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 playful 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
