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Hewitts: Carnedd Dafydd
Date walked: 05/11/2011
Time taken: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Distance: 10 km
Ascent: 900m
Weather: Sunny but with thick cloud above 800m
My current location doesn't offer a great deal of weekend excitement, so for the 3rd fortnight in a row, I hopped on the train to Wales. I really wanted to get some great photos of Crib Lem for a report, as it is one of my favourite scrambles. A circuit of Cwm Llafar seemed to be in order too, as it is a good high horseshoe in some of the less visited hill country in northern Snowdonia. I had a great day, but failed on both aforementioned counts.
Firstly, I had agreed to meet friends in the afternoon, severely cutting down my available time. Secondly, as soon as I drove away from the house, I could see I had picked the hills with the most cloud on! I briefly considered changing plans, but lived in hope that the cloud would burn off.
Parking for Cwm Llafar is in the community of Gerlan, which is essentially the upper, less grim part of Bethesda. Streets and narrow lanes wind up and down the hillside here, with terraces of houses situated on improbably steep slopes. The road to take is the one that leads to the old water works, and if you are lucky, you will get parked somewhere on the last 500m of road. Only a couple of spaces though. I slotted in next to a field entrance.
Tight for parking:

I walked up the last bit of road to the waterworks, then followed the footpath into Cwm Llafar. After crossing a couple of fields, it hits boggier ground, crossing over the moorland which lies in front of the Carneddau.
Why is my hill in the cloud?

Back to Bethesda and Anglesey:

Once the mountainside is reached, things dry up again, and the path follows a made route to the head of the cwm. This is the result of a couple of trial works that were carried out to see if there was any slate worth quarrying in the valley. The answer appears to have been no, and the area wasn't disturbed any further.
At this point, the spur of Crib Lem becomes prominent, as do the Black Ladders and the tiered corries of Cwm Moch, Cwm Glas Bach and Cwm Glas Mawr. It is a pretty impressive spot, more so if the cloud isn't obscuring half of the crags! Luckily I was able to cheat and get hold of some photos my dad took last year in clearer conditions. I have included a few to show the route better.
The head of Cwm Llafar, the Black Ladders and Crib Lem:

How it should look (dad's photo from July 2010):

The most imposing crag of the lot is Llech Ddu, which truncates the end of Crib Lem in a rather similar manner to the Carn Dearg Buttress on Ledge Route, Ben Nevis. In order to avoid this, you can traverse up either side. I picked the west side today, knowing it was the more interesting option.
Further into the head of the cwm, with Llech Ddu bearing down:

(July 2010, dad)

Llech Ddu is pretty imposing, and only attracts climbers who like lots of oozing rock, turf and horrifying overhangs:

Great Corner, just right of center and ending in a ferocious overhang, is a classic climb. Way beyond my ability though (graded E2):

I followed the stream up into Cwm Glas Bach to a point where I was able to double back on myself and ascend the side of Llech Ddu. A faint path led the way to the end of the ridge, which is quite prominently marked by a small white band of quartz. The initial section is steep, but the scrambling easy and avoidable.
Looking back down over the edge of Llech Ddu:

This led onto the a shallower section. I stopped for a cup of tea here to see if the mist would clear. It certainly promised to once or twice, but it didn't fully lift, so I carried on.
The next section is narrower, and has a couple of places where you need to traverse over slabs, almost like a mini Tower Gap (but much easier and less exposed). Due to the weather, the rock was a little greasy in places, being quite slatey.
On the ridge:


(and again with visibility. Cheers dad!)



Higher up, where the ridge connects to the main body of the mountain, it steepens again, and there is more scrambling, this time not so easily avoidable. I took a more direct route in a couple of places, as the rock type changes here to have the feel of a Ryvita cracker. Nice and solid, and much less greasy.
Above the scrambling, there is a short section of scree, then you are on the summit of Carnedd Dafydd. I was disappointed with the lack of views, and stood around for a few minutes to see if the mist would clear. I reflected on my last few times up this route - always seemed to be in the same conditions. According to my records, the last time I did Crib Lem on a clear and sunny day was October 1996. Despite this, it is still a favourite of mine.
I cleared off down after exchanging greetings with a couple (who were obviously so unimpressed by the weather that they didn't bother quite going over the summit!), following the ill-defined NW ridge. This is quite rough at the top, alternately scree and boulders, and the way is not obvious. It gains a bit more form down at 800m though, where there is a prominent un-named summit. As on my last few visits, I popped out of the cloud here. The views were worthy of another stop, and I even just about saw a brocken spectre. First one in years, although nowhere near as good as other ones I have seen photographed from this weekend.
View down Mynydd Ddu:

...to Bethesda, Anglesey and Mynydd Llandegai:

Is it really November?

Looking back at Llech Ddu and Crib Lem:

(Dad's photo):

My brocken spectre...just!

Cloud almost clears from Yr Elen and Carnedd Llwelyn:

I distinctly remember a tall cairn on this summit some years back, but now there are just a few rocks strewn about. Could this be Cameron McNeish's secret holiday destination?
The ridge onward is much grassier, and also better defined, and makes a pleasant easy end to the walk. I rejoined my outward route, and before long was back at the car. Not quite what I had intended, but a nice walk nonetheless.
Mynydd Ddu:

Why the Welsh always appear to be playing uphill...
