easyish 2 day walk and wild camp in welsh mountains

Hi guys,

 as per title really. Myself and my wife are looking for a 2 day walk of up to say 10-15 miles somewhere in north wales away from the crowds and popular places so no snowdon please! We dont mind going up to 600-800 meters as long as there are no difficult climbs involved if possible. We need somewhere safe to park the car in a village say then walk into the mountains for a wild camp then come back down to the car the following day. We could possibly wild camp for 2 nights if needs be. I've had a look at Geoff's VG backpacking blog and it is very inspiring however we think maybe the walks he does may be a little too difficult for us.

Any advice from you knowledgable folks would be most welcome.

Thanks

Matt

Hi me and my wife have done a couple of the VG backpacking trips. I can recommend Tanat and Efyrnwy

A 3 day trip and far from the madding crowd, quite easy with no technical bits. Rather than read his blog go to his backpacking site loads of ideas.

Good luck and travel light

Jon

The area southwest of Arenig Fawr is remote and well away from the crowds.

There is a single track, gated road that runs through the middle of the area with a few spots that you could park your car in relative safety. The road also has a high spot of over 400m if your legs appreciate that sort of thing!

Something to bear in mind for route planning is that a lot of the forestry plantation was cut down a few years ago, so long detours might not be needed anymore.

Hi gents, we were thinking the Aran or Arenig ranges? Basically i have asthma and can really struggle on steep ascents. Dont mind being high up as long as the route up isnt too vertical! We're going next friday so need some help asap so we can plan our trip. Even an out and back trip would be ok so long as theres suitable camping locations.

Ps. Moley, we'll have a satmap all being well.

cheers

matt

How about walking along the Northern Carneddau's. If you go to the car park area for Aber Falls, near Abergwyngregyn, but drive past the car park and take the road over the bridge up the narrow lanes, there is a high car park with a landrover path leading out of the car park. Follow this path and it will eventually take you up onto Drum 2526ft (but you will have covered a lot of the climb in the car)

From Drum you drop down slightly before your faced with Foel Fras, the most northern Munroe in Wales, (last of the welsh 3000's). There is then a fantastic walk along high ground, very straight forward, taking in Garnedd Uchaf, Foel Grach (emergency shelter near summit) Carnedd Llwellyn (wales 2nd peak) and you could keep going all the way to Pen Yr Ole Wen, offering amazing views of the Glyders. Or you could pick any other point to stop over night and walk back next day.

This may sound like a tough route, but by parking in the high cark park a lot of the climb is done, also there isn't much loss of height between peaks so it's a great way to knock off some munroes without too much effort. There are loads of great spots to wild camp and it's one of the least walked areas of Snowdonia.

This area is right on my door step and I'm always amazed it doesn't attract more crowds, whenever I walk there it's almost deserted.

The northern Carneddau are good but one issue is the lack of decent water sources high up - depending quite where you want to make camp you either need to be prepared to carry water up from lower down or else have a filter that you trust for taking water from the odd brackish pool up on the tops.

Of the Arans or Arenigs, both are good and both are relatively empty. My view is that the Arenigs are more likely to involve off-track navigation and larger boggy areas - so given what mattb has said he's after, I'd probably recommend the Arans...

There's good camping to be had near the small llyn north of Aran Benllyn, or else that llyn makes a good source to take your water and only have to carry it along the ridge to any other spot you pick. It should be possible to find numerous spots as the ridge meanders south to Aran Fawddwy. You'd probably also get pitched on the broad col just north of Drws Bach, with water available nearby and a nice view to the Rhinogs, but it is a bit tussocky.

As for routes, you can start from the north or south. From the north, there's free parking in a small car park by the bridge in Llanuwchllyn, and a straightforward (and not particularly long) ascent south along the ridge to the Arans summits. More problematic is the return unless you simply go out and back. You can descent easily SE from point 872 to Craiglyn Dyfi and Foel Hafod Fynydd, then to Bwlch Syrddyn (boggy) for the footpath out through Cwm Du, but depending what success you have finding the footpaths around Talardd you could be left with a few km on tarmac back to the car.

The approach from the south is probably a bit more satisfying. There's a car park with portaloo at the head of Cwm Cywarch, and a steady climb up the path on the south-east flank of Hengwm. Follow round to Drysgol and Drws Bach. Then it's out and back along the ridge to the Aran summits, taking your pick of the places to pitch. Return via the path SW off the summit of Aran Fawddwy as far as the col NE of Craig y Ffynnon. Then descend by the stream ,or else continue over Glasgwm and finally down the (initially) steep footpath just before Y Gribin.

You can do either of these Arans options in a day, but split over two days they give you plenty of time to linger and enjoy the superb location, and of course a grand night out that'll feel wild and remote and empty

I totally agree with Matt C. the Aran's would be great.

Another suggestion would be to walk from Trawsfynydd along the Rhinog range along the "Roman Steps". this is very remote, and very easy walking (unless you decide to grab one of the Rhinog peaks on your way.) there is a lovely camp site at the bottom of the roman steps which is usualy empty, right by the lake. last time I was there we just payed into an honesty box. if you don't want to camp there there are loads of places to wild camp, as this is a very remote place. I have done this a few times with a group and by myself. 

Have fun!

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

@MattC, We're going to follow your advice and do the Aran ridge up to Aran Fawddy then maybe drop down to Creiglyn Dyfi for the night.

The only thing we're unsure of is which way to tackle the ridge from (well, the whole route really!) and which is the easiest for me. Matt, obviously you know the area, as i mentioned earlier, i have asthma and struggle with going uphill sometimes, so need to take plenty of rest stops.

Can you advise?

 Matt

Hi matt, I'd agree with 'geek' and Sion, the Cwm Cywarch circuit has a more satisfying feel to it. The Hengwm path is well graded and you can take it at whatever pace you like. Same for the continuation up Drysgol. The final slopes of Aran Fawddwy are more of a series of rocky terraces, the path(s) tend to climb up through a short rocky band then meander across to the next rocky band. There's ample scope to stop as often as you like.

The stream down from the Glasgwm col is definitely better in descent. In fact the most lung-busting steep climb iirc would be the one up Glasgwm if you continued the circut over that as I described above.

Thinking about it a climb back up from Creiglyn Dyfi to the 872 point would be pretty sustained. And I don't recall seeing much flat ground around the llyn to pitch on - can anyone else confirm that?

Hi,

I found this page earlier,  http://www.walkeryri.org.uk/wordpress/?p=4246

and I'm a bit concerned. Are the bogs that bad up there?

Yes, apart from the duckboards it's really not too bad, occasionally a bit squelchy underfoot (the Waun Goch col springs to mind) but not at all bad really. I've done the round twice in trail shoes without getting badly wet feet.

I've found the best technique on the duckboards/planks is to take small, almost shuffling steps - it avoids the risk of planting a heel on a slippy bit and having it skid off into the mire

It's around 852 188, but basically head right up Cwm Cywarch, past the phone box (where there used to be some unofficial verge-side parking) and on almost to the end of the road, and you'll find it on the left.

Is it safe? Well, there are no absolute guarantees anywhere, but I've left my car there happily enough a few times - it's such a remote valley with a long, slightly awkward approach, that it's not going to suffer from passing opportunists, only anyone who deliberately targets it. I'd still take the usual precautions of leaving nothing valuable in the car and nothing on show - I prefer to leave the car as empty as possible with the boot cover pushed back to show there's nothing there.