Creigiau Gleision North Top and 3 Lakes: Llyn Geirionydd, Llyn Crainant, and Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir. Start and finish was from Llowdd Gwen parking.
Total Time: 5 hours 45 minutes; Total Distance: 19.14km; Total Ascent: 1,779m
Weather reports were gathered from MWIS and Met Office Special Forecast for Mountains of Snowdonia National Park and the MWIS Friday Planner/Fleeting View. The general description was accurate. Early rain and high winds with hail, sleet and snow on tops. Did experience sleet and hail approaching and summiting Creigiau Gleison. Winds on the summit were gale force, making walking a challenge as I took a bearing across open marsh and bog to ascend to the summit. In the afternoon (after descending back down to the tree line at Llyn Crinant) rain showers became lighter. Winds continued throughout the day, but were lighter below the summit ridgeline. However, the winds across the lakes were fierce as the length of the fetch of the lake at the north ends saw heavy white horses across the water. Visibility was still good.
Route planning was conducted using OS Maps App on my computer and printing A4 size sections. Carried an OS OL17 on the trail, but used the laminated A4 sections for ease of use in the gale force winds. From Llyn Crainant, after the ascent through the woods I took a bearing across boggy heather covered ground to the summit of Creigiau Gleison - North Top. There were several false summits during the ascent, so picked attack points and kept climbing. Difficult under foot as the ground was very uneven under the heather, with the added struggle through the gale force wind and rain. On the descent followed a trail further north, though the trail was itself full of water and bog. Not the most comfortable walk.
Area :
Carneddau
The Carneddau (lit. "the cairns"; Carneddau is a Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to Carnedds) are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over 2,500 or 3,000 feet (910 m) high) in Wales and England, as well as six or seven of the highest peaks in the country—the Fourteen Peaks. The range also encloses a number of lakes such as Llyn Cowlyd and Llyn Eigiau, and the Aber Falls waterfalls. It is delimited by the Irish Sea to the north, the Conwy valley to the east, and by the A5 road from Betws-y-Coed to Bethesda to the south and west. The area covers nearly 200 square kilometres, about 10% of the area of Snowdonia.
