The high tops of Snowdonia above the houses of Bethesda.
A row of cottages on the road to Moel Faban.
The wide track to the summit of Moel Faban.
On the summit of Moel Faban, heading for Llefn.
Wild ponies on the lower slopes Llefn.
At the summit shelter on Gyrn.
The wide track, an old tramway, on the south west side of Moel Faban.
Walk stats:
Distance: 10.0 miles. Climb:2064.
Time: 6 hours 17 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.0 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: Max 24.2 Celsius. Min 17.2 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind force: Mainly 0 -1 Calm /light air, but briefly reached 2,a welcome light breeze.
A superb ay weatherwise, although distant views were somewhat hazy and the very high tops never seemed to clear completely.
Birds seen or heard today included: Willow warbler, Common chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Swift, Barn swallow, Stonechat, White wagtail, Stonechat, Meadow pipit, Skylark, Common whitethroat, House sparrow, Common blackbird, Wheatear, Cuckoo and Ring ousel.
We were surprised how many people were out walking in these outlyng hills of the Carneddau, but not everyone chose to visit the three hill summits that we did.
As we descended Gyrn towards the sheepfolds, I tripped over the remains of a gate/fencing, falling on my front - with a heavy rucksack trying to keep me prostrate, it was a challenge to get back on my feet. No major damage done, just bruised ribs.
Lunch was taken at the end of the narrow pass between Llefn and Moel Faban. We had good hazy views of towards Bangor Pier Penrhyn Castle and the Menai Straights.
As we had lunch we heard the approaching thunder of hooves and two fine stallion wild ponies raced past us along the track below us. Thankfully they didn't do this when we are on the track.
As we left the hills towards Bethesda, the route description wasn't as clear as it should be, and the schematic map and description didn't match (we should have followed the schematc map and turned left not right as in the riute descrition). However we eventually found ourselves back on High Street, Bethesda, ready to embark on the Felin Fawr part of our walk.
This walk wasn't exactly the the highlight of the day, although we did come up close with slate spoil heaps, reminding us of the reasons why Bethesda was built here.
It was warm that we took the advantage of bench in the shade near the Pont Ogwen bridge waterfall and too on board some extra liquid.
After this mid-afternoon rest, we started to see Bluebells on either side of the path as we climbed through Braichmelyn Woods. They weren't at their best, but they like me may have suffering from too little water on this very warm day.
On arriving at the road, we decided that the best option was to head straight back to the Bethseda and leave the rest of Felin Fawr Walk A to another day.
Arriving back the car, I finished off the remaing liquid i my flask before setting off. I was now looking forward to sampling Lees Bitter at the Bluebell Inn in Halkyn. An excellent bitter, that tasted even better as I drank soe of my take away as I watched Liverpool eventually win the penalty shoot out in the FA Cup Final match against Chelsea.
The Gyrn walk was quite varied and very enjoyable. I am sure this part of the walk will be repeated again, despite the grassy slope up Llefn being steep and challenging (Hopefully we will find a less steep slope next time,
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