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The summit of Snowdon from Bwlch Main (Walk 2)
PREFACE
Pen yr Helgi Du from The Saddle (Walk 15)
In 1984, my first book The Summits of Snowdonia was published. Ironically, having lived, rock climbed and walked in North Wales in the early 1970s, by the time of publication I was living back in my native county of Lancashire, and spending my time walking and climbing in a much wider arena. But those first impressions, and a wealth of exquisite literature, principal among which were Amory Lovin’s Eryri, The Mountains of Longing, Showell Styles’ The Mountains of North Wales, and Carr and Lister’s The Mountains of Snowdonia, remained with me over the years. 1985 saw the publication of my book The Mountains of Wales, which embraced all the mountains of the principality. The present work is a modern interpretation of these two books, combining the exploration of those early writing years with countless return visits over the intervening period, as well as, one would hope, a surer and more accomplished hand on the literary tiller, and a mind on the wiser side of 60.
It was in Snowdonia that I first found my feet; here I worked as a voluntary warden in the National Park, and learned the skills and hazards of rock climbing. But most of all, it was here that I acquired a love of mountains, of recreational walking and days at ease among the hills. Everything I’ve achieved as a writer, photographer and lover of wild landscapes is built on foundations laid here in Snowdonia.
The 40 walks offered here will take you through landscapes of peerless beauty, along ways that are easy and ways that are tough, frequently remote, wild, rugged, demanding, occasionally pastoral, but, above all, imbued with everything that brings unending joy to those of us who walk the hills.
Terry Marsh, 2010
Tryfan from the slopes of Pen yr Helgi Du (Walk 6)
INTRODUCTION
On Crib Goch (Walk 1)
In the minds of many visitors, only the mountain ranges that dominate the north-west of Wales are known by the name ‘Snowdonia’ – ‘Eryri’ in the old Welsh. In fact, Snowdonia covers a much wider area, over 2,000km2 (840 square miles), a domain extending far south to Bala, Cadair Idris and beyond, from the northern edge of Cardigan Bay to Anglesey.
Throughout history the mountains of Snowdonia have performed two roles. For hundreds of years, since the Romans sought to colonise the area, they have been a secure and strong defensive barrier, but over the last 200 years they have become an adventure playground. These two opposing views of the mountains might be said to represent those of the Welsh, who live among them, and those of the English, who come to explore. For centuries, the mountains not only provided the local people with pasture for their flocks and the raw building materials for their homesteads, but also hampered the penetration of the pagan attitudes sweeping across England and threatening the flame of Christianity that burned so brightly within Wales.
Today, for better or worse, the mountains of Snowdonia are everyone’s playground. Nevertheless, in these Great Mountain Days you will discover the companionship of solitude, the sound of silence and the tang of wild places, for all are still here, waiting.
About this guide
The 40 walks in this book are grouped into areas defined by valleys, starting from the Snowdon massif, and then rippling away southwards to the Tarrens north of Machynlleth – more a matter of convenience than geographical or geological significance.
Each route description starts with a box containing all the key information about your walk: the distance, height gain, time and grade, and details of suitable parking places. (Some of the parking suggestions are Pay and Display car parks; others are roadside or off-road parking areas where the key thing is to park without causing inconvenience to local people and businesses.) Also provided here are details of places for refreshment after the walk, where they conveniently exist.
Appendix 1 summarises all this route information at a glance.
THE LAND OF EAGLES
Welsh scholars tell us that from time immemorial this untamed, rugged region has been known as Eryri, the land of eagles, ‘eryri’ coming from ‘eryr’, meaning eagle. But it might equally be derived from ‘eira’, making it the land of snow. Some latter-day scholars prefer yet another, rather more prosaic, translation – simply ‘High Land’ or the ‘Land of Mountains‘ – a derivation from the Medieval Welsh for high place. The truth is, no one knows, so you can choose whichever suits you.
I take the view that the lands of Snowdonia are named after eagles, especially as eagles were once here all year round, while snow most certainly wasn’t. These majestic birds have soared above the crags and cwms across the ages, and provided substance for bards, singers and storytellers. Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), one of the most colourful, extrovert and dynamic of churchmen in the 12th century, writes of
a remarkable eagle which lives in the mountains of Snowdonia. Every fifth feast-day it perches on a particular stone, hoping to satiate its hunger with the bodies of dead men, for on that day it thinks that war will break out.
The stone on which the eagle is said to stand is known as the ‘Stone of Destiny’, thought by some to be Carreg yr Eryr, near Llyn Dinas in Nant Gwynant, and close to Dinas Emrys, the hill fort believed to be the spot that King Gwrtheyrn, better known as Vortigern, chose for his retreat from the unwanted attentions of Anglo-Saxon invaders.
In the 16th century, Thomas Price of Plas Iolyn sends an eagle on an errand to other poets, writing later of the ‘king of mountain fowl’ that dwelt on the ‘clear-cut heights above the rockbound tarn’ in such a way that it is evident that he was writing about something he had actually seen. But by the early 19th century, Snowdonia’s eagles were reduced to a wandering bird, ‘skulking on the precipices’.
Castell y Gwynt (The Castle of the Winds), Glyders (Walk 6)
Pen yr Ole Wen from Cwm Idwal (Walk 6)
Walk grades
The grading of walks anywhere is a very subjective issue; what is ‘easy’ for one walker can be a scary experience for someone less experienced. In reality, nothing in Snowdonia can safely be regarded as easy; the terrain is often bouldery and complex, marshy and trackless, or, more usually, a mix of all of these conditions. But, in order to convey some notion of the effort and walking skill involved in each route, four grades have been employed.
Moderate: the easiest routes, involving walks of any length over any type of terrain; map and compass skills may be necessary.
Energetic: devoid of serious hazard in good conditions, but requiring map-reading and compass skills, generally but not always on clear paths.
Strenuous:
