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A short walk
from Capel Curig.
22nd June 2004
It was some
years since I had walked in Snowdonia, but as I had some work to do near
Llandudno it seemed a good idea to mix business with pleasure and have
a walk in the mountains. I had considered doing Penyrhelgi-du, a top
just off Carnedd Llewellyn, as the completion of this would have meant
I had completed the 20 highest peaks in Snowdonia – Penyrhelgi-du is no.19.
However, Anne wasn’t so keen, it didn’t look a particularly inviting top,
and, on the day of our walk, it looked as
if it the weather was going to get wet on or around lunchtime.
We knew from experience that when
it rains in North Wales, particularly around
Capel Curig, it really rains.
However, we were attracted to Capel Curig
as our starting point and, having found a leaflet published by the
Capel Curig Tourist Group with details of a number of walks, we
selected one that should take about 3 hours. As we intended to start
by 10 o’clock unless the rain arrived early we should have no
problem completing this ramble before inclement weather arrived. |
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Above
is map of the walk area. Place mouse over to see route. |
Having parked
the car in the car park behind Joe
Brown’s Walking Shop; we enjoyed the westerly view of the Snowdon
Horseshoe, which looked its usual impressive self in bright sunlight.
Views
from Capel Curig of the Snowdon Horseshoe.
The weather was certainly better than was forecast.
We walked to, and crossed the A5, and then crossed a stile, to
the left of St Curig’s Church, into a field. Ascending through the field, generally eastwards,
we passed into another field and soon the route became more distinct as
we walked through woodland. With
the sun still shining, which it did for the duration of the walk, we were
soon enjoying the view on our right (south-west) of Moel Siabod.
With
Anne, Greg and Ian, I had climbed Moel Siabod one May Day some years ago
and although it just misses being a Welsh 3000 foot peak by 140 feet it
is still very impressive. I consider the scenery from the top to be some
of the finest in Snowdonia as it is possible to enjoy views
of Snowdon, the Glyders and the Carneddau as one
looks northwards from its top.
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Anne
walking along the path towards Crimpiau. |
Gradually
our path today swung northwards and we reminisced about the many times
we had walked this route back to Trefrew in the Conwy
Valley where we had enjoyed
the hospitality of the
Princes Arms Hotel, which is where we were staying during this visit.
We had been tempted to do this route again but were “put off” by
the time we would have spent getting to Capel Curig from Trefrew by the
local bus service, which, if I remember correctly, necessitates changing
in Betws-Y-Coed. However, if you are in this area and have a
day to spare the walk is wonderful and visits the beautiful Llyn Crafnant
and, via a short detour, Lynn Geirionydd can also be reached.
So
we continued along this generally ascending path.
Having passed over a small concrete foot bridge, we turned left
and went up and over a knoll and by now the views of Snowdon,
which we had lost earlier, had returned.
Over a couple more stiles we went until we were almost at the bwlch
– the high mountain pass that once
reached leads down to Llyn Crafnant. However,
our route was left, uphill on to the slopes of Crimpiau, which I understand
means long serrated ridge. Here we found a path which lead to a spot that
gave wonderful views along the length of Llyn Crafnant. So we stopped here to enjoy the views, then
walked on until we reached a location which gave us views down the Ogwen
Valley including views of Tryfan
and the Glyders. By now the sun
really was shining, the air was clear and the views were magnificent. So I snapped away on my digital camera to capture
the scenery as best I could. But,
as always a photograph is a poor substitute for the real thing.
From
here we walked downhill, through knee high vegetation, to the left of
a small lake, Llyn Coryn, before finding a track, to the left of a fence,
which, after turning right, went steeply downhill.
This really was a pleasant walk with wonderful views at almost
every turn.
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Moel
Siabod from the slopes of Crimpiau. |
On
reaching the bottom of this descent the way ahead was less obvious and
was quite boggy. One can almost always guarantee that on any
walk at some point the directions can get a little confusing. However, although we may have taken the incorrect
path at this point the general direction was fairly obvious. We just walked towards the valley with Snowdon
at the end of it, negotiating a couple of gates on the way and in no time
at all we were on the track that we had followed after crossing the A5
a couple of hours earlier, and yet again were able to enjoy the views
of Snowdon bathed in sunshine before the rain arrived.
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The
magnificent Snowdon Horseshoe. |
The
total distance walked was only just over 4 miles, but the scenery, even
over such a short distance, was spectacular.
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