little track that hugs the NW rim of Hengwm before bounding up a heathery bank to the cairn.
SE face (AN15)
As you tramp the edge of Gwaun y Llwyni round from Drws Bach you will notice a slim, shaly path ribboning across the screes towards the head of Cwm Cywarch. This provides a toe-burning escape to a farm track that leads close to the mountain hut of Bryn Hafod.
Glasgwm and Gwaun y Llwyni from Cwm Hengwm (AN14)
Foel Hafod-Fynydd
Foel Hafod-Fynydd is a triangular-shaped afterthought to the grassy nose that Erw y Ddafadddu sends down to Creiglyn Dyfi. Apart from the sharp craggy fangs it shows to Bwlch Sirddyn, it is grassy. As an island of high ground it is also a splendid viewpoint, especially of the Arans' E face.
Cwm Croes route (AN16)
See AN3.
Bwlch Sirddyn route (AN17)
See AN19.
Llechwedd Du/Esgeiriau Gwynion
Llechwedd Du (the Black Hillside) is a thrilling sight when you see it towering over the tiny hamlet of Llanymawddwy. It only needs a light dusting of snow or frost on the shattered cliffs guarding its S and E flanks to create a scene of true Alpine splendour. However, just as early morning sun does not necessarily herald a fine day, so the early promise here is not fulfilled. The top is a huge tableland of soggy moors, ridden with peat hags, wet and cheerless, especially when mist clamps down. A narrow neck at 894232 leads to a second top, Esgeiriau Gwynion (cairnless like the first), and by following a fence it is a simple matter to progress from one to the other. Hence this combined entry.
If you have been put off, please read on because, as I shall now relate, there is at least one walk of outstanding merit.
N ridge (AN18)
I had been walking the Arans for many years before I first sampled Esgeiriau Gwynion's N ridge. Many were the times I had seen it across Cwm Croes and rejected it as too featureless and dull. Then, one sunny afternoon in spring, having lunched by the shores of Creiglyn Dyfi and seeking a change from the long trek down Cwm Croes back to Llanuwchllyn, I climbed Esgeiriau Gwynion from Bwlch Sirddyn (AN19) and set off down the N ridge.
Looking north-east over Foel Hafod-fynydd (AN16)
Apart from a short break in the middle, a fence accompanies you all the way and provided you stick with it the going is pleasant and dry and the only decision (which matters little) is where to drop down to the farm road in the valley. So far a walk like many others. The difference lies in the views. Nowhere reveals the Arans in more heroic vein as they stand rugged and wild, tall and proud, across Cwm Croes. Not even the Glyders strike a more regal pose. In sun the dark drama of the crags is leavened by the glitter of Llyn Lliwbran – one of the few occasions when it is enticed out of its rocky lair. To the W Hirnants and Berwyns ripple away in a mosaic of pastel hues, and then there is Foel Figenau, the conical hill directly ahead which, despite its modest stature, delights the eye just as surely as any Sugar Loaf or Tryfan.
Bwlch Sirddyn route (AN19)
Bwlch Sirddyn is a mountain pass and a walk from Llanymawddwy to Llanuwchllyn (or at least part of it) is a good choice when the elements dictate a low-level day.
The Llaethnant Valley approach from 905212, walking beneath the splintered crags of Tap Nyth-yr-eryr (the Eagle's Nest), has already been described in AN4 when the objective was Aran Benllyn. However, by staying with the track as it curves round the W flanks of Llechwedd Du, following it over Bwlch Sirddyn rather than continuing up the Llaethnant Valley, the way is open to capture three of the Arans' outliers. Apart from a sketchy patch near the top of the pass where it is little more than a shadow in the grass, the track is wide and gritty throughout.
The first landmark, 890225, is a fence rambling up the slope L across the stream. This leads directly to Foel Hafod-fynydd (AN17). It is too steep hereabouts to scale Llechwedd Du with comfort, so carry on until you meet the Nant y Fuddai, the first of three streams that come tumbling down R. You could pull up here (AN19,1) to the narrow neck linking Llechwedd Du to Esgeiriau Gwynion to claim either top. However the easiest course is to press on a few more minutes until a fence crosses your path at 885230. You then follow this to claim either Foel Hafod-fynydd L (AN17,1) or Esgeiriau Gwynion R.
The track, meanwhile, leads via the deserted homestead of Cwm-fynnon (883243) and the E bank of the Afon Croes to the road at 895270. Alternatively you can follow a path that proceeds due N from Cwm-fynnon to the farm of Nant-y-barcut at 884263, there to join the road referred to in AN3 (unmarked on the map) that leads up the W side of Cwm Croes.
Bwlch y Groes route (AN20)
Any walk that takes off from nearly 1800ft as this does should be popular – but not in this case. It starts from a stile by a cattle grid at 913233, the highest point on the mountain road from Llanymawddwy to Llanuwchllyn, and provides the simplest way by far to Llechwedd Du. Unfortunately it lacks interest and, after a short spell along a Land Rover track, degenerates into a trackless tussocky slog through peaty bog.
Glasgwm
Glasgwm is a tilted plateau of rough billowy moorland and small rocky knuckles, extensively wooded to the S and guarded to the E by the mighty battlements of Craig Cywarch. Its tall, elegantly rounded cairn is situated just off the N rim and has a distinctive beehive appearance (like the cairns on Glyder Fawr) when viewed from afar. A few steps N of the cairn is the shallow, rocky hollow that cradles the diminutive Llyn Bach. An equal distance S is the larger, more exposed Llyn y Fign, a lake that really needs blue skies to bring it alive.
Most Arans walkers stick pretty solidly to the main highways and Glasgwm is left in relative peace. All the more reason then to go the whole hog and tackle it from Dolobran in the S. This gives you the opportunity to link it with Pen y Bryn-fforchog and have a relaxing away-day in attractive country that is seldom visited save by the occasional shepherd (see AN H4).
Dolobran route (AN21)
I offer a couple of less strenuous variants later, but for my money this is the best approach of all from this side, despite some early collar work.
Start from the junction at 841165 and proceed E down a lane to a couple of adjoining gates. Go through the R gate into a field where a farm trail brings you by an idyllic cottage at 846163 to the foot of a prominent green path. Climb up the hillside on this until you reach a gate at the second switchback (850160). Go through the gate and then follow the fence up to Foel Benddin's breezy top. A stiff slog, quite as demanding as Pen yr Ole Wen ever was (or so it seemed the last time I took it on!).
The rewards are immediate with tremendous views of Maesglasau, Cribin and Bwlch Oerddrws. Ahead lies a seductive undulating grassy ridge that leads first of all down to a narrow neck, Bwlch yr Anges, then up to Y Gribin at 1975ft and finally down to a second neck at 842179 (where the forest trail of AN21,1 joins L and the Gesail Farm path, AN23, clears the edge of Cwm Cywarch R). The centre of attention has by now switched to the N, to the harsh serrated buttresses of Craig Cywarch and to Aran Fawddwy itself, riding