Pen y Ole Wen

1.

At 250m from the inlet to Llyn Ogwen follow a track over Afon Denau heading North.  After 300m the track bends round to the West and a stone slab path heads up the hillside on the right hand side of a dry stone wall. When you reach a stile cross over this and follow the path in a northerly direction passing a couple of wooden markers. Cross over the river (Afon Lloer) which is made up of two tributaries and keep following the path on its left hand side. The ground is boggy in places and the path can be hard to follow but keep heading North until you reach a dry stone wall that can be crossed via a stile.

2.

Once over the wall keep following the path as it steepens continuing alongside the river. As the path and river swing to the West the East ridge of Pen y Ole Wen comes fully into view with an obvious line through the centre of the ridge becoming visible. Scramble on the left hand side past a jumble of large jagged rocks and boulders and head straight for the centre of the notch on the skyline. There are plenty of scratches on the rock from crampons that guide the way through the technical section. The steep groove is short lived being only 15m long, once over this a well trodden path weaves its way up the mountainside sticking to the edge of Cwm Lloer past a number of false summits and cairns before reaching the summit of Pen y Ole Wen.

3.

From the summit cairn follow the rim of Cwm Lloer as it descends slightly and curves round to the North until an obvious path is followed onto the summit of Carnedd Fach.  This has a large cairn on its top to signify its summit. There is only a very short descent from Carnedd Fach before the steady ascent of Carnedd Dafydd which is neither steep nor long and so easily runnable. On the multiple cairned summit of Carnedd Dafydd the path across the mountain tops heads east passing a couple of cairns and descending initially over broken rocky ground. The path follows the impressive edge of Cwmglas Mawr alternating between grassy and rocky sections while traversing around and bypassing the two subsidiary tops on the sometimes narrow Bwlch Cyfryw-drum on their right hand side. It is possible to head over the tops and not contour them but the run flows better missing them out as the terrain needs continuous care being made up of a jumble of broken ankle twisting rocks.

4.

The path starts to steepen towards Carnedd llywelyn, the 3rd Welsh 3000er on this route, and is well worn and obvious running along side a dry stone wall towards its summit. From the top head in a South East direction past a small cairn that marks the path down the east ridge. Keep to the well trodden path that skirts away from the ridges edge at times towards the climbing crag of Craig Yr Ysfa which after a short rise feels like a summit but is in fact the upper section of Bwlch Eryl Farchog. Keep descending over rocky ground and onto a 10m slab of rock that needs to be down climbed carefully, especially if wet. At the Bwlch’s lowest point continue along the ridge and head straight up to Pen yr Helgi Du ignoring the ovious path running down towards Ffynnon Llugwy Reservoir. The path towards the summit is steep in places and a couple of rock steps need to be negotiated before the flat grassy summit plateau is reached. 

5.

From the top head in a southerly direction, there is no obvious path to begin with  over the bouncy grassy tops where you pass a couple of mountain ponds and down onto Y Braich. The running here is superb and before long a faint path is picked up guiding you down. After 2km of glorious descending a drystone wall is breached and continue down past a man made water channel. Take the path heading in a South Westerly direction past sheep folds and over another dry stone wall. This path leads to a track which is followed down to the busy A5, cross the road with care and continue on a track over the river (Afon Llugwy) and onto a bridleway that runs parallel to the A5. Follow the bridleway for 2.5km through a number of gates until it reaches the A5 and the car parking.