Porth-llwyd Falls and Cwn Porth-llwyd 19th June 2021

Distance: 9.5 miles. Climb: 1401'.

The new memorial to the 1925 Dolgarrog Flood Disaster.

The road leading to llyn Eigiau.

The remains of the breach in the wall that caused the flood.

Looking towards Llyn Eigiau from our lunch spot.

Coedty Reservoir.

A glimpse of Porth-llwyd Falls through the trees.

The road closed / footpath open sign at the northern end of the "highway".

Taking in the history of the Dolgarrog disaster.

The crumpled remains of mining equipment brought down by the flood.

Time: 5 hours 17 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.1 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 - 2. (mainly calm, occasionally gusting to a light breeze).
Temperature: 21.2 Celsius to 23.2 Celsius, biefly dropping to 20.2 Celsius.
Group: Martyn and Mike.

We set off from the Dolgarrog Flood Disaster Memorial just before 10-00, and already it felt quite humid and remained so for much of the walk. The start of the walk involved a steady climb up the wooded hillside to Llidiart Fadog where our escape was blocked by a"road closed" barrier. initially we didn't know why as we had not encountered any problems on the track. Later on we came across a similar sign at the opposite end of the track which clearly showed the footpath was open. We cocludd that the sign was indicating that it can no longer be used by four wheeled vehicles as it was once decribed as a "highway".

Once on the road leading into Cwm Porth-llwyd there was no tree cover to shield us from Sun's rays, so we were both glad to have sunhats with us and had ignored the weather forecasts that suggested that there would be no sunny spells.

After passing Waen Bryn-gwenith the valley ahead opened up and we could see the Llyn Eigiau Dam in the distance.

It was just after passing the parking area (full with 18 cars) that we heard the vry distant call of a Cuckoo.

Other birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, Willow warbler, Skylark, Stonechat, Eurasian jay, Common pheasant, Common chaffinch, Wheatear, Red kite, Woodpigeon and Mallard.

Lunch was taken sitting on the south side of the Llyn Eigiau dam wall, facing the lake or where the lake should have been.

On the return route to the Coedty Reservoir, we were brifly entertained by a shepherd using his dogs to herd some sheep to a different part of the hillside.

We did get glimpses of Porth-llwyd falls through the trees, but nothing more.

Arriving back at the car at Dolgarrog, we finished the wak by going round the Dolgarrog Disaster Memorial Trail, amazed at the size of the bolders that had been moved by the flood water.

Another good walk, celebrated by a pint of Lees bitter and a pale ale brewed by the Llyn Brewery when we called in at the Blue Bell Inn at Halkyn on the way home.