Devil's Bridge Waterfalls  | Rheidol Valley  | Nant-y-Moch Resevoir
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Wednesday 2nd July - Nanty nr Arian, Kites and Lake Ogwen
What a contrast! I awoke at 6am to an amazing blue sky morning, and sadly drove to another spot for breakie where I knew I had 4G....
Nearby, not on the itinerary were the Devil Bridge (3 bridges on top of each other from differing eras) Waterfalls....a coffee and cake nearby first (really to use the loo) then I entered the turnstile to pay for the pleasure of the walk! I claimed O65 concession and the rather lardy youngish woman warned me that it was a long arduous walk...how long I asked? "As much as 45 mins!!" FFS
I nearly mentioned that I was planning on scrambling the North Ridge on Trefan the next day, but lardy wouldnt have known what I was talking about. Cheeky mare!
The falls were quite impressive...but next stop Nanty Yr Arian. 2pm was the Kite feeding time, and unknown to me this area was also a mountain biking centre, so I had 90 mins to at last take the gravel bike out...cracking area for gravel too, and eventually ended up very close to where Id stayed over the previous night...I went down one of the red routes on the way back, which was easily doable on the bike, but didn't have time to conduct further exploration.
There was still 30 mins until feeding time, but as I approached the centre, the Kites clearly knew their freebies were imminent....scores and scores of them in air and covering some of the Pines. With a quick spin around, I walked down to the viewing spot and took a front seat on the ground! It really was impressive, whilst the woman was there, they were diving and scooping, but once she left a lot of them landed, together with the bloody seagulls! Defo worth the visit, and will probably return, if my fading cycling doesn't completely disappear? 🤷♂️
I did clock some good looking off grid places above the centre too.
Now, partially my fault on two fronts...a predicted 2.5 hour drive to Lake Ogwen for Tryfan tomorrow. Firstly I did asked ChatGPT to include both Cader Idris and Trefan....in the future I'd concentrate on one region, there's so much to see.However it took me well over 3.5 hours...why? In Google Maps I entered Ogwen Cottage as the destination, which does exist where I wanted....but I was questioning why I was driving so far east, even into England, passed Wrexham and Chester....then saying I was only a mile from my destination in Holliwell, NE Wales not far from the Wirral! I realised immediately I'd gone to the incorrect Ogwen Cottage, and really missed out on what should've been an excellent cross country route. Anyway, I arrived eventually at Lake Ogwen, lots of space on the layby, and overnight staying OK, albeit 80 minutes later than in shouldve been! Top spot.....
Thursday 3rd July - Trefan and the North Ridge (Bochlwyd Horseshoe)
No signal again, so couldn't check the forecast, although the chat in the layby was that it was going to be a good day. However, that was the least of my worries, my ankle and knee were worrying me. This was going to be a huge rocky scramble day, and didn't want to get to a stage where I could hardly walk! Also I admit I had some apprehension re the North Ridge and the grade 1 scramble...there was no single obvious route, it was a free for all...where one route could be easy, but the adjacent one could be bordering a grade 2.
As it happened I met a rather typical Aussie, Russ from Perth and very early on a couple from Manchester - the guy had done Trefan numerous times, so we trusted him!
Generally it was really good, and like other things, after a while you get more confident and smoother. There was one section that was rather sketch though, a rope would have been useful! We stopped for photos at the Cannon, although I bottled it, not sure why...and as for Adam and Eve (two rock pillars on the summit) I didn't even consider climbing up one, never mind skipping across them!
Cracking scramble though, almost from the very start to the top...the mountain is considered "the mountain" in Snowdonia....and the dramatic vertiginous rock scenery underlined that....the rocky nature didn't stop on the tops either...another ridge, Bristly, a grade 1/2 scramble was up to the next peak, although I went solo just before this....I'd had enough of head down scrambling and wanted to soak in the views (that was my excuse 😉)...although I stepped into the ridge for the last 1/3 of the ridge....solo now I headed to the interesting Castles in the Wind rock morphology, chatting and talking to two local guys who were descending the exact same way as me, the Y Gribin Ridge....two routes down this, a relatively easy path to the left of the ridge, or right over the spine of the ridge, right on the precipitous drop below! I followed the boys on the latter!
Grade 1 again, but descending can be harder...anyway once complete I was scrambled out for the day. I let the boys go, and sat for 15 mins looking at the excellent views, eyeing the full route Id done....and the forecast was spot on, very warm and sunny.
Soon I passed the tarn Bochlwyd, with youths cooling down in the waters....but soon it was my turn, once back at the layby, straight into Lake Ogwen....very refreshing!
I sat for ages with a guy who had been rock climbing, but had an almost identical running and cycling background to me....he also had identical attitudes...it became funny, reminded me of Alan Partridge meeting his nemesis, and trying to out do each other on all they agreed. He included slagging off modern runners getting excited about doing an 18min 10k; ultra runners and triathletes piss poor quality and thinking they are bloody Olympians; deluded cyclists; strava warriors who have never raced, "finisher"T shirts, "turn up" medals etc etc The only mistake is not swapping numbers as he was looking to move to Ruthin from Wiltshire....although Id never rock climb, not now! Top geezer! 
So that was the amazing Tryfan, I'll definitely be back, but explore the regions more intensively, so much to do and see!
And all in all, 5 great nights, ticking all my boxes from nature to challenging mountains, with stunning river valleys but only scratching the surface, the start of a Walesfest!
This time, rather than use Google Maps, I got my road atlas out and headed towards Mold and Ruthin via Betswy Coed....via Park4Night I parked on the edge of Ruthin with views of the castle.
I considered a light hike in the Clwydian Range on the Friday, but decided to head home. My right leg gremlins had survived Tryfan, in fact bizarrely I never felt the knee issue, but thought best now to fully rest with a frustrating two weeks rest.
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