Another Llugwy and Lledr Round 10th February 2024

Looking towards Pont y Pair Along the Afon Llugwy.

The Afon Llugwy west of Pont-y-Pair.

The Afon Llugwy west of Pont-y-Pair.

The Miners' Bridge over the afon Llugwy.

The watefalls above the Miners' Bridge.

Not quite a waterfall, but still quite impressive.

One of the better bts of Sarn Helen on the way to Rhiwddolion.

Some of the remains of the village, Rhiwddolion.

The view decending Sarn Helen on the way to Pont-y-Pant.

The Afon Lledr at Pont-y-Pant.

The Afon Lledr at Pont-y-Pant.

So that's how you get into a tent box!

Lledr Hall Education centre,

The view from my lunch spot.

The Afon Lledr from our lunch spot.

What's holding that up?

Yr Eryri on the skyline.

Crossing the footbridge over the Afon Lledr.

The Afon Lledr from the footbridge.

Fallen trees that we had to negotiate on our way to Llyn Elsi.

Yr Eryri - Glyders and Bristly Ridge.

Just a glimpse of Llyn elsi through the trees.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 9.3 miles. Climb: 1791’
Time: 5 hours 48 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: 4.7 Celsius at the start. 5.6 Celsius at the start. 12.0 Celsius in bright sunshine at the highest point on Sarn Helen. 8.0 Celsius at lunch by the Afon Lledr. 8.8 Celsius by Llyn Elsi mid-afternoon.
Beaufort Wind Force: 1, at most just a Light Air
Group: Martyn, Mike and Ed.
This was a good day for walking and it wasn’t long before some of our outer garments were discarded.
There was plenty of water in both rivers giving good displays of lots of ware cascading over the rocks.
As ever the initial climb up Sarn Helen is quite tortuous as you have to watch your feet all the time.
However once we were past Rhiwddolion we came into bright sunshine and had good views of some of the high peaks in Yr Eryri.
Lunch was taken by the Afon Lledr east of Lledr Hall Education Centre.
After crossing the A470 and heading northward through the forest, we decided to take a slightly different route than usual ad follow some of the forest tracks to avoid one of the paths that we knew were notorious for being very boggy.
Unfortunately we didn’t realise that forest work had resulted in these tracks being less than perfect and in fat we had some felled trees to negotiate as well.
After a brief visit to see Llyn Elsi we descended on the usual forest tracks back to Betws-y-Coed.
We arrived back at the car having had a good walk and thankful to sit down and take the weight of our feet.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Wood nuthatch, Song thrush, Mistle thrush, Mallard and Raven.
Overall an enjoyable walk completed in more sunshine than we expected. After walk drinks were taken at the Eagle Hotel in Llanrwst, but unfortunately I can’t say I enjoyed my pint, it was well past its best and I would have taken it back had there been an alternative available!

 

A Walk from Llantysilio Green in Search of Snowdrops 7th February 2024

First views of the Horseshoe falls.

descending from Llantysilio Green to St. Tysilio's Church

or

First encounters with a Chester Ramblers and Hill Walking Club Memer.

St. Tysilios Church ahead.

Snowdrops in St. Tysilio's Churchyard.

One for DS!

Snowdrops in St.Tysilio's Churchyard.

Inside St.Tysilio's Church.

The Horseshoe Falls enjoying the River Dee in spate.

More of the Horseshoe Falls enjoying the River Dee in spate.

The river still needs to be higher to release these captured trees!

It looks like pollution, but it's just natural breakdown of organic matter by the constant battering of fast moving water.

The River Dee trying escape under a blocking tree trunk near the Horseshoe Falls.

Reflections on the Llangollen Canal.

Catkins on the trees next the the Llangollen Canal - another good sign Spring is on its way.

Good views of Dinas Bran.

A good wood sculpture of a Raven as we headed downhill.

A delightful path leading to our lunchspot.

Distant views of the Chain Bridge,

"Early lunch" for those that are happy to stick to the route plan!

Valle Crucis Abbey from our lunch spot.

Eliseg's Pillar from our lunch spot.

The delightful followed straight after lunch.

Dinas Bran again - looking like a horse?

Snowdrops again.

