Welsh Blue Skies 2012

Rhaeadr Garth, Swallow Falls, Fairy Glen (not a waterfall, I know), The Secret Waterfall (also not a waterfall), Afon Du-bach, Arthog Waterfalls.

This was supposed to be a trip to refine some of the waterfall walk routes around Betws-y-Coed, but as it turned out, the weather was so unprecedentedly good that several other photographs became mandatory. Starting of course, with the first.

• A perfectly still morning, a completely cloudless day, and the Snowdon massif, reflected in the immaculate Llynnau Mymbyr lakes. I cannot imagine a more perfect view of these mountains; Gallt y Wenallt (619 metres), Lliwedd Bach (818 metres), Y Lliwedd East Peak (893 metres), Y Lliwedd (898 metres), Yr Wyddfa (1085 metres), Crib Goch (923 metres) and Garnedd Ugain (1065 metres).
• The three main Snowdon peaks; Yr Wyddfa, Crib Goch and Garnedd Ugain. The Crib y Ddysgl ridge can be seen connecting Crib Goch and Garnedd Ugain. It is very rare to see these mountains without clouds covering at least one of the two tallest tops.
• A complete view of the Snowdon Horseshoe - the first time it has ever let me see this properly. Gallt y Wenallt with 550 metres of scarp, Lliwedd Bach, Y Lliwedd East Peak, Y Lliwedd, Yr Wyddfa, Garnedd Ugain (only looks like a small lump), Crib Goch, Glyder Fawr (1001 metres), Moel Berfedd (482 metres) and Glyder Fach (994). On the distant left are Yr Arddu (463 metres), Moel y Dyniewydd (382 metres) and Moel-ddu (553 metres)
• The spectacular 645 metre east face of Yr Wyddfa.
• Sadly there were other things to do. This is the path running up the right bank of the river Llugwy from Betws-y-Coed, once the raised walkways have ended.
• The Miners Bridge. The last time I was here, the river was in spate, and the lower end of the bridge was under water. Debris can still be seen stuck in the railings.
• Cascade just upstream of the Miners Bridge.
• Much poorer cascade upstream.
• Starting from a lane through Pentre Du on the other side of the A5 from the Miner's Bridge is this path leading into the forest.
• Decorations.
• The path leads to this 5 metre waterfall, which has been referred to as Rhaeadr Garth (after the nearby Tan-y-garth farm). However, I spoke to three locals who lived in the houses by it and walked regularly in the area, and none of them had ever heard of that name. Two were rather happy to hear it had earned a name, while the other said it must be a name that somebody with no authority on the subject had invented on the spot. As far as I can tell, the name has never been officially recognised, and never appeared on any OS maps, though it has appeared in one geological book (ISBN 0 412 78930 2), which also contains wildly incorrect information about waterfall heights.
• View over the Llugwy valley from the Ty'n Llwyn viewpoint, showing the heat haze which was already threatening to ruin pictures. The Arenigau can still be made out in the background.
• From here, the trail is waymarked with a series of yellow waymarks, leading down paths and forestry tracks. Convenient.
• Path through Coed Cae Huddygl (a name designed to dislocate your tongue).
• The upper bench of Swallow Falls, from the river bed. Not the easiest place to get to.
• The two main benches of Swallow Falls, from the viewpoint on the free side of the river.
• Fenced path part way down the gorge cliffs.
• The most difficult part of the path, where it ascends a ledge on the rocks on the left. An elderly couple assured me that they still followed this route, so it should be possible for beginners too.
• View over the Llugwy valley, Moel Siabod (872 metres) and the two main Snowdon peaks from the forest's viewpoint.
• Moel Siabod, Yr Wyddfa and Garnedd Ugain.
• A short distance up the Llugwy at Capel Curig's Cyfyng Falls.
• The upper set are a little obscured.
• Moel Siabod and an old farm cottage, from the path leading up the left side of the river bank from the falls.
• Afon Llugwy at Capel Curig.
• A rocky patch.
• Cascades in the river above the footbridge by the hotels.
• Old stagecoach by one of the hotels.
• Entrance to the nearby Fairy Glen attraction, which sees relatively few visitors compared with others, even though the local tourist industry tries very hard to send people there. Perhaps it's due to the first sting; they advertise the price, but there is a secret hidden charge for parking too, so the entry fee is not the true cost for visiting - it's actually 3 times as much. The fees are collected here in an honesty box, and if you fail to put in the right amount for both parking and entry, the hawk eyed owners will literally chase you through the site and demand the rest. Believe me, I saw it happen.
