Key stats:
12.65 miles, 3200 feet ascent
Elapsed time: 4hrs 43 mins, Moving time: 4hrs 15mins,
Summits: Conwy Mountain, Foel Lus, Tal-y-Fan, Maen Escob
Hazards: A tough walk. Navigational skills/GPS required, especially for the section from the Stone Circle to Tal-y-Fan. We take a scrambly route across the summit of Tal-y-Fan including two potentially dangerous down scrambles. This can easily be avoided by dropping down to the left of the summit ridge before re-joining the route at the end of the ridge, follow the GPX at your own risk.
Walk description:
On a moody and temperamental Thursday we headed round this tough but stunning route. The route starts off simple enough climbing up the Conwy Mountain ridge route. Barely a soul was seen. The area over the top treated us to the beautiful sight of Summer transitioning into Autumn. Whilst gorse and heather lit up the slopes in their purple and yellow glow, the first signs of Autumn were taking effect with the bracken browning and fading along the path edges. Looking across to Tal-y-Fan, the mountain was enveloped in cloud - not what we wanted to see - yet still a sight for sore eyes. Descending Conwy Mountain we encountered the first of many wild Carneddau ponies we would encounter!
We then proceeded down to Sychnant Pass and down the footpath which descends the gorge, we were treated to a rolling buffet of blackberries, one of my favourite things about the end of summer. As you go down the road and turn left up along the stream to Capelulo you'll encounter what at first seems a very eery statue (pictured below). This is actually a statue of the hermit 'Ulo' - a 6th century holy man-hermit who lived here in the valley. Today cottages now stand on the site of the chapel once dedicated to Ulo, thus giving the name that became Capelulo.
From Capelulo we climb upwards via the Fairy Glen towards Foel Lus which looms over Capelulo and Penmaenmawr. This is a good tough climb coming in two parts, the second half to the summit being the tougher with a couple of false summits on the way up. The views from the summit shelter are very much worth it!
The next section takes us across the old druid landscape to the pre-historic Stone Circle. Wikipedia tells me these typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. Proper history! The picture below is from a previous walk as my photo of it this time was terrible! The sky definitely wasn't that blue.
From the Stone circle we took a 'not a path' path across to Tal-y-Fan. This path is not marked on the maps but is used in the Gladstone Fell Race, you can just about see it underfoot, it however often disappears and then reappears but ultimately ends up near the right (as you look at it - West) end of the ridge. Follow the GPX is my advice! On this stretch we stopped for a leisurely lunch with a pack of wild horses neighing away nearby. The path slowly works its way across the moors and bogs up Tal-y-Fan until you emerge directly below the summit. We saw lots of wild ponies on this section! A short scramble to the top and you're up Tal-y-Fan. Enjoy the views down Conwy valley to the South, Across to the high Carneddau to the West and across to Anglesey and the Orme to the North.
From here we scrambled across the summit. As a bit of practice we also did the down scrambles down the mini cliffs, this is always a bit of fun if experienced. Please be careful if not an experienced scrambler, don't hesitate to follow one of the many paths to the left to walk just below the ridge line. From here we descended down to the old quarry works and headed back via Maen Escob as a bonus hill. We then thankfully headed back via Oakwood, my feet got pretty smashed up in the Gladstone 9 fell race so I was very grateful for the easy route back!
All in all we took in well over 3000ft of climbing - always a challenging amount! Especially on the fells. Loads of glorious views taking in some of the finest sights that the Northern Carneddau has to offer. Despite all the moody clouds we never got wet! A great day out!
Wow, what a walk! So much to see!