Llantysilio Hall, another one for DS.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 8.0 miles. Climb: 1342’
Time: 4 hours 56 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.4 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h. (But we did have to wait for the Upton lot to arrive at the lunch spot after their extra mile or so and climb to the top of Dinas Bran)
Temperature: 4.7 Celsius at the start. 10.2 -11.2 Celsius at lunch. 8.0 Celsius mid-afternoon.
Beaufort Wind Force: 1, at most just a Light Air
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Ed, Nigel, Fran, Mike and Ed.
The Snowdrops today were really good, not just in St. Tysilsio’s Churchyard, but in other places as well.
The River Dee today had plenty of water, making the Horseshoe Falls more impressive than usual and below the falls the river looked superb for the skilled enough to navigate it in a canoe or raft.
Four of us headed for the lunch spot while the Upton lot went AWOL, and thankfully we arrived to find the lunch spot vacant.
Mid-way through lunch another walking group arrived (the Chester Ramblers and Hill Walking Club) who appeared shocked to find other walkers had beaten them to the spot where they had planned to stop for lunch. They were happy to join us as we waited for the rest of our group to arrive and have their lunch. Fruit cake (not fortified and only baked yesterday) was provided to celebrate our Snowdrop walk.
After about 11-00, the Sun came out and blessed us for the rest of the day.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow Rook, Song thrush, Great cormorant, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Collared dove, Blue tit, Wood nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wood nuthatch, Coal tit, Common peasant, Common buzzard, Mallard and House sparrow.
Overall an enjoyable walk completed in pleasant sunshine for most of the day. After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Sun at Trevor where most of us enjoyed Purple Moose’s Colan Lan bitter.

Waun-y-Llyn Country Park and Nant-y-Ffrith 3rd February 2024.

The first Snowdrops of the day.

One of the woodland paths encountered on the walk from Llanfynydd to Nant-y-Ffrith.

I think it is Hope Mountain in the distance!

One of many stops to adjust our outer clothing in an attempt to feel more cmfortable.

Nant Wood/ Nant-y-Ffrih ahead?

Heading for Nant Wood/ Nant-y-Ffrih ahead.

Looking bac up one of the paths in Nant Wood.

Rhododrendons next to the path through Nant Wood.

Lunch time in Nant Wood.

A large boat in an unexpected placejust west of Ffrith.

More Snowdrops.

A delightful path on the way from Fron to Waun-y-Llyn Country Park.

At the information board in the Waun-y-Llyn Country Park Car Park.

At the toposcope in Waun-y-Llyn Country Park

Somewhere to sit at Waun-yLlyn Country Park, Quarry.

A good place to rest.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 10.3 miles. Climb: 1703’
Time: 6 hours 5 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 10.0 – 11.6 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 1/2, at most just a Light Breeze
Group: Martyn, Mike and Ed.
Not a particularly good forecast with some rain expected, but feeling warm.
They got the latter light, but there was dampness in the air for most of the day and the real wet stuff accompanied us for the last mile or so down the lane.
At times we seemed to be walking in cloud and distant views were none existent!
Following the route description wasn’t always straight forward and we had one or two occasions where we had to improvise to get back on track.
The main paths through Nant Wood/ Nant y Ffrith had been improved making it easy going.
Lunch was taken in Nant wood, where we took advantage of some convenient felled tree stumps. Lunch time was the only time the Sun came out briefly.
The green track from Fron to Waun-y-Llyn was delightful, or at least it would have been on a warm sunny day!
Arriving at the toposcope in Waun-y-Llyn we were hoping to get good views of Moel Famau and even Yr Wyddfa, but visibility was down to a few hundred feet, so we were thankful to be able to see the path ahead of us.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Common blackbird, European robin, Woodpigeon, Collared dove, Blue tit, Great tit, Wood nuthatch, Eurasia jay, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.
Overall an enjoyable walk, despite feeling very humid most of time. I fact it was more comfortable walking in short sleeves rather than feeling too hot wearing my Paramo jacket. Initially we went across the road to the Railway Inn, but alas they had no real ale so we ended up at the Bridge Inn at Pontblyddyn where they a very welcoming roaring fire and an excellent pint of Otter Bitter.