Sunday 1st May- Snowdon's western lakes

I look forward to seeing some of you at Snowdon Ranger on 1st May for a walk to places and lakes less visited. Even though the top of Snowdon will seem practically within reach (well, how does the song go, on a clear day....), we will for much of the day be far removed from the those heading for the summit.

However, it is a bank holiday weekend, and as a consequence parking space at Snowdon Ranger will be at a premium. The first Sunday bus is well after 10am, so assuming you will be coming by car can I ask you to share transport as much as possible. To help, our neighbour, farmer Edgar Williams, has agreed to us parking in one of his fields. This was used by the WHR when building the railway, so it has some hard standing. The SNP car park fee here is £4 for the day and I have said we will pay the same. The entrance is on the right about 100 metres north of the SNP car park.

We start the walk on the Snowdon Ranger path before branching of across country to the first llyn of the day, Ffynnon y gwasg. Then a steep climb into Cwm Clogwyn to visit Llyn Glas, Llyn Coch and Llyn Nadroedd, plus a little llyn with no name. There is a real mountain feel about this high cwm, with the cliffs of Llechog and Snowdon towering above to make a perfect amphitheatre. Some of the route here will be over rocky ground.

We then drop down to cross the Snowdon Ranger path at Bwlch Cwm Brwynog. If the weather is good the route then traverses the rocks and boulders below Clogwyn Du'r Arddu to reach our final lake, Llyn Du'r Arddu. This is a very impressive location, with climbers to be seen on the formidable cliffs above, but the route to it is a little difficult. If you are not comfortable picking a way through and over stones and boulders then this is probably not the walk for you. Hope that does not sound too blunt, but I want you to enjoy the day, not endure it!

We will then join the crowds on the Llanberis path to descend to Hebron Station before returning to Snowdon Ranger over Bwlch Maes Gwm.

In the event of wet conditions (hard to imagine in all this nice weather, but it has been known to happen), rather than traversing to Llyn Du'r Arddu we will descend Cwm Brwynog to Helfa Fawr and up to Bwlch Maes Gwm.

Hope the above will be enough to wet your appetite for a good walk in the hills. If so, see you on Sunday.

Dave