Aber Falls to Llwytmor 17-6-2012

After all the bad weather and rain over the last few weeks it was good to get out again. What better way than to visit a waterfall. We had decided to go back to Snowdonia and one of the less popular areas of this great National Park. It may not get the visitors that the main areas of the Ogwen Valley or Snowdon get but that's not to say it isn't as attractive. In fact it is probably best left quiet as this side of the park has a more wild feel to it.
The day started off by leaving home about 8.30am with the rain lashing down! It stayed raining down the motorway all the way to Chester where it started to brighten up. By the time we reached the car park at the falls it had brightened up a lot and thankfully the waterproofs weren't needed:-)
The Afon Aber was looking quite full, a good indication as to what to expect at the falls

We followed the easy laid out path through the fields and soon the falls came into view, with the smaller one coming off the back of Bera Mawr

A bit further along the track bought us out at the bottom of the main Aber Falls and what a sight it was. It was also quite loud and you can appreciate the power of water. there was a bit of a breeze blowing so it was also quite wet with the spray coming of the falls at it plunges 120 feet

After about 20 minutes we headed up the scree bank that brings you out at the top of the falls

with a look back at our first view of Anglesey & Puffin Island

 There was one or two slightly tricky spots on the path where the loose scree and small streams were coming off the mountains but with a bit of care and attention these were soon overcome

We were soon at the top of the falls but were unable to get anywhere safe that looks directly down them. Up here, you got to see the power of the water as it was coming down the valley and smashing into the rock with some force as it cascaded down

 
 We followed the riverside path and was quite surprised to find that is was relatively dry given all the rain over the weeks. There was a few places where it was boggy but at least it wasn't ankle deep in mud and there were plenty of rocks to use as stepping stones

We came across an old sheep fold where we stopped again for another twenty minutes just taking n the solitude of the place

The only thing you could here was the river and the sounds of the birds. Apart from ourselves, there was the local sheep and the wild ponies that frequent this part of the park and where one little one was taking in some refreshment like us :-)

We kept on following the Afon Goch as we made our way up the valley along a mixture of sheep/ponie tracks, the faint path and a jumble of rocks

 There are also numerous small waterfalls along the river

We made our way a little further up stream before having another break as this is where we decided to leave the river and head up towards the summit of Llwytmor that was our intended summit for the day.

We also had more views back down the valley and over to Anglesey

It was quite straight forward going up the side of Llwytmor, apart from the odd rabbit hole there was know major obstacles and the higher we got the views started to open up all around.
The high peaks of Snowdonia started to come into view over and beyond Bera Mawr & Bera Bach

One final push and we were on the summit plateau of Llwytmor where the views stretched all along the North Wales coast.

The view down to Llandudno & the Great Orme and up the coast to Colwyn Bay

Looking down to Anglesey & Puffin Island

A panoramic view overlooking the mountain ranges of the Carneddau, Glyderau and the Snowdon Massif

After taking lunch in the summit shelter we decided that we would head down towards Llyn Anafon and head towards the service road that would take us back to the car park. Instead of heading over to Foel-fras and round to Drum we headed off Llwytmor using a series of sheep & pony tracksthat made the going fairly easy.

Again, apart from ourselves and some sheep, there was quite a few ponies on this side of the mountain. There were small pockets of them all around enjoying the peace and quiet and just getting on with eating the grass and lazing about

we also decided to take another break as we were nearly at the Llyn and had a couple more obstacles to take on before we got to the service road

As we got dow to Llyn Anafon we just had a small matter of crossing the Afon Anafon which wasn't to much of a problem but could of been a bit wet if we weren't careful!

After safely negotiating the obstacles, it was just a gentle walk down the service road that followed the Afon Anafon through the valley where we came across a dead sheep

and even more wild ponies

This was turning out to be a very pleasant walk back following the river and also it had been quite warm for some time and the jacket had come off some time ago. The sun was shining and the grass was green. Apart from the ponies and a few walkers higher up the mountains, we had the valley to ourselves as we hadn't seen a soul all day. What a great day to be out

All that was left now was to finish the day off with fish & chips by the sea :-). We headed to Rhos-on-Sea where we found a spot on the beach near the pier where even the seagulls got a few scraps

Another great day in this great part of the world :-)

A short video of The Falls and Afon Goch