Fine weather having returned, we drove 7 miles to a lay-by near the Power Station at Maentwrog. Our objective was a short 4km walk, sheltered by the ancient woods of Coed Felinrhyd on a blustery day. Walk number 27 in Alex Kendall's Snowdonia North guide.
First we admired the bulging river (above) as we crossed a bridge to join our path. Its level had dropped by some 18 inches by the time we returned a couple of hours later.
The Power Station looks more like a stately home!
A short way up our path, the Ivy Bridge seems obscured by a curtain of vines.
'Mushroom of the Day' remains unidentified. Sue will probably check it for tastiness later...
The good path rose relentlessly to a viewpoint above a waterfall. Not much of the waterfall is actually visible, or so it would seem.
Here, our route turned uphill, high above the river. After more ascent we joined a lovely grassy path that took us all the way to Cae'n-y-Coed.
We passed a ruin. Who lived here, and what was a typical scene at that time?
Cae'n-y-Coed is maybe a holiday home.
Alex's route goes right here, dark blue on the map shown below, returning downhill to the Power Station in one kilometre.
My ankle seemed to have recovered from its boot rub, so we took a longer (4km) option on paths that were new to us. The route is shown below. It proved to be an excellent choice. We rose to a high point just below a rocky knoll.
Turning to the north west, we passed the eastern end of a reservoir, Llyn Tecwyn Uchaf, with views out to the sea beyond Portmeirion.
A good track led to a steep slippery footpath on which to finish this excellent 7km outing.
Here's our route - 7km, 250 metres ascent, taking 2 hours.
That's it for now. We returned home via the Portmeirion café/shop in Porthmadog and we are now enjoying a lazy afternoon watching Egrets and other birds in the harbour, before packing up and heading home tomorrow via a visit to Great Grandma Dot.
2 comments:
Although I have walked round the Welsh boundary and climbed a few of the Marilyns and done a bit of rock climbing at Tremadog I regret not having spent more time there. There is so much to do and see without the commercialism of the Lake District. You've had some super walking from that adopted base.
Agreed, Conrad. Porthmadog is a perfect place for access to the high and low parts of Snowdonia, which scores highly when compared with the Lake District. We are now returning to some of the 90 or so venues already visited for mainly low level walks, making adjustments and additions that add to the interest we derive from this magnificent area.
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