8:00 start with 18:00 return
10½ miles (17km) with 3608ft (1100m) Total Ascent
Today´s A walk route offers a hugely enjoyable ascent of Y Lliwedd (easy grade 1 scrambling) and then onto Wales´ highest mountain – Yr Wddfa (aka Snowdon).
Y Lliwedd is one of Wales´ iconic rock faces and although largely ignored by the climbing fraternity today, it was the birthplace of British rock climbing. The noted British climber George Mallory undertook many of his early climbs here and it was also the site of considerable training activity for the 1953 British Everest Expedition.
Avoiding the V Diff and VS climbs today, our route begins at the Pen-y-Pass car park and follows the Miners Track southwards past Llyn Teyrn to the causeway that crosses Llyn Llydaw. Here we deviate southwards from the Miners Track crossing a metal footbridge and gently begin to ascend the eastern slopes of Y Lliwedd.
The East Ridge gradually becomes steeper and rockier, eventually turning the path into a grade 1 scramble. The route closely follows the crest of the ridge to Y Lliwedd´s east peak (893m) before traversing to the west peak (898m) and then descending some 160m into Bwlch Ciliau where the Watkin Path joins from Cwm Llan.
From Bwlch y Saethau the route zig zags up to the summit of Yr Wddfa (1085m) via its south face. The summit is sure to be busy and not a place for quiet contemplation.
Our descent route will avoid the busy path beside the railway and strike off west down the Snowdon Rangers Path until reaching Bwlch Cwm Brwynog. From here we have a 170m ascent to the summit of Moel Cynghorion (674m) offering great views back onto the vast cliffs of Clogwyn Coch.
We´ll descend to Bwlch Maesgwm then head north through Maesgwm and out to Llanberis.
8½ miles (13.7km) with 2350ft (716m) Total Ascent.
This is one of the few times that a mountain over 3000ft can be climbed within the B+ guide lines. The reason for this is that we start the walk from the top of the Llanberis Pass (coach drop off point), at 1210ft / 369m. The first part of the walk is spent climbing to the summit of Snowdon, which is steady rather than steep, the second part descending back to Llanberis.
After a toilet stop at the coach drop off point we start our ascent to the summit following the Pyg Track over the ridge and into the Snowdon Horseshoe just before the ridge develops into the awesome Crib Goch. Snowdon and Crib-y-ddysgl now come into view along with a number of small lakes used by miners in the past. The track continues up the left hand side, zigzagging until we reach a large marker stone at Bwlch Glas (Green Pass) where we meet the Llanberis track and the Snowdon Mountain Railway. The summit station is about 15 minutes walk up from here and the actual summit marker (trig point), 3560ft / 1085m, a short distance further up to the left. The views on a clear day are truly paneramic, with Ireland, the Isle of Man and Cumbria visible. We descend on the opposite side of Snowdon via the Llanberis track (good going), virtually following the railway all the way down to Llanberis.
8½ miles (13.6km) with 1200ft (366m) Total Ascent
Our walk will start at the Nant Peris car park from where we will make our long ascent to the disused slate quarries above lake Peris. From the road the start looks unappetising but is on a very substantial road full of very interesting features with piles of slate to the right and the left. For the next mile and a half we make our way through the quarries these are absolutely spectacular with cliffs of slate rising above you. We can look down on the Dinorwic hydro power station for which this area is well known. The water from the top reservoir flows through the power station at high demand times and during the evening and low demand times the power is used to pump the water back up to the top reservoir. Upon our exit from the quarries we are afforded superb views of the lakes of Peris and Padarn and of Llanberis.
Moving on, we then walk up the road to the edge of Dinorwig and then drop down to a smaller quarry at Fferam Fachwen and then back up to the road. After a short distance on the road we drop down further via a tricky path eroded by a stream to the small hamlet of Clwt-y-bont. We turn out of the village to follow the tracks down to the village of Brynrefail where outside the post office there is a superb display of tubs with spring flowers. We then cross the river Afon Rhythallt to the opposite shore of the lake Padarn. We pick up the disused railway line on which there is a superb cast iron bridge, reminding us of Iron Bridge. It is an ideal photo opportunity. We follow the lake through Padarn country park back to Llanberis where we will hopefully have time for a beer or a cup of tea before catching the bus back home.
This is a superb walk for those not wanting the busy slog up Snowden.
6 miles (9.7km) with 525ft (160m) Total Ascent
Our walk today is a complete circumnavigation of Llyn (lake) Padarn and starts in Llanberis. There is some climbing in the first half but flat for the second half with good paths throughout.
The walk starts at the Lake side Railway Station to follow a pathway up to a viewpoint just below the Quarry Hospital Visitor Centre. From this point we can see the ruins of the thirteenth century Dolbadarn Castle and on a clear day, the summit of Snowdon. Climbing some steps we find ourselves in the grounds of the old Quarry Hospital used for the quarry employees.
As we leave the Hospital grounds, we pass the old mortuary and enter a wooded path which climbs steadily for a while before descending to an old bridge which crosses the river Fachwen (pronounced Vackwen in Welsh). Crossing the bridge we leave the country park boundary following a track which leads us to the west end of the lake at Pen-y-Llyn.
Crossing the old road bridge at the end of the lake, we follow the road round for a short while until we find a hole in the wall which leads us down onto the old Llanberis to Caernarfon railway line. This line now takes us back into Llanberis and the awaiting coach.
