Nantlle Ridge north to south

Walk summary

Went to bed last night with a certain amount of anticipation combined with trepidation. Partly the challenge of the well documented Nantlle Ridge and scramble up Mynydd Drws-y-coed along with promised views along Cardigan Bay, over Snowdonia and out towards Anglesey. Tempered by the concern if I was fit enough or even had the energy to manage the 6¾ mile traverse from Rhyd-Ddu station and the 9 mile trudge back along the lower slopes and seemingly endless B4418 from Penygroes.

Y Garn and Trum y Ddysgl, first two summit
 from start of Nantlle Ridge north to south walk

Not one to shirk a challenge I had gone to bed expecting to take this option rather than the shorter option of a linear walk to Llanllyfni and taxi back to Rhyd-Ddu.
However as is often the case I woke up with a sensible head on and decided the best option would be to drop down the 3¾ miles to Llanllyfni from the final summit Mynydd Graig Goch and invest £15 in a taxi with Huw's Taxis from Penygroes. It would still be a total of 10½ miles making this the third plus 10 mile walk with more than 1200m of ascent in 5 days walking over a 6 day period. For me that is enough progression since last years back injury that kept me out of the hills for more than 6 months

Moel Hebog
from south end of Trum y Ddysgl summit ridge

Like I say I had my sensible head on this morning and while I still enjoy extending myself to (and slightly beyond) my limits I do not have to do it every time I go out. That is ultimately a recipe for self destruction and at the same time at best delays or at worst prevents improvement.
As it turned out I found a start point at the intersection of the planned route with the B4418 near Drwsycoed Uchaf and finished at Nebo school trimming 3 miles off the planned route.
As anticipated the route was brilliant, probably one of the best Nuttall walks in Wales so far, second only to ascent up Tryfan and the Bochlwyd Horseshoe via the north ridge back in December 2014, notwithstanding the Snowdon Horseshoe and Crib Goch which is still on my to do list

Walk Statistics
Walk Date -26 April 2016
Walkers - Steve Smith
Accommodation - YHA Snowdon Llanberis
Start Point-   Roadside parking on bend just before Drwsycoed Uchaf (SH 56675 52611)
Finish Point - Nebo school (SH 47892 50499)
Total Duration - 5hrs 53mins 
Overall Average pace - 1.44mph
Total Distance Walked - 8.48 miles
Total Height Ascended - 1276.29 metres

Peaks visited
Nuttalls (189W - 443E&W)
Y Garn (126W - 379E &W)
Mynydd Drws-y-coed (127W - 380E &W)
Trum y Ddysgl (128W - 381E &W)
Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd (129W - 382E &W)
Craig Cwm Silyn (130W - 383E &W)
Garnedd-goch (131W - 384E &W)
Mynydd Graig Goch (132W - 385E &W)
Hewitts (138W - 317E&W)
Mynydd Drws-y-coed (91W - 270E &W)
Trum y Ddysgl (92W - 271E &W)
Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd (93W - 272E &W)
Craig Cwm Silyn (94W - 273E &W)
Mynydd Graig Goch (95W - 274E &W)
Marilyns (158W - 1556E,W&S)
Trum y Ddysgl (80W - 242E,W &S)
Craig Cwm Silyn (81W - 243E,W &S)
Deweys (241E - 422E,W&S)
NONE
HuMPs (366E - 2975E,W&S)

Trum y Ddysgl (94W - 323E,W &S)
Craig Cwm Silyn (95W - 324E,W &S)
Historic County Tops (49E - 93E,W&S)
NONE

W: Wales. 

E,W&S:England,Wales & Scotland

Other walks on this trip
2016
April
21^st Y Garn to Carnedd y Filiast ridge, including Elidir Fawr spur
22^nd Y Foel Goch & Gallt yr Ogof
23^rd Mynydd Mawr
24^th Moels Eilio & Cynghorion, Foel Gron and Llechog from YHA Llanberis
26^th Nantlle Ridge

Route
OS 1:25,000 route map to follow.
GPX can be downloaded from www.shareyouradventure.com

More Photographs

Llyn Nantlle Uchaf towards Anglesey from Y Garn

Click on photograph to view slide-show