Hillwalking in Wales Vol 1

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Reviews

View Sample Route Map

Penygadair

---

Penygadair was popular way back in Victorian times. That was the heyday of the old refreshment hut whose crumbling remains on the edge of the cliffs still provide shelter from the wind though the tea, alas, is no more. The nearby trig point is the focal point nowadays. Mounted on a little rocky platform that sets it apart from the bouldery waste all around, and with the added luxury of steps up one side, it is a worthy vantage point for the premier peak of the range.

The ridge unfurls on either side. A sparse, stony, sub-Arctic tundra covers the tableland that stretches away to Mynydd Moel, the quintessence of mountain walking, while beyond the splintered cliffs of Cyfrwy a series of gentle undulations winds away to Craig-y-llyn and the blue of Cardigan Bay. To the S the ground falls away sharply before rising with renewed vigour to the ferocious precipice of Craig y Cau. On a clear day you will also discern Plynlimon and its cohorts.

Memorable though these scenes are, they are totally eclipsed by a N prospect that is at once heroic and serene. Only a few steps from the cairn is the plunge to Llyn y Gadair and the awesome grandeur of The Chair. Lift your eyes and a single glance encompasses the blue-black ribbon of the Mawddach, fringed by the yellow-brown sands of the estuary, and the tapering line of the Rhinogs leading to Snowdonia itself. Across the green tapestry of the Coed y Brenin Forest lie Rhobell Fawr, the Arenigs, the Arans and Lake Bala.

There is no problem locating the edge path to Mynydd Moel or the Pony Path, even in the thickest mist, but it is a little more tricky if your objective is Craig y Cau. You should then start as if for the Pony Path but be sure to spot L, after a minute or two, the cairned path sidling away SW.

The Minffordd trail (CI1)

One of the great walks of Wales.

Romantic and dramatic, a walk of sustained beauty and variety. That, in a nutshell, is the Minffordd trail. It used to start through the iron gates of the old Idris Estate at 730114, but it is more convenient nowadays to begin from a new car park a couple of hundred yards up the road at 732116. A kissing-gate at the rear leads to a tunnel of trees and a clearing where flowering shrubs and rhododendrons, set against the backdrop of craggy heather slopes and a shady glen, convey a hint of Arcady. A series of steps – the price of erosion and popularity – lead into the glen and on to a track that climbs between the conifers high above the rushing torrents of the Nant Cader. The angle eases as you leave the woods and the flanks of Mynydd Moel come into view R.

The path swings round above the corrie basin of Llyn Cau, the enclosed lake. The cold, awesome splendour is dominated by the presence of Craig y Cau, a gigantic, heavily buttressed pyramid of raw rock. It is flanked L by the great gully and the Pencoed Pillar, R by the stone shoot – the sole breach in its defences.

The path bears S up easy screes before curling round the rim of the mighty cliffs cradling the lake. Thrills come quickly now in a purple patch that leads above the great gully, climbs Craig y Cau along the very edge of the stupendous precipice guarding the lake, then drops down to the col at the head of the stone shoot. As if that were not enough, the longer views are enthralling too: the Dysynni Valley and the far off Tarrens, the solitudes of forgotten Cwm Amarch, then across the abyss of Llyn Cau to Mynydd Moel and the spiky crown of Penygadair itself. From the col a well-cairned path ascends increasingly rocky terrain to the summit; a fitting finale to a walk that will tempt you again and again.

Note the following route-finding points. First you will see that the path splits either side of Craig y Cau. One arm continues over the top as described above, the other (easier) contours round to the W. Second you can capture Cyfrwy en route to Penygadair by an obvious traverse N from the top of the stone shoot to gain the rim edge at about 708130.

The stone shoot (CI2)

A strong walker should have no problem in taming this in little more than 30min.

As you climb the Minffordd trail the white, snaking thread of the stone shoot can be seen rising from the NW corner of Llyn Cau. Probably because of its name it has gained a reputation as a thankless grind to be avoided at all costs, when in fact – though undeniably steep – it is agreeably firm underfoot. It is no place for families, or the ‘one-weekend-a-year’ rambler, but for the connoisseur it provides a beautifully wild and litter-free alternative to the more popular Minffordd routing. The approach along the N shoreline of Llyn Cau offers superb views of the Pencoed pillar and is a fine walk in itself.

The Fox’s Path (CI3)

Was there ever such a Jekyll and Hyde route as this?

The route is heralded by an iron gate across the road from the Gwernan Lake Hotel, and as far as Llyn y Gadair is sheer delight. Moss-capped stones and aged trees adorn a trail that dips and twists through meadows and coppices, moorland and tiny outcrops. The Rhinogs fill the N skyline; the sea and Llynnau Cregennen peep in from the W. What better entrée to the hills could there be? Llyn y Gafr passes uneventfully (though crossing the innocent-looking stream just before you reach it can pose a problem after heavy rain), but the real pièce de résistance comes when, after a short stony rise, the gigantic hollow cradling Llyn y Gadair – the chair of the legendary Idris – strikes you like a thunderclap.

Cyfrwy soars in wild, bristly abandon, challenging the sky with quivers of jagged pinnacles and sending rivers of scree down to the lake shores below. Massive buttresses bolster Penygadair’s tilted terraces, and only on the E flank is there so much as a glimmer of hope for the humble pedestrian. As if to atone for such excesses the lake is the very embodiment of tranquillity, sheltered from all but the strongest winds and with every stone and pebble shimmering like a jewel through its fresh, clear water. Harsh, rugged, desolate, cold, unforgiving; this wild place is all of these. Yet alone on a still day it conveys a sense of at-oneness with the hills that is almost overpowering.

If you are wise you will stop here. The Fox’s Path screes are purgatory; long, excruciatingly steep and treacherously unstable, eroded so badly in parts that they border on the dangerous. My advice would be to let well alone and either settle for a simple there-and-back walk or, better still, switch across to the Pony Path. You can then choose between a short but rewarding round trip back to the car park near Ty-nant, or carrying on up the mountain on CI4. You can just discern the path you want crossing the screes near the NW corner of the lake. Scrappy at first it gradually grows in confidence and before long a keen eye can identify two paths. The higher meets the Pony Path just below the ridge; the other meets it at 696143, at a rusty brown gate in a stone wall shortly after passing a tumbledown shepherd’s hut.