The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment from Pen y Fan

98 The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

below as we cycled along. Llyn y Gader looked so invitingly up at this shapely ridge from

bright blue ater our cycle that we dived in for a swim – a sharp reminder that it was

actually February. Slogging steeply uphill to reach the start of the ridge warmed us up

again.peak-spotting. Snowdon From Y Garn, we started

sprawled to the east. To the north rose the modest rounded lumps of Mynydd Mawr and

peeked from forest. he Nantlle Ridge stretched away invitingly Moel Eilio. South, Hebog

to the west, and beyond it shimmered the sea.A grassy section led us

towards our next summit, Mynydd Drws-y-coed. his impressive-looking shark’s

in is actually attainable by a series of fun, easy scrambling

steps. If you don’t fancy that, there’s a path to the let. he steep, rocky slopes of Clogwyn

Marchnad slipped away below.top, Trum y Ddysgl, before We continued to the next

teetering along a lovely pinched-in section of narrow grassy path, which then

widened and deposited us on the rounded lump of Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd, randomly

to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.crowned by an obelisk in 1897,

we contemplated the jagged edge of Craig Cwm Silyn. Ater Sitting below this memorial

descending to the col Bwlch Dros-bern, we weighed up our options: scramble or take the

path? We chose a hands-on line close to the wall, which I recommend, enjoying the view

down to the lakes of Llynnau Cwm Silyn sparkling below.

Goch and Craig Goch, Wales’s while whizzing over Carnedd We inished our sandwiches

smallest mountain with just six inches above the 2000t at which many consider hills

become mountains. Until 2008, Craig Goch appeared on maps as 1,998t. However, it was then

campaign by walkers, and later upgraded.re-measured following a^

views down to llyns encircled by cwms and korma-spiced With its friendly tightropes,

ambling down to our car. scrambling, it had been a relaxing day out, we relected,

Our sandwiches long gone, we headed without delay to the brilliant beer garden in

Rhyd Ddu, where we expected to overhear lots of walkers bragging about their walk up

we kept smugly quiet. neighbouring Snowdon, while

Further informationMaps:Explorer sheet OL17 OS 1:25,000

(Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa) or Harveys 1:25,000 Superwalker, Snowdonia North.

Beddgelert to Rhyd-Ddu, Transport:from Caernarfon and Regular buses

including a Snowdon Sherpa service. If planning to use a taxi, try Huw’s Taxis, 01286 676767.

If leaving a car at the end, the best place is Cors y Llyn.

Visitor Centre, 01286 870765.iInformation:TIC, Electric Mountain Llanberis

[Cairn on Craig Cwm Silyn; Some locals; Swim in Llyn y GaderCaptions clockwise from top]

097-098_WW7_TGOSPRING2019.indd 98

Always take a map and compass with you. ©Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey. Media 058/17 15/03/2019 11:23

