Bagging Nuttalls around Crieglyn Dyfi

by Alan Cole · Wednesday, September 4th, 2024

Nuttals Bagged This Trip

Pen yr Allt Uchaf – 630 m
Gwaun Lydan – 632 m
Llechwedd Du – 614 m
Esgeiriau Gwynion – 671 m
Foel Rhudd – 659 m
Foel Hafod-fynydd – 689 m
Erw Ddafad-ddu – 872 m
Aran Fawddwy – 905 m
Gwaun y Llwyni – 685 m
Waun Camddwr – 622 m

Total to Date

Total Welsh Nuttals: 71/189

Having decided upon a mission to summit all of the Welsh Nuttalls I thought I should make a start while I could. So I headed out into the hills on Friday. The original plan was for Morgan to come with me but he said he was feeling ill so once again I was all on my own.

Up into the Arans

I parked up at Cwm Cywarch and set off up the steep climb towards the hills. Cwm Cywarch is always an impressive place to start a walk, the drive in alone is good as the mountains close in around you. It was a lovely day with no wind, gorgeous blue skies and some puffy clouds. I had views of the surrounding hills and back down the valley from where I’d come.

By the time I got to the top it was a little cloudier but by now I was glad as it had been getting quite hot on the climb.

Looking along the ridge to Pen yr Allt Uchaf

Rather than follow the obvious path up the summit of Drysgol I turned right and headed out along the ridge through some deep bits of bog. Unconventional I know, but I’ve already summited Drysgol on a previous walk and the summit of Pen yr Allt Uchaf (630 m) at the end of the ridge classifies as a Nuttall so I was off to bag that. Besides, what’s a walk in the Welsh hills without some bog-hopping! I bagged Waun Goch (605 m), which is not a Nuttall on the way.

At the ‘summit’ which was more of a rounded, grassy top I was afforded amazing views of the surrounding Aran hills, including those that I was likely to visit tomorrow.

I paused for a while and then retraced my steps back through the bog to the saddle below Drysgol. Here I climbed to the summit of Drysgol (731 m) just because I could. This is indeed a Nuttall, but I’d been here before. It did no harm to visit again. From here I headed off to pastures new in search of Nuttalls that I’d never been to.

First on the list was Gwaun Lydan (632 m) which involved a descent and a little more ridge walking past dark peaty pools.

I stopped at the summit (again a grassy, rounded top) for lunch and contemplated my next move. All options were fairly taxing but I decided that I still had plenty of time and my Achilles that had been sore for a few days actually felt OK. So, my plan was to try to head to 4 more Nuttalls before making camp. I did have a couple of contingencies in mind should my Achilles start to hurt.

Off to more Nuttalls

This plan was one thing, but sat here looking across to the peaks I had in mind it wasn’t going to be easy. The terrain was rugged and very steep and there was still quite a bit of distance to cover. No time to sit around relaxing in that case. I was back on my feet and scrambling down the very steep hillside into the Llaethnant Valley.

At the bottom I followed the river Llaethnant for a while through yet more boggy ground to where the stream of Ceunant y Bridell joined it. This stream was tumbling down through a narrow gorge over a number of lively looking waterfalls. I topped up my water supplies and crossed the river here. My feet were so wet from the boggy ground that I just waded through the knee-deep water not bothering to take off my shoes.

Now the effort really began with a climb up and eroded zig-zag track before heading straight up the heather covered flanks of Llechwedd Du. This really was hard-going and I needed a few breathers to make it to the top, which gave me an excuse to take some photos looking back down the valleys. I was kind of glad Morgan hadn’t come as he may not have enjoyed that climb!

At yet another grassy, rounded-top that classed as the summit of Llechwedd Du (614 m) I paused again. This was Nuttall number 4 of the day and from here I could look back to see some of them, and the others that were planned for later.

In the image below you can see Drysgol, Gwaun Lydan and the Llaetnant Valley on the left-hnad side. In the middle is Foel Hafod-fynydd that I would hopefully bag later. The ridge along the back includes Aran Fawdwy, Erw Ddafad-ddu and Aran Benllyn, some of which I hoped to visit tomorrow. It’s taken from the top of Llechwedd Du and out of shot to the right is Esgairiau Gwynion and Foel Rhudd, the next two Nuttals on my list.

So, after a short breather and a summit selfie it was off along the ridge once more, this time past weird mushroom-shaped peat mounds.

This part was a little non-descript really but other than the boggy ground it was quite easy going without too much ascent or descent. Esgeiriau Gwynion (671 m) was barely noticed as I bagged it and then I made a short out-an-back detour to Foel Rhudd (659 m). Again, the summit here was indistinct so I wandered around a little just to make sure I crossed it with my GPS track.

