Creigiau Gleision above Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir
The route – anticlockwise starting from Capel Curig
Our short outing onto the north-western hills of the Carneddau (see post #172) had the feel of a spring day about it, and with a few more days of settled sunny weather on the way, I decided to make the most of it by re-visiting the route I had abandoned three months earlier in the gales of December (see post #165). So, the next day I was at the south-east of the Carneddau range, ready to have a crack at Creigiau Gleision again.
Impatient Border Collie ‘Mist’ wants to be off
Looking up Nant Geuallt towards Crimpiau on the left
The start of the ascent of Crimpiau
The way ahead with (l to r) Crimpiau, Craig Wen and Craiglwyn
Looking down to Llyn Crafnant
I set off from Capel Curig with my regular walking partner, Border Collie ‘Mist’. Dogs make easy walking companions – they don’t complain, don’t ask for the map, don’t suggest that you have taken a wrong turn, and ‘Mist’ is no exception. She is also stock trained, and ignored the new lambs in the fields as we set out towards Llyn Crafnant. The way is gradually rising at first, but before Llyn Crafnant it takes a turn uphill to Crimpiau, the first summit of the day.
Craig Wen (centre) and Craiglwyn (right) seen from Crimpiau
The southern mountains of the Carneddau with Tryfan just creeping in through the haze (far left)
Pen Llithrig y Wrach ahead, but not on today’s route
Looking back to Craig Wen ….
…. and Craiglwyn ahead
Although low in altitude, Crimpiau is a great viewpoint, and from the top I could see the next peaks of Craig Wen and Craiglwyn. I didn’t bother with the summit of Craig Wen this time, but as I came round the shoulder of the hill I had a great panorama of the mountains of the southern Carneddau stretched out in front of me. The nearest hill was Pen Llithrig y Wrach, which translates as ‘Slippery Hill of the Witch’ (see post #77) – what a great name for a mountain!
Band of quartz on the way up Creigiau Gleision
Looking across Llyn Cowlyd to Pen Llithrig y Wrach
Craiglwyn had been the furthest point reached on the aborted December trip, so from there on I was on new ground. The high ground of Craiglwyn and Creigiau Gleision gave great views across to Pen Llithrig y Wrach, including my route back along the shoreline of Llyn Cowlyd. Just before the summit of Creigiau Gleision I came across an amazing band of pure white quartz, and ‘Mist’ obliged by posing for a photo to give an idea of scale. Before long I had crossed over the summit and was heading down to the dam at Llyn Cowlyd.
At Llyn Cowlyd dam, looking back to Creigiau Gleision
The western aspect of Creigiau Gleision
The path above the lake on the return route
The view back down Llyn Cowlyd, with Creigiau Gleision on the right
Creigiau Gleision (l) with Craig Wen on the outward route just visible (r)
The walk back above the lake gave great views back to the high route I had just taken. Before long I was contouring round the lower slopes of the witch’s slippery hill, to cross the pass at Bwlch Cowlyd, where the final views of Llyn Cowlyd completed a great route. An earlier idea to head back to Crimpiau was abandoned for a steady descent to the A5 and a short road walk back to Capel Curig, with ‘Mist’ giving me the look that said it was well past her dinner time!
The final view down to Llyn Cowlyd from the bwlch (pass)
“Come on! It’s past my dinner time!”
Text and images © Paul Shorrock
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 
This looked like a fun hike! I really love the lake trail, very beautiful. Slippery mountain of the witch… Yes, great name for a mountain!
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It was a great day out Plant Girl – the outward stretch was a real skyline route with big skies (well, by our smaller UK standards!) and the return by the lake was a delight.
The light was a bit hazy for photography, but some of the images weren’t too bad.
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A rather nice looking walk 🙂
It’s funny, Tilly is absolutely fine with sheep, but as soon as she hears a lamb cry, she goes totally daft….so this time of year it just has to be the lead if there’s any lambs about.
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Dogs can be such strange creatures at times, but we wouldn’t be without them.
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Some pretty spectacular views on that walk Paul. A friend of ours was just relating a lamb based story to us. She wasted quite a bit of time on the weekend’s Rab Mini Mountain Marathon because the pitiful bleat of a lone lost lamb was just impossible to ignore. She ended up carrying it until luckily the rest of the flock, including it’s mother, were located. Interspecies co-operation!
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Didn’t it leave her feeling a bit sheepish? 😉
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an emoji does not exist that will express my response to this.. 😉
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Tee hee ….
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I notice that she and her partner still managed to score the most points in their class!
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It is a nice route that. They look great crags on Craig Wen on your retrospect photo 🙂
Carol.
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Cracking route Carol – Craig Wen is a complex little summit, but I gave it a miss on this trip.
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