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 astride Drysgol and the round of Hengwm. Stay with the fence that straddles the ridge, climbs a small rise and then heads across moorland flats until it makes a sharp L turn at 837188. Here strike out almost due N for the top, aided by a flinty track and the occasional stunted stake.
Foel Benddin across Cwm Cerist
For a less strenuous approach:
The first variant (AN21,1) starts from the junction as before, but work your way across a field to pick up a path that enters a coppice at 842167. After twisting round the head of a stream this meets a new forestry road which zigzags easily (but at some length!) up the hillside to join AN21 at the neck NW of Y Gribin.
The other option (AN21,2) is to join the forest track at its source, picking it up from the lane that leads to Pentrewern Farm at 825164.
Cwm Cywarch route (AN22)
Stay with AN5 until you meet the fence crossing the fells above Creigiau Camddwr. Follow this L up a slope of rocky debris direct to the cairn.
Gesail Farm route (AN23)
The coarse bulldozed track that zigzags so brazenly between the crags backing Gesail Farm (852184) is no substitute for the wisp of a trail that once followed much the same course – at least not in aesthetic terms, however helpful it may be in simplifying route-finding. To be fair it still retains a sense of occasion. How could it be otherwise in the august surroundings of Craig Cywarch? On top you join AN21 at 842179.
Pen y Bryn-Fforchog
It may seem a bit ‘cart-before-horse’ to give only one route for a hill and then suggest it is best used for descent, but no one is likely to climb Pen y Bryn-fforchog (Top of the Forked Hill) for its own sake with so much else around. After all it is merely the top of a grassy shelf that bounds, yet barely surmounts, the SW periphery of the Glasgwm plateau. However if you tackle Pen y Bryn-fforchog from Glasgwm, having spent the morning tramping AN21, and then use the Bwlch Oerddrws route to get down again, you are assured of an enjoyable day in peace and solitude, seeing old friends from new angles and discovering untrodden ground.
Bwlch Oerddrws route (AN24)
A fence makes a right-angled bend where it straddles the top at 818179. Follow it SW down a fresh grassy slope that is a joy on a sunny afternoon with Cribin staring you full in the face from across the valley. As you approach a hillock at 810174 you must decide whether to bear L or R. Pleasant ridges continue either way; it all depends on where you want to join the road.
High-level Walks
Cwm Croes horseshoe (AN H1)
If I had to recommend just one walk in the Arans it would have to be this, despite the omission of Cwm Cywarch.
Start from Llanuwchllyn and climb Aran Benllyn's N ridge (AN1). Carry on over the central spine to Aran Fawddwy. Backtrack to Erw y Ddafad-ddu, scamper down the grassy nose to Creiglyn Dyfi and then tackle the gentle rise up to Foel Hafod-fynydd. Descend S of E along the fence until you meet another fence dropping away more steeply N. Use this (AN17,1) as your guide to cross Bwlch Sirddyn and for the pull up to Esgeiriau Gwynion (
