rocky knolls and the col of Bwlch Cyfryw-drum to climb the long stony slope to arrive at the summit windbreak of Carnedd Llewelyn perched on the eastern rim of the plateau. From here the next summit, Yr Elen, is out of sight and it is necessary to cross to the western rim where the linking path becomes apparent.
As you descend the slope and cross a small lip there is a jaw-dropping moment as the huge east face of Yr Elen makes a theatrical appearance, unsuspected and unannounced. The great shattered slope, bounded by the sharp rocks of the south east arête and the narrow path clinging to its side, drops away hundreds of metres into Cwm Caseg far below. It is as fine a sight as is to be found anywhere in Snowdonia and this is a very special moment and made all the better for its dramatic suddenness. Never again let anyone try to tell you that the Carneddau are just boring, rounded grassy lumps.
The fine isolated top of Yr Elen
The summit of Yr Elen, named after the wife of Llewelyn, is a fine isolated top from which to survey the central ridge of the Carneddau. The first part of the descent from Yr Elen takes you down a steep eroded scree slope that gives way to springy turf leading down the general line of the ridge with the rooftops of Bethesda beyond.
The final section is tricky to follow, with the path weaving through rushes and becoming intertwined with sheep paths which can lead you astray, but with the houses of Bethesda ahead and the occasional marker post and footpath sign to guide you the lane used on the outward leg is finally reached.
THE GLYDERAU
Cwm Idwal (Walk 11)
WALK 6
Gallt yr Ogof and Y Foel Goch
| Start/Finish | Capel Curig SH 721 582 |
| Distance | 14km (9 miles) |
| Total ascent | 670m (2198ft) |
| Grade | Moderate |
| Time | 5hr |
| Terrain | An often wet ridge and rough descent in Cwm Tryfan |
| Map | OS OL17 Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa |
| Access | Capel Curig is on the A5 between Betws-y-Coed and Ogwen |
| Parking | National park car park behind the Pinnacle Café by the junction with the A4086 |
Gallt yr Ogof is a striking mountain that not many people remember. It is an imposing enough presence driving north west on the A5, a great bruiser of a hill that fills the windscreen: it is neither elegant nor subtle but it is utterly ignorable. The problem is the company it keeps. Many a traveller will have admired its vast, rugged flank studded with rocks and shattered buttresses only to instantly forget it as the even more imposing ridges of Tryfan come into view. It would be a rare hill that could compete with that. So Gallt yr Ogof and its neighbour Y Foel Goch stand largely ignored by most visitors to the Ogwen, and that is a shame: together they provide not only the emphatic eastern full stop to the extended ridge of the Glyderau but also offer a perfect viewpoint for their more illustrious neighbours and beyond.
From the car park turn right up the lane away from the village and after a couple of hundred metres at a gate by a farm take the path heading up leftwards through the outcrops and bracken. As it reaches the crest the views begin to open out. To the left Moel Siabod has been a companion for much of the ascent, but now the whole of the Snowdon Horseshoe is revealed while on the other side of the valley the eastern Carneddau begin to appear. Indeed the views are perhaps one of the strongest attractions of this high level promenade and a particularly welcome feature of this next section. Were it not for the views this long, flat, often soggy ridge might otherwise make for an uninspiring interlude.
Looking towards Gallt yr Ogof
At the end of the plateau the path climbs the grassy slope, crossing a drystone wall by a ladder stile before being funnelled between a tumbledown wall and a more modern wire fence as it heads towards the skyline. In its haste to reach the higher tops of the Glyderau the main path actually bypasses the 763m (2503ft) summit of Gallt yr Ogof.
As the path arrives on the rim of the Ogwen Valley Tryfan makes a dramatic entrance befitting its starring role, leaping into view between a gap in the knolls, quickly to be joined by the Glyderau themselves and the spiky profile of Bristly Ridge is seen to particularly good effect, silhouetted against the skyline. Having stopped to admire the huge buttresses, it is necessary to backtrack a short way eastwards to visit the summit cairn of Gallt yr Ogof sitting among the boulders on a rocky plinth.
Tryfan and the Glyders from Gallt yr Ogof
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