The steep lane opposite the Fairy Falls hotel was our line of ascent into the Gelli woodland, a cruel start to get the system going after the journey to Trefriw but we quickly noticed a big improvement in our performance after the leaden efforts of the last couple of trips when, we believe, we were suffering from a variant of Covid.

At Gelli-lydan a footpath leaves the road and ascends through the lovely woodland to join a good track leading to Lledwigan farm where the right-of-way ends: shortly before the farm buildings, watch out for the inconspicuous waymark directing the line rightwards and zigzagging uphill to reach a gate into Access Land. We took the obvious track from here and left it a short way up to follow the fence to a gate in the uppermost corner. From here a thin overhung path heads through the heather to the top of Cefn Cyfarwydd givng good clear views eastwards and on towards Creigiau Gleision.

Heading south-westwards from the gate, the south side of the fence gives a quite easy line to a fence junction where we joined the clear descent path to Llyn Cowlyd. Across the dam we followed the shore track as far as a footbridge and left it to tackle the ascent to the ridge. This is a case of play it by ear: totally trackless terrain, occasionally steep but with little boggy hanging valleys, and seeking out the best line to make progress.

Eventually after a slow and hard fought ascent we reached the clear peaty ridge path through the heather and gained some height to make a pitch to one side where the heather was short and fairly tame. The low evening light gave a grand prospect of the western face of Creigiau Gleision.

The clarity persisted overnight and a full moon cast its light on the tent, though the saturated calm air left the flysheet dripping with dew.

An attractive pre-dawn sky developed into superb clear views as we broke camp and continued the ascent to Pen Llithrig y Wrach where the Glyderau mountains came into view. In the early light, several mountain ranges were clearly visible in the far distance and many individual peaks easily identifiable.

After soaking in the views awhile we set off for the long, steep scrappy descent of the south ridge. A promontory a short way down gives a grand view of Llyn Cowlyd.

The path becomes less distinct lower down in the heathery outcrops and boggy shelves but is always clear enough to follow, avoiding the temptation to drop down towards the lake too early. It arrives at the outflow footbridge to join an old surfaced track where the reedy terrain has fought back to a degree, needing some deft footwork to avoid the wet bits. Crossing a second footbridge, the bridleway southwards crosses what is basically a gently sloping marshland and today was extremely wet, requiring a lot of weaving around to avoid sodden feet. There were great views of Gallt yr Ogof and Tryfan to compensate.

Reaching the intake wall, the marsh relents and a good path emerges a few metres beyond the wall, following the pecked line on the map rather than the direct right-of-way. It leads down to a stile onto the A5 leaving a short walk on the verge to Capel Curig.