The Afon Llugwy at Betws-y-coed - looking toward Pont-y-Pair.
The Afon Llugwy from the Miner's Bridge.
Not one of the locals - grazing in field on the west side of Sarn Helen.
Sarn Helen as we started to descend into the Lledr Valley.
The afon Lledr from our lunch spot east of Lledr Hall.
The miner's boardwalk on the north side of the Afon Lledr.
A Great cormorant in the middle of the Afon Lledr - resting after a spell of fishing.
Crossing the Afon Lledr on the way to the A470 near Pont Gethin.
Llyn Elsi from its southern end.
On the forest track leading to Betws-y-coed.
Walk stats: Distance: 8.6 miles. Climb: 1456'.
Time: 5 hours 33 minutes. ON the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.5 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Mike and Roger.
We arrived at Betwsy-coed, with low cloud/mist hanging over the trees and sufficient dampness to encourage us all to at least start with our waterproof jackets on. However it pretty warm and very humid, so it wasn't long before we had all discarded our waterproofs in order to stop us from suffering "boil in the bag syndrome".
As we climbed Sarn Helen towards the Lledr Valley, we encountered a group of Brummy walkers and later on five off road motor cyclist who were also from Birmingham.
The distant views today weren't very good, but at least it wasn't raining and near views were good. As ever on this section of Sarn Helen we had to negotiate around flooded parts of the road.
Leaving Betws-y-coed at about 10-30, meant that it was about 13-00 before we found a suitable spot to have lunch. A low wall on south side of the river gave us good perching places and Mike even spotted a Great cormorant fishing in the river near by.
After lunch we continued along the riverside path, which at times was quite hazardous in that they were quite slippery.
After reaching the A470, we had ahead of us, the steep climb through the Gwydr Forest to Llyn Elsi. Having completed the climb through the forest as far as the forest track, we had a choice to make. Do we carry on along the path through extremely boggy territory or do we opt for the slightly longer route using forest tracks. We chose the latter. This proved to be a wise choice, and one I will do every time we do this walk in the future - even in the Summer.
Birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, European robin, Wood nuthatch, Eurasian jay and Great cormorant.
We arrived back at the car having had a good walk and some of us suffering from tired legs and aching knees.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Bridge Inn at Pontybodkin, where Theaksons' Black Bull went down well.
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