two senior Arans will do.
Waen Camddwr
Seeing it on the ground it is scarcely credible that Waen Camddwr should be rated a 2000-footer in its own right. It is a pleasant enough little hillock in the midst of the damp undulating moors separating Aran Fawddwy from Glasgwm, and it sports a tiny cairn. However, that is all there is to say – without some prior homework the chances are that you would walk right by without even noticing it! Waen Camddwr is easily reached from Gwaun y Llwyni by descending NW along a new fence, but it is most naturally tackled en route to Aran Fawddwy on AN5.
Pen yr Allt-Uchaf
Pen yr Allt-uchaf is the slender grassy finger that gazes down on Cwm Cywarch from the NE. It is a featureless top. The highest ground is at the NE tip of the ridge but there is no cairn, no rock, nothing except fresh untrampled grass. Yet the views compensate: Cwm Terwyn S, Cwm Hengwm N, with pride of place going to the gigantic splintered slopes of Gwaun y Llwyni and the distant line of the Rhinogs delicately framed in the jagged head of Cywarch.
Cwm Hengwm route (AN12)
Start on AN6 but double back where the gradient eases near a fence and a signboard indicating the Arans' permitted paths. Advance across the spongy top of Waun Goch to claim the ridge from there.
Cwm Terwyn route (AN13)
A path crosses the fields from the road at 860175 to give access to a beautifully engineered path that slants across the cwm's S slopes. As the ground levels off near a corner of some woods, bear L to join the ridge close to its topmost point. Another track (AN13,1) tackles the cwm on its N side.
Gwaun y Llwyni
Gwaun y Llwyni is not one of the Arans' big names – it is not even marked on the 1:50,000 map – although it is certainly one of the most recognisable from a distance. Many is the time, gazing E, trying to fathom out what was what, that I have suddenly spotted the tilted, grassy wedge (rather like Rhinog Fach, but longer and not so dramatic) that characterises Gwaun y Llwyni. Then everything fell into place.
Nearer to hand Gwaun y Llwyni sports a dashing front, lording it over Hengwm with massive slopes of grass, scree and shattered crags that curl round the head of the cwm while plunging a dizzy 1400ft to the green solitudes below. Perched on the brink of the abyss is a small cairn beside a line of lonely poles that are the sole remains of an ancient fence.
Cwm Hengwm route (AN14)
Except for AN9 virtually all the routes for Aran Fawddwy serve Gwaun y Llwyni equally well, but the most natural is AN6. Follow it to Drws Bach and then bear L on to a