Hi there everyone 😀
Welcome to our most epic walk yet … and one we never imagined we would do … ever.
For ages I’ve been seeing pictures of the Watkin path waterfalls and pools on Facebook and thinking how beautiful it looked. I’ve done lots of Googling so see how far it is and how difficult the walk is and, finally, I found something that made it sound doable.
We waited for a Monday, as I thought it would probably really busy over a weekend … especially with the run of good weather we were having and found plenty of parking at Pont Bethania … which cost £5 for four hours …
We made use of the toilet facilities on the car park, which weren’t the best. With flickering fluorescent lights it felt like being in a horror movie and there was not a scrap of loo roll. Fortunately I always approach a public loo expecting the worst so was prepared.
The start of the footpath is literally just across the road from the car park and, with only a rough idea of what to expect, we were soon on our way …
Our ideal outcome was to make it to the waterfalls but we were just setting out with a view to seeing how we got on.
Whilst the Watkin path is described as one of the more difficult routes for ascending Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the first part is actually quite a nice steady walk … up through the woodland …
The route is very well defined and the path is a mixture of stone steps and gravel …
It’s an interesting walk through the woods … with wooden bridges crossing crystal clear streams …
… and abandoned buildings …
The path emerges from the woodland, about half way to the waterfalls, with the most fabulous views across the valley …
… and then continues on a gentle incline through the metal gate …
As the path rounded the bend we could already hear the rush of water and as we rounded the bend we got our first glimpse of the main falls …
The path wound its way towards the falls …
It was pretty warm at this point on the path as it was a really bright sunshiny day with not a scrap of shade. We did manage to find a well place rock for a bit of a breather and a drink.
We had a bit of a nervous moment … passing the cows … which fortunately showed no interest in us at all …
We crossed a muddy patch on huge stepping stones …
… followed by a slate bridge …
Looking back the way we had come … it was just stunning …
It was just a short walk now to the falls and we could see a few people milling about …
Having made it to the falls that we’d seen from a distance … we did manage to have a bit of a scramble to get a bit closer and saw the first of the pools, which was so clear and a beautiful shade of emerald green …
We chatted to a couple of people who had braved a dip … they said the water was amazing, but icy cold. They also encouraged us to carry on a bit further upstream … telling us there were lots more pools to see.
Looking up river we could see a bridge and decided to make that our next goal. We really wanted to find out what more there was to see and headed up …
The bridge was something else … giving off Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes …
There were more pools and it was just so beautiful. We just had to head across the bridge …
The path was a little less defined on the other side and a bit of a scramble in places … but we weren’t quite ready to call it a day just yet …
Eventually we decided we really ought to start to head back so it was back down …
… back across the bridge …
… and we were on our way with one last look back and yes … it was still stunning …
We gave ourselves another pitstop …
… and it was back across the slate bridge …
… the huge stepping stones …
… and past the cows … who still weren’t really interested …
Before rounding the bend to head back into the woodland we did have one last look back to where we’d been … we both felt quite proud of ourselves …
The walk back down through the woods was tough for us. Both with creaky joints we felt every step on the way down. We decided we would reward ourselves with a visit to the caffi at the bottom …
… but it was not to be 🙈🙈🙈 …
Disappointed but determined to reward ourselves we jumped … more like fell … into the car and headed for Caffi Siabod …
… where it was a well deserved rarebit for me and a ciabatta for Martin 😀
What a walk we’d had and, whilst it had been tough at the end, I am pretty sure it’s one we will do again 😀
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