Precipice Walk

[heleninwales]

Last Thursday we did one of the local Famous Named Walks. We avoid these during the summer because they are very popular, but we thought that the route would be much quieter mid-week in October. And so it was. A minibus pulled into the car park just as we were setting off on the walk, but if the school group were doing the Precipice Walk, we managed to stay ahead of them all the way round.

We always do the walk anticlockwise because the views open up and get more spectacular as you go round, but we did meet a few people -- including a woman running with a collie -- who were doing it clockwise. First you climb up from the car park along a easy track to reach Llyn Cynwch, home sheep and, according to a local legend, fairies.



Now the real walk starts with a climb up to the path that curves around the hill. It's been wet lately. However, the weather was beautiful, a little chilly but bright and sunny.





Looking over towards the village of Llanfachreth in the distance. On the smoother parts of the hill, the bracken had been cut (or perhaps rolled) in an attempt to keep it under control.



This is where the walk starts to get precipicy^[*]. The path is narrow and the slope on the right becomes increasingly sheer. Down in the bottom of the valley, you can see the main road.



I often mention going for walks in the Coed y Brenin. That's the dark forested hill just to the right of centre.



Here's one of the most precipicy bits with a view of the Mawddach Estuary in the distance. There is a serious drop to the right of the path.



Looking back the way we had come, this little peak of rock is a volcanic plug. Some years ago we went off piste and scrambled up there to look at it and take photos for G's geology book. This time we stuck to the main path.



Nearing the end of the walk, the Mawddach Estuary and the sea can be seen in the distance The weather was clear, so we got this wonderful view.



From here the path continues looping around the hill to eventually descend and you find yourself at the far end of the lake. Then it's just a straightforward walk alongside the water, passing the occasional fisherman, and then back down the track to the car park. It's not a long walk. My phone said 4 miles, but it's quite a workout because you're climbing at first and then having to be very aware of where you're stepping on the rough rocky parts.

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^[*] Yes, I know the correct word is "precipitous", but the path itself isn't, it's just running horizontally around a steep hill.

Comments

[grey853]

Again, I love all the pastoral scenes. There's nothing quite like that near where I live.

[heleninwales]

We do live in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK, though most of Wales is scenic in different ways.

[eve_prime]

Your coined word seems totally appropriate to me!

Thanks for sharing the photos - very interesting. I wonder how the sheep and the fair folk ger along. Do the sheep even notice them, or are they under their thrall? Hm.

[heleninwales]

That's an interesting question. The fair folk are known to keep dogs, horses, pigs and cattle, but now you come to mention it, I don't recall reading about fairy sheep. I think they probably just ignore one another. :-)

[eve_prime]

That is probably for the best.

[anna_wing]

Those hills look as if they should have Hobbit-holes in them!

[heleninwales]

I think the country round here is a bit wild for hobbits, apart from perhaps the Tooks. Though there are gentler parts, such as the rounded hills around the village in the third photo. Elves, on the other hand, would love the woods and there are genuine folk tales of humans meeting the fair folk by the lake that is not quite visible in the distance in the first photo.