What a walk we had while we were away earlier in the month. It was absolutely joyous … and so lovely for us both to do a proper walk with very little pain or getting worn out. To be perfectly honest, it was the type of walk we hadn’t really imagined ourselves doing again.
We paid for it a little bit the following day, with aching limbs, but it’s fair to say we were both darn proud … and so pleased to have made the very best of, what ended up being, the last sunshine and dry day of our stay.
So … where did we go?
We headed for the Ogwen Valley. As we got nearer and the skies began to change, with clouds rolling in, there were a few moments where we debated changing our plans. I’m so glad we didn’t.
It turned out to be a walk filled with fabulous views, strong winds mixed with warm sunshine, the constant sound of trickling water, rocky scrambles, rock slab bridges and stepping stones, plus a fair share of slippy, slidey and boggy ground.
And We Loved Every Minute 💜
And I really want to share it with you guys 😀
We parked at the Snowdonia National Park car park near Ogwen Cottage, with the optimistic plan of walking around Llyn Idwal … but with plenty of options to shorten the walk if we decided the full circuit was too much for us.
We headed out along the stone path to the left of the visitor centre, towards the tall slate “window” stones …
It is a stunning spot, with fabulous views all around.
From there we passed through the wrought iron gate … and this was as far as Martin had managed to walk the last time we were here …
So he had never made it as far as the bridge and the waterfall, which today was in full flow. It took him totally by surprise and he was very impressed …
From this point on the route was brand new for both of us. A well-defined stone path stretched away into the distance … heading towards the mighty Tryfan …
We were right in the heart of the Glyderau and everything looked glorious. We couldn’t wait to press on and see what we would discover … and just how far we might get …
We were actually on the trail of more waterfalls from our Hidden Waterfalls book. This time we were hoping to see Cwm Cneifion Falls and Devil’s Kitchen … from a distance.
It was a nice easy walk to the lake and we were both feeling good … no pain and plenty of energy …
We headed left and the wind really picked up …
It was still a great path though, and we made our way alongside the lake …
Before the path began to climb a little, we stopped to take in the view looking back the way we had come …
The incline wasn’t too bad …
And then, all of a sudden, we were at the waterfalls. They hadn’t been that noticeable on approach but we soon found ourselves stood at the bottom and looking up to see the ribbon of water making its way right down the mountainside …
… and down into the lake …
Just beyond the falls the path becomes more challenging as it climbs up towards Devil’s Kitchen. At that point we chose the easier path to the right …
…which took us across the top of the lake and over to the other side.
There were more fabulous views looking back towards the waterfalls …
Across the top of the lake, the path led over large stepping stones crossing crystal-clear streams … perfect for paddling in if it had been just a little warmer.
From there the path began to wind upwards …
… bringing us back towards the opposite shore of the lake … 
At this point our route took us up and away from the lake itself, where we had wonderful views across Nant Ffrancon and back along the A5 towards Bethesda …
We tentatively clambered over our first stile…
…and into ground that was rather boggy under foot …
It was here that we encountered a hoard of blue-clad teenagers making their way towards us on an immersive geography field trip. We happily waited for them to pass before attempting to find a less slippy route down … wondering at what age we suddenly become paranoid about falling!
Looking back we could see the geography lesson taking place at the top of the rocks …
By now we were beginning to get tired and I wasn’t feeling quite as sure footed so we were taking it very steadily.
Once past the wet and boggy section we found ourselves back on a nice solid footpath leading us gently downhill towards the end of our walk …
It wasn’t long before the gentleness turned into a full on scramble and I did begin to wonder if we had somehow missed the path …
At the bottom of the scramble we found ourselves in a long, narrow gorge, or defile. This is the view looking back up the path … I’m not sure we would have fancied attempting it had we done the walk from the opposite direction …
Down in the gorge it was incredibly quiet … not a sound to be heard.
At the bottom was another stile, from which it was only a short walk back to our starting point …
This was our last look back up the gorge …
What a walk. We absolutely loved it. While it was only about two and a half miles, parts of it were challenging — and it was certainly further than either of us has walked in a long time.
We had decided we would treat ourselves to a lamb and mint pasty from the café… but they had sold out. We were both gutted … and slightly relieved that we hadn’t blown our diet for the day … so we made do with an emergency banana instead.
Not quite the same, I know 😜
We did get to see two jets flying low up the valley though … so it wasn’t a completely disappointing end to our walk.
As we drove away, we both agreed that this walk would stay with us for a long time. Not just for the spectacular scenery … though Cwm Idwal certainly delivered that … but for the reminder that sometimes we are capable of more than we think. It may only have been a couple of miles, but for us it felt like something much bigger… and that had us heading for home feeling very happy with ourselves 😀
We parked at the Snowdonia National Park car park near Ogwen Cottage, with the optimistic plan of walking around Llyn Idwal … but with plenty of options to shorten the walk if we decided the full circuit was too much for us.
We headed out along the stone path to the left of the visitor centre, towards the tall slate “window” stones …
… engraved with the names of the surrounding mountains …
From there we passed through the wrought iron gate … and this was as far as Martin had managed to walk the last time we were here …
It was a nice easy walk to the lake and we were both feeling good … no pain and plenty of energy …
There were more fabulous views looking back towards the waterfalls …
From there the path began to wind upwards …
Looking back we could see the geography lesson taking place at the top of the rocks …
Once past the wet and boggy section we found ourselves back on a nice solid footpath leading us gently downhill towards the end of our walk …
And this was the view looking down the gorge …
At the bottom was another stile, from which it was only a short walk back to our starting point …
We had decided we would treat ourselves to a lamb and mint pasty from the café… but they had sold out. We were both gutted … and slightly relieved that we hadn’t blown our diet for the day … so we made do with an emergency banana instead.
Not quite the same, I know 😜
We did get to see two jets flying low up the valley though … so it wasn’t a completely disappointing end to our walk.
As we drove away, we both agreed that this walk would stay with us for a long time. Not just for the spectacular scenery … though Cwm Idwal certainly delivered that … but for the reminder that sometimes we are capable of more than we think. It may only have been a couple of miles, but for us it felt like something much bigger… and that had us heading for home feeling very happy with ourselves 😀
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