 In your opinion, which is the most memorable route up to Cadair Idris? It's going to be my birthday treat, and yes I know that you're probably supposed to ask for chocolate or nice knickers or summat on your birthday but hey ho  We'll have the car and will be staying near Porthmadog but travel isn't a problem.
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Depends on the weather....but I did the whole horseshoe on a cracking day last year....lovely
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 Go from Lake Gwernan up the Foxes Path.
A right old scramble up some loose scree but you'll probably have it all to yourself, and when you get to the top it's a fine old view down.
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 I've always preferred the horseshoe from the south (sorry, can't remember the name and not got a map to hand). The start through woodland is a delight and the approach into the cwm is striking, then up onto the ridge to the W and the views open out, brilliant. No loose scree either iirc. Perhaps best of all, but you may not be able to organise the transport, is a full traverse from W to E across as much of the ridge as the day allows
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Forget Cadair and go up Aran Fawddy instead. Far nicer mountain, less people ...... and it's higher  .
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 Lots of things to see but these are the big ones really: 1) see Cwm Cau, 2) See the view N over the Mawddach estuary (S isn't so special), 3) See Llyn Gadair/the associated cliffs. The problem is that 1 and 3 are on opposite sides of the mountain so its not easy to arrange a round trip. Diverting to the pony path instead of the foxes path (the direct route down to Llyn Gadair) really is very sensible. The foxes path is for lovers of nastily eroded scree only, 'purgatory' says one of my guide books. Going down it in horribly wet/slippy conditions was certainly not amusing..... If you like such things then the stone shoot on the far side of Lynn Cau is meant to be in decent condition. Must surely be some scrambles too?! If the cloud is right down on top but clear at ~600m then it might work better to up to llyn Gadair and then across and up via the pony path. A slightly less impressive cwm/llyn than Cau perhaps (its debatable!) but you get much the better half of the view that you get from the top on a clear day. The full walk along the length of the ridge is probably the thing to do given clear weather and transport/energy. Actually fairly easy to get solitude on Cadair. There are ~9 miles of cliffs after all! Even Llyn y Gadair seems to be fairly quiet. The lesser known lakes are mostly very quiet and you could probably wait a long time before seeing anyone else on Craig cwm-llwyd. I've got a guidebook (Cicerones recent hillwalking in wales) which talks about a route up the hanging valley of Cym Amarch. Thats probably very, very quiet. Anyway Arran Fawddy only really has one good side Both lovely of course.
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| Edited: 22/03/09 09:57 |
 Slightly hijacking the thread but I'm thinking of having a trek up Cadair in the summer and was looking at this place for a few days as a base http://www.graigwen.co.uk/modx-0961p2/camping_and_caravanning.php We passed it on a cycle ride last year when we were in Barmouth. Anyone been and is it a good base for Cadair? Cheers
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 In my opinion the best route starts up the Minffordd Path (nice woodland walk beside the waterfalls) into Cwm Cau. Over Craig Cau to the summit, then back over Mynydd Moel to the start.
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As has been pointed out recently in another thread, the X94 Barmouth - Wrexham bus runs north of the Cader Idris/ Arans/Berwyns every two hours making linear walks along these ridges easy to organise. Personally for a day walk I'd walk from Dolgellau to Barmouth taking in the ridge from Gau Graig to Braich Ddu which IIRC is about 15miles and the take the bus back (theres also a local service covering this section so the buses are hourly) Good weather helps of course. It may be just me getting less adventurous with advancing years , but it does appear to me that the Foxes Path has deteriorated greatly with over use and personally I'm with the other Martin on this and I'd avoid it. Of course purgatory be exactly what you mean by "memorable".....
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| Edited: 23/03/09 10:48 |
Hi just done the Cyfrwy Arete starting at the Table Direct start point. Climbed in big boots without a problem and saw just one person the whole day...stunning. aldousjohn@hotmail.com
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Sorry missed this link out of my message: http://www.ukscrambles.com/Database/scrambles/scrambles-in-wales/cadair-idris/cyfrwy-arete.html This route omits the Table Direct start that I mentioned previously.
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 I had a very memorable ascent last year. Up via Gau Graig and camping near its summit, I was on the summit of pen y gadair (my first time) by 10.00 am, and had it all to myself. But, the most memorable part was the descent of the foxes path. That was a mistake, especially with a big pack, and I was very glad to get down to the tarn at the bottom.
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 Another vote for the Minffordd path!
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Aye the Minffordd path looks like it's in the lead at the moment. Ultimately it'll depend on the weather and the state of Le Boyfriend's hip - If he's not able to walk I can plan summat linear, as he loves being my taxi driver, really he does
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https://www.facebook.com/CadairIdrisWales
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My goodness, a revived thread! Never did get up Cadair Idris on that trip
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 Never mind, Hayley, at least the zombie thread means we get to say hello to you!
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Hello Kate How are things? I finally escaped London, huzzah!
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 Still not got there myself, went up in Feb last and couldnt see my hand in front of my face - so adjourned to the pub Hi just done the Cyfrwy Arete starting at the Table Direct start point. Climbed in big boots without a problem and saw just one person the whole day...stunning.
Had a nose at through the thread, as I like quiter routes and quite fancy the above, need a willing volunteer later in the year
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Hey, just seen this so I thought i'd share some photo's & video of Cadari Idris from last year Another fantastic day out on a fantastic mountain CADAIR IDRIS
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