0 km 2 4 6 8 10 12 1415

(^600400200)
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parking spots by the bend in the road at^1 StartRhyd-Ddu. There are
GR: SH566527Take the path leading W, and keep R at a couple of forks, heading
towards the obvious summit of Y Garn.
Mynydd Drws-y-coed. Scramble or keep to the path. Descend^2 A broad, grassy ridge leads towards the shark’s in of
Nantlle Ridge TraverseSnowdonia NORTH WALES^
15kmAscent/ 1000m/3300ft9 miles/5 hours 7
CRIB GOCHthe most popular ridge in Snowdonia but the Nantlle is deservedly
Ridge is its best-kept secret, and one with markedly diferent appeal: green
wilderness, narrow but unintimidating arêtes and the opportunity to stride out
and scramble alone.Perhaps because none of So why the peace?
the seven summits are high enough to make the coveted Welsh 3000ers ticklist. Also,
as a linear walk it demands organisation – and generally two cars. We decided,
in the spirit of reducing environmental impact, to leave our car at one end of the
ridge and cycle to the start. beneit – we got to stare he bikes gave an added
narrowly to a shoulder, and scramble up to Trum y Ddysgl before descending W to a path
along a short section of fabulous narrow, grassy arête.
Tal-y-mignedd, where there is a large stone monument. Head SSW^3 Follow a wall up to the rounded top of Mynydd
to a low col before climbing Craig Cwm Silyn. There are a few options here – the best two are the
scrambling line just right of the
wall, or keep right to avoid scrambling. Continue above the crag to reach a summit shelter.
and Mynydd Graig Goch, before descending to Cors y Llyn.^4 Continue W along the inal two tops, Carnedd Goch
GR: SH478505^5 FinishNebo
Gradient proile Metres above sea level
Sarah Stirling inds Nantlle
has much to recommend it
2 1
3
(^54)
The Great Outdoors Spring 2019 97
Snowdonia’s dramatic
landscape has a wild,
retrospective air. The Welsh
word hiraeth cannot be easily
translated but it essentially
means a longing for eras past;
an elusive sense of missing
home. It’s impossible to live
in the National Park and not
feel the tug of its long, exposed
history.
This history began with a
natural Armageddon that left
the landscape dominated by
the untameable: it was thrust
up by a series of massive
volcanic eruptions, then locked
under ice sheets a mile thick
and carved by the movement
of glaciers. The nine resulting
mountain ranges, many of
which top 3,000 feet, cover
50% of Snowdonia.
The beauty of the
undeniably rainy climate is
that all the sculpted dips and
clefts in the saturated green
overlow with pure water.
It glistens silvery-blue in
mountain cwms, rushes over
into green waterfalls and sits
silently on huge valley loors.
There are countless lakes here,
more than 100 of which are
bigger than an acre.
While exploring, I’ve
stumbled across subtle
evidence of every era of
human existence, from Celtic
hillforts to a magniicent
ring of medieval castles, and
from pepperings of farms
through to the abandoned
slate quarries, which have
recently been nominated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Man’s relationships with the
land here have always been
hard won though – out in the
wild elements of a coastal and
mountainous climate – which
perhaps led to a respectful
tradition of treading lightly.
That lightness of human
touch has made this region a
haven for rare wildlife such
as otters, hen harriers and
peregrine falcons. There
are more nature reserves in
Snowdonia than in any other
National Park in England and
Wales, and 56 Sites of Special
Scientiic Interest. Down
south, the Dyi Estuary is a
proposed World Biosphere
Site.
And my own relationship
with North Wales? Partly
hiraeth, and partly another
excellent Welsh word,
‘igam-ogam’ - zig-zagging. After
living in Pembrokeshire for
years – my mother’s side of
the family go back generations
there – I’d moved to Chamonix.
In Pembrokeshire I’d longed
for mountains, in Chamonix
I’d missed the sea. Where
could I ind both those things,
I’d wondered. Norway? New
Zealand? I’d totally forgotten
Snowdonia!
The delight of living in
Snowdonia is that every
type of landscape is on your
doorstep: 23 miles of coastline
and sandy beaches; sea-cliffs
and otherworldly crags; lakes
and waterfalls; grassy rounded
hills, spiky-topped mountains
and dragon’s back ridges; river
gorges and woodlands, to
name a few.
It’s possible to have a
nice panad (cup of tea) in
the morning, go climbing
afterwards, enjoy a hillwalk in
the afternoon and indulge in a
sunset picnic by the shores of a
lake in the evening.
What’s more, while this is
the second largest National
Park in England and Wales, it
covers a comparatively small
area, which means that you
can get to know the whole
region quite intimately over
the course of a few years.I’m
increasingly inspired by
Nan Shepherd’s forays ‘into’
mountains rather than ‘up’
them these days; my favourite
thing is searching boggy
valleys for their mirrors, diving
in for a swim, looking up at the
mountains and marvelling at all
they have seen.
SNOWDONIA
Sarah Stirling lives in Llanberis
in the heart of Snowdonia
MY REGULAR WALK
A circuit of the Moel Eilio ridge
MAP: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 115
The wonderful lump behind our house, which
offers spectacular views over Snowdon, the sea and
various lakes. Beloved by locals, largely ignored by
visitors!
TOP RECOMMENDATION
Nantlle Ridge
MAP: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 115
My irst recommendation to any visitor would be
the Nantlle Ridge, which offers a taste of everything
Snowdonia offers in miniature, from sea views
to solitude, and from wonderful ridges to lakes
glistening in cwms far below.
Check out more of Sarah’s writing and
photography at http://www.sarahstirling.com
Looking back at Trum y Ddysgl on
a traverse of the Nantlle Ridge
Photo: Sarah Stirling
Read Sarah’s full description of
the Nantlle Ridge walk on page 97