• Or perhaps its the other problem. They advertise a circular walk, to visit the Fairy Glen Gorge. Well yes, there is a circular walk, and there is a gorge. But the walk barely touches it, spending most of the time near the top or in the fields, separated from it by a curtain of trees that block the view. Very disappointing.
• It does descend into the most impressive part of the Fairy Glen Gorge at one point, and it is a lovely place, but it's over before it starts. The path drops to the river, then ends. Enjoy the Afon Conwy for a moment, turn around and go back.
• I visited because I had read that it contains waterfalls. It contains this. Barely a cascade, more like a rocky rapid.
• The view downstream from the end of the path.
• The end of the gorge, at the mouth of the Afon Lledr.
• The Tyn y Cae pool at the confluence of the rivers.
• The track near the glen which is a right of way, leading below Dinas Mawr (254 metres).
• It becomes a path, leading to the Conwy Falls site.
• The Lledr valley, looking towards Moel Siabod.
• On the other side of the Conwy valley, the upper end of Fairy Glen can be reached over open access land, where there are these 4 metre cascades at the gorge's head.
• Rapids and a natural rock arch.
• And impressively deep scours, elevated 3 metres above the current water level.
• The upper gorge.
• The gorge then turns sharply and the river starts to dig a deep canyon. This is the far end of the part seen from the tourist site. Note the high flow lines several metres up the walls, showing what must happen when the river floods.
• Some distance away, at the Llechwedd Slate Caverns site in Blaenau Ffestiniog, is The Secret Waterfall (Y Rhaeadr Gudd). Despite its name, this is not a waterfall; it is an artificial culvert around 30 metres high, dug by Victorian miners to carry the water that was drained from the surrounding hillsides. This prevented the local streams from filling the slate mines.
• Blaenau Ffestiniog, with the mountains of slate castoff, covering much of the Moelwynion mountains. On the left are Moel-yr-hydd (648 metres) and Allt-fawr (698 metres). (Note; this was automatically stitched since buildings are very hard to manually stitch - there are limitations and the stitches may be more visible than normal.)
• Embankment carrying the tramway up the Manods.
• The Afon Du-bach waterfall, just above Blaenau Ffestiniog. In total, its height is substantially less than 20 metres, perhaps only 10, spread over a series of cascades. This is the main drop, which appears to be a little over 5 metres tall.
• The Pant-yr-ynn Mill, which sits below the waterfall.
• The waterfall can be seen from a back alley just before the mill, and the upper cascades can also be seen from there.
• The Rhinogydd mountain range, taken in the morning before the heat haze obliterated it. Diffwys (750 metres), Crib-y-rhiw (670 metres), Y Llethr (756 metres), Rhinog Fach (712 metres), Rhinog Fawr (720 metres), then the long bumpy ridge of Moel Ysgyfarnogod (623 metres) and Foel Penolau (614 metres).
• I had visited the Arthog Waterfalls before, but had stopped at this lovely waterfall, with a very distinctive 5 metre cascade and spout. That was my mistake, as there are in fact many more fine waterfalls upstream.
• The path skirts the cliff through the forest, and it's all too easy to assume that there are no more.
• The first waterfall of the upper set is a very nice 5 metre waterfall in a narrow gorge, which prevents any easy viewing.
• Cascades above it.
• The next waterfall is the tallest in the upper set, at about 6 metres. The path does give a reasonable view of this one.
• A 4 metre waterfall then completes the continuous upper set, making about 20 metres of continuous waterfalls.
• The Afon Arthog.
• 4 metre rocky cascades, with a ford above it.
• Cascades at the start of the top set.
• The largest waterfall in the top set, at 4 metres.
• Moss and rocks.
• And the last cascade.
• A newborn lamb, who hadn't yet learned to keep away from humans. It repeatedly tried checking if my trousers were edible, then followed me down the path, while its mother tried fruitlessly to inform it about how humans must not be trusted. Eventually I had to gently push it away so I could continue on the path.
• Once out into the sunshine, the effects of the heat could be clearly seen - or rather, not very clearly seen at all. This is supposed to be a picture of the Tyrrau Mawr/Craig-las summit (661 metres) in the Cadair Idris range.
• The stone bridge marking the end of the waterfalls.
• The Mawddach estuary, looking towards Barmouth.
• Recovered marshland at Arthog, kept dry by the dike on the right, which holds back the Afon Arthog.
• Mouth of the Afon Arthog, with the ridge behind it up to 589 metres high.
• The Mawddach estuary at the Penmaenpool toll bridge, with the Rhinogydd range's Diffwys (750 metres) in the distance, and the edge of Y Garn (629 metres) on the right.

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