Walking the Snowdonia Way

The excellent Cicerone guidebook “Walking the Snowdonia Way” by Alex Kendall who devised this route describes the Snowdonia Way thus; “running for 97 miles through the mountains of North Wales, the Snowdonia Way is a week-long unwaymarked route that takes you through the heart of Eryri”. I had originally been booked to work on a trip to India at the end of March but this fell through and left me feeling a bit disconsolate so to try and perk myself up I decided to undertake this challenge especially as I am working on the route later this year for our friends at Thistle Trekking . It would also be a good opportunity to test out my knee six months after my distal femoral oesteotomy. The route starts in Machynlleth, the Welsh town where Owain Glyndwr was crowned Prince of Wales and held his first Welsh parliament. I had met my friend Ieuan the night before I started walking for a few excellent beers at The Wynnstay Hotel in the centre of town so set out from the clocktower with a slightly fuzzy head! It was a fifteen and a half mile walk to Dolgellau along tiny lanes passing the Centre for Alternative Technology where I’d spent many happy days as a child on family holidays. I passed through woodland alive with the sound of birdsong and dotted with wild flowers and climbed through the slate spoil tips of Aberllefeni. The weather was decidedly Springlike and continued in this vein almost all week. I was fortunate to be staying in Portmadog at David John’s house for a few days so returned there for a couple of pints in The Australia before a sound night’s sleep. Using a combination of trains and buses and my car I was able to move pretty well along the route with one exception and I found the Welsh rural public transport network very impressive. After leaving Dolgellau and it’s dog walkers on day two I visited the ruins of Cymer Abbey before spending much of the day making my way through the Coed Y Brenin or woodland of the king. I had lunch with a view of the Rhinogs and followed in the footsteps of Roman legionnaires on the ancient Sarn Helen roadway. The final leg of the day saw me dropping down to Trawsfyndd and one of the largest manmade lakes in Wales. The lake was created in the 1920s to power a hydroelectric plant and later used as a coolant for the now mothballed nuclear power plant.
Day three was already my longest day at eighteen and a half miles but the long term closure of the pedestrian bridge across the lake meant an extra mile was added to the day. It was another morning of sunshine and blue sky as I climbed away from the lake and then followed narrow paths above precipitous gorges. A short section of the Welsh Coastal Path bought back fond memories of my Land of my Fathers adventure before I continued along more narrow lanes and over the shoulder of Cnicht, the triangular shaped mountain where I spent some of my Mountain Leader assessment many years before. The final section into Beddgelert took me along the rocky Pass of Aberglaslyn before I emerged into the village footsore and ready for a quick pint before jumping on the bus back to Portmadog. Another stunning sunny morning greeted me as I started day four. One of the features of the route was just how quiet much of it was and today was no exception with barely another walker seen all day. Llyn Dinas was a beautiful spot for a brew with a lovely view of Dinas Emrys a hill with associations with Vortigern the fifth century king and Merlin the Arthurian wizard. A cracking coffee and cake in the beautiful Caffi Gwynant housed in an old chapel gave me the energy to make my way along Llyn Gwynant where I saw a Wild Goat and then undertake the strenuous climb to Bwlch y Rhediad. The landscape here reminded me of the Peak District, boggy underfoot and wide open moorland and there was not a soul to be seen. The views back to Crib Goch were fantastic and it really felt like a special place a million miles from the sometime frantic summit of Yr Wyddfa! The end of the day saw me visit Dolwyddelan Castle perched high above the pass and said to be the birthplace of Llewelyn the Great before heading over to Conwy YHA where I was meeting Thalia who was joining me for the remainder of the way!
After four days of solitary walking it was great to have some company for the leg from Dolwyddelan to Bethesda. A varied day of walking took in forests, a coffee stop in Capel Curig, spectacular views of Tryfan, the Glyders and the Carneddau and a long, slow descent through Nant Ffrancon passing huge heaps of slate spoil before arriving into Bethesda beneath the zip lines of Zipworld, footsore and tired. The penultimate day started with a steep slog but very soon we were surrounded by mountain ponies and gazing out towards Anglesey and Puffin Island. A long traverse took us down to Aber Falls which came as a bit of a shock after a week of solitude, it was heaving with families, dogs and large groups enjoying the sunshine and the views of the falls. We climbed away from the mayhem towards Foel Ganol before taking a diversion from the main route and dropping down to Llanfairfechan where we ended the day.
The final day and the Welsh weather finally became more traditional. Two thirds of our day was spent in the clouds and that kind of soaking wet rain that just hangs in the air. With visibility so poor we didn’t see a great deal until we descended to Synchant Pass and Conwy Mountain. Our first views of Conwy showed the castle perched magnificently above the estuary and we made our way down into the town for an ice cream and the finish of the route beneath the statue of Llewelyn the Great.
This is the low route (the high route is considerably longer and goes over many of the tops) but there was still a challenging amount of ascent and descent. Walking the Snowdonia Way this way means you get the views of the big mountains that are often lacking from the tops themselves. It gave me a completely different perspective on areas that I thought I knew pretty well and for many of the days I barely saw another walker. It’s a spectacular route and one I would heartily recommend, so please drop us a line if you’re interested.