Back at Esgeiriau Gwynion I continued on along the ridge and was then faced with a steep descent along a fence line and what looked like an equally steep ascent on the far side to gain the next ridge.

I made my way down, through the boggy ground in the valley and then back up. It was indeed as steep as it looked. Once on the ridgeline though I was nearly done. There was a short climb to a few summits around Foel Hafod-fynydd (689 m), each marked by a small pile of quartz rocks.

There were amazing views out to the higher Arans to the north and once I started to descend, views of Creiglun Dyfi, my destination for the day, came into sight. As I got closer, the calm water nestled below the imposing cliffs of Aran Fawddwy started to look quite inviting.

Once at the lake, my walking was done for the day. I’d only covered 10.5 miles but it had been quite tough. I had visited 8 summits, 6 of them Nuttalls to add to my list.

Creiglyn Dyfi Camp

The shores of the lake were quite boggy but I managed to find a dryish camping spot and was soon set up ready for the night. As soon as I was, it appeared as though I was not alone – my tent and everywhere around me was suddenly covered in millions of flying ants! A notable feature of the day had been the constant companionship of Crane Flies everywhere, all mating in the grass and flying about. Now these seemed to have been replaced by flying ants – it must have been the perfect conditions for them. Trust it to be on a day I was camping here!

Once I was set up, I decided it was time for a quick dip in the lake. I hadn’t seen a soul all day long and didn’t expect to see anyone here this evening so I had the place to myself. The waters were of course a little chilly but it was nice to rinse off after a long, hot and quite hard day in the hills. The lake is the source of the River Dyfi which runs down the sea at Ynyslas, right where we live. Maybe one day I’ll have to do a source to sea walk along it.

Apart from the ants and then a few midges it was a lovely peaceful evening for chilling at camp. There were a few flat rocks nearby to sit on and cook my dinner. The sun soon disappeared behind the hills but it didn’t get dark for a while. Once it did the stars were looking amazing with The Plough shining brightly, low above the peaks to the north, and the Milky Way could be seen snaking across the sky to the South.

I soon settled down for a quiet night with no wind and no rain. That said, my tent was soaked with condensation in the morning and I didn’t really have time to hang around waiting for the sun to come out to dry it off. I therefore had breakfast, packed it up wet and was soon on my way towards more Nuttalls. The hills were looking lovely this morning.

Day Two – The High Arans

First obstacle for the day was a long climb up the grassy ridge behind the lake. Thankfully it was still quite cool so it wasn’t quite as bad as it looked and I had some nice views back down to where I’d been camping.

I was soon heading for the summit of Erw Ddafad-du (872 m). I’d bagged this one before but once again there was no harm in doing it again. However, by the time I got here it was blowing a hoolie, shrouded in cloud and very cold so I soon had my jacket on and was taking any opportunity I could to shelter behind the rocks from the wind.

I made my way through the clouds to the high point of the trip at Aran Fawddwy (905 m). Again, this is one I’d bagged before and another Nuttall to add to my list for this trip. There was nothing to be seen through the mist here though. I then made my way along the top and then turned left towards Drysgol, but before getting there turned right again and made my way along a ridge top with steep cliffs to my left towards a new Nuttall for me, Gwaun y Llwyni (685 m). The wind was howling up the cliffs and buffetting me around and it was pretty cold here. It was a desolate place in these conditions. I stopped for a while and watched the clouds streaming over the ridges.

From here it was more clifftop walking before bearing right once more across a stream and through more bog to the summit of Waun Camddwr (622 m) which was yet another Nuttall that I’d bagged previously. There were trail-snacks in the form of blueberries along the way to keep me nourished. Now that I was away from the cliffs somewhat the wind calmed a little and the weather seemed to be improving. I made my way across the boggy ground which was quite easygoing thanks to some new paths that had been installed across the wettest parts. I found the path that led down through the steep valley towards Cwm Cywarch and started to descend. There was of course some more bog-hopping to be done now and then but most of the path is quite rocky. There were some waterfalls to admire along the way and the sun was now shining.

I also saw a fair few people coming up the path – the first people I’d seen since setting off yesterday morning. I chatted to a couple of them. There was also a family swimming in the river pools by a bridge towards the bottom. The bottom section was a path through the bracken and then I emerged once more into Cwm Cywarch where the car was waiting ready for the drive home.

Today’s walk had been a short one at 6.4 miles but I’d added a new Nuttall to my list and revisited 3 others.

All in all it was a successful camp with 7 new Nuttalls ticked off. The list of Arans is looking quite good now with just one more in this range to get the full set. Overall I’ve now bagged 71 of the 189 Welsh Nuttalls.