Rhaedr Ogwen
I was in North Wales last weekend working as part of the support team for a large (200 people) walk on Yr Wyddfa so took the opportunity to get there a couple of days early for some waterfall walking.
From the western end of the Ogwen valley, sitting in between the Glyderau and the Carneddau mountain ranges, one of my favourite walks is to follow the falls on Nant Bochlwyd up to Lyn Bochlwyd then across to Lyn Idwal and back. On returning to the valley a short trip to Rhaeadr Ogwen, the falls which drop from the Ogwen valley down to the Nant Ffrancon valley, is a must.
Today, however, with time on my hands, I decided to spend a bit more time here and make sure I knew as many nooks and crannies of these falls as I could meaning that rather than the usual ten-minute visit I was there for a few hours going up and down each side.
I started by heading to our usual vantage-point (see main picture), which is somewhere around half-way up the falls and, instead of heading straight back to the car park as normal, followed the falls as closely as I could downwards into the Nant Ffrancon valley below. At times this was easy, at times it meant detours over and around rocky outcrops. Although the falls closer to the top are the most spectacular, the falls continue to be worth visiting lower down. I eventually reached a point where the valley floor was flattening out and so I headed out to the nearby road and back up to my start point, this time to head up the falls as far as I could and as close as I could. A big diversion was required at one point but eventually you reach the top of the falls, the two flows of water that feed them, and the bridge over the A5 (see below).
I crossed the road and headed down the other side of the falls, almost as far as the point across the river from where I'd got to on the other side. It was clear that, although you got a different perspective on this side, the best side to view is on the other side (phew, I'd been getting it right!!).
This north side of the falls, however, does give you access under the road bridge, effectively the start of the falls, and this was a great place to take a look at - you could clearly see three bridges there; a very old stone bridge (centuries old), the more modern (early 19th century) bridge built by Thomas Telford and an extension to widen that bridge.
My walk plan for these falls now includes more than before (a path/road wander down before joining the falls and coming up, plus a visit under the bridge) - today gave me a much better perspective of these falls than I've had before and means that now, time allowing, they'll be less of an end-of-walk feature and more of an integral part of the day.
Andy
From the western end of the Ogwen valley, sitting in between the Glyderau and the Carneddau mountain ranges, one of my favourite walks is to follow the falls on Nant Bochlwyd up to Lyn Bochlwyd then across to Lyn Idwal and back. On returning to the valley a short trip to Rhaeadr Ogwen, the falls which drop from the Ogwen valley down to the Nant Ffrancon valley, is a must.
Today, however, with time on my hands, I decided to spend a bit more time here and make sure I knew as many nooks and crannies of these falls as I could meaning that rather than the usual ten-minute visit I was there for a few hours going up and down each side.
I started by heading to our usual vantage-point (see main picture), which is somewhere around half-way up the falls and, instead of heading straight back to the car park as normal, followed the falls as closely as I could downwards into the Nant Ffrancon valley below. At times this was easy, at times it meant detours over and around rocky outcrops. Although the falls closer to the top are the most spectacular, the falls continue to be worth visiting lower down. I eventually reached a point where the valley floor was flattening out and so I headed out to the nearby road and back up to my start point, this time to head up the falls as far as I could and as close as I could. A big diversion was required at one point but eventually you reach the top of the falls, the two flows of water that feed them, and the bridge over the A5 (see below).
I crossed the road and headed down the other side of the falls, almost as far as the point across the river from where I'd got to on the other side. It was clear that, although you got a different perspective on this side, the best side to view is on the other side (phew, I'd been getting it right!!).
This north side of the falls, however, does give you access under the road bridge, effectively the start of the falls, and this was a great place to take a look at - you could clearly see three bridges there; a very old stone bridge (centuries old), the more modern (early 19th century) bridge built by Thomas Telford and an extension to widen that bridge.
My walk plan for these falls now includes more than before (a path/road wander down before joining the falls and coming up, plus a visit under the bridge) - today gave me a much better perspective of these falls than I've had before and means that now, time allowing, they'll be less of an end-of-walk feature and more of an integral part of the day.
Andy