I had arranged to meet up with five friends at the far end of Bethesda village, but that is easier said than done. I should have remembered how difficult to navigate this village is Having gone round in a circle a couple of times I found a free carpark However is was about a mile from where I needed to be & it was a good hike up hill. The others navigated much better than me & got much close to where the path up the mountain begins . Parking is very difficult on the narrow streets.
All set we managed to get on the path no problem & having had a night of rain we wondered what the stream crossing would be like? We all had pollybags and string just in case. here are a few of the pics crossing the stream which was not problem really
Crossing Afon LLafar by Joan Howard, on Flickr
step out by Joan Howard, on Flickr
A helping hand by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Once across we had a fairly easy walk across the moor to gain the ridge to ascend Yr Elen.
Crossing the moor by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1885 (2) by Joan Howard, on Flickr
We decided to get to the beginning of the rocks & get out of the wind & enjoy the view before getting into the cloud.
Yr Ellen by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Once in the cloud and on the scree it was a steep climb to the summit, it would have been very slippery if we had reversed the route, as we had considered.
Yr Elen summit ridge by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Navigation became a bit tricky in the heavy cloud & we had to resort to the GPS to find the summit of Llewelyn
Carnedd Llewelyn by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Pathfinder finding the way! by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1848 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Once we passed Llewelyn it began to clear we could have a look back where we had come from.
Towards Carnedd Dafydd by Joan Howard, on Flickr
and admire the views
Looking back by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1851 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
The ridge towards Dafyd was very clear & we all enjoyed being able to see something
IMG_1854 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1852 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
View of our route by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Onwards! by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1867 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
IMG_1869 (2) by Joan Howard, on Flickr
The last summit of the day, well done team
IMG_1877 by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Summit Dafydd by Joan Howard, on Flickr
Now for the descent to Bethesda down the boulder filed.
Down the boulder field by Joan Howard, on Flickr
The sting in the tail for me was when we got back to the village The friends who had parked nearer to the mountain gave me a lift down to the main town, but it took us 20 minutes to find my car Its a maze down there!!! The moral is I should have put a "mark" on the GPS for the car Make sure you can navigate the village if you do this route