The Carneddau mountain ranges might be one of my favourite in Eryri National Park. This hike cover a load of summits, five Nuttalls, two trig points and the last summit is also one of the Welsh 3000s.
Tal Y Fan and Foel Fras Hiking Route
This is a there and back again hike with a spur to take in the summit of Foel Lwyd and Tal Y Fan. Before it heads back down and to the south west. Lead to the summits of Drosgl, Carnedd Y Ddelw and Drum on the way to reaching the summit of Foel Fras.
Hike Stats
Length
12.22 mi
Elev. gain
3,848 ft
Avg pace
27:59
Moving time
5:42:01
Total time
6:33:16
Tal y fan
The route from the car park on the edge of Llanfairfechan, kicks in with the incline straight away. The path through the fields is pretty difficult to follow, there is some numbered concrete markers, which do help but also don’t quite lead to the easiest way through.
As you can see above I followed the marked path pretty far then I saw a better trod trail to follow. The overgrown heather and
One thing that is always in view though is the pylon that stands at the crossroad point on the map. Being able to see this from early on made it easier.
From this point you can head on south towards the old Roman Road that leads through the Carneddau Range. You can head east towards Tal Y Fan or your can head west the major peaks of the Carneddau.
The path up Tal Y Fan clings pretty closely to the boundary wall. With no difficult technical sections it was only the mix of cold winds and warm sun that made it interesting trying to balance sweating and freezing on the way up.
The view from the top was amazing though. It always feels good to tick a new trig point (and a Nuttal) off my list.
Drum
After returning to the pylon I followed the opposite path. The one that leads deeper into the Carneddau mountains.
It’s starts by heading west towards Drum. This is a relatively easy path running parallel, most of the way, to the old stone brick walls. It’s a bit rocky and a bit muddy and you do gain some elevation but it not much of a slog. That comes up later.
On the summit of Drum there is a stone shelter. Perfect to escape the cold wind, knock back a brew and take in the view of the mountains. Added bonus there is a bit of phone signal here.
This hike was a reconnaissance mission. The new route that I’ve planned for Welsh section of my Stafford 2 Snowdon challenge needs a way to cross from the north coast of Wales and towards Yr Wyddfa.
I’m familiar with a few routes across the Glyderau Range, and now I think I’ll be passing back this way for the challenge this summer.
Foel Fras
That is why the last bit of slog up to Foel Fras did concern me slightly. Just a big up hill, on a grassy path. The wild ponies seemed to be able to handle it pretty well. They did seem a raucous on this occasion, I did notice that a few of them are carrying war scars, along with a few sporting dreadlocked mains.
The views from the summit are amazing though. You have hills rolling down to the ocean in the north and to the south you can see the magnificent mountains of the Carneddau Range.
There and back again
I do usually prefer circular hikes but for this one the best option to get back to the car was to head back the way I came.
One thing the views to the south during this hike made me realise that one thing that I want to experience soon is a mountain camp with an ocean sunset view. bonus points if I can manage to find a dark sky spot, which is lucky enough to clear the two other criteria. It would also be nice to get a clear skied night. That is rather hopeful if I want to achieve that within the British Isles.
The death of the Apple Watch
Well maybe the end of it’s purpose with me as my hikes are getting longer and I think the battery life is getting shorter.
This was the first time that it had stopped before I finished though. I have to admit I also wore it whilst driving here for a good couple of hours. I’m sure that might have killed some of that battery life. Still as my adventures are getting longer and my power packs seem to be getting heavier. So an upgrade to a Garmin might be on the cards.