Bera Bach Circuit
27.11.2020 - A long eight Nuttall circuit to take in Gyrn Wigau 643m, Drosgol 758m, Bera Mawr 794m, Bera Bach 807m, Carnedd Gwenllian or Carnedd Uchaf 926m, Foel Grach 976m (hut), Foel Fras 942m (TP) and Llwytmor 849m.
I knew this was going to be a long day. In the summer it would not normally be a problem but winter days are so so different with its narrow light window.
I parked by the stone bridge about one kilometre SE of Abergwyngregyn village. This is a base where people leave their cars to walk up to Aber Falls which is very popular local scenic spot. Plenty of room there for about 12+ cars/small vans and it is free. There is another fee paying car park and toilets further up the road over the bridge.
I won’t labour too much on directions as I’ll be here all day. First go over the bridge and turn off right along the wide trail that takes you all the way up to Aber falls. Here there is a wooden bridge you go over and the path takes you right/West under the base of an impressive cliff. You soon cross over another wooden bridge and then another smaller river before heading uphill SW up the Afon Garn valley. There is no path as such from this point but the going is okay.
At the top of The Valley you head SE heading for a spot in between Gyrn Wigau and drosgol. I had a bit of cross country work but soon picked up a defined trail. This took me to the col where there is a very small cairn. You turn right/West here for the easy pathed out and back leg to the cairned summit of Garn Wigau.
Once back at the stones you have a moderate climb up to Drosgol’s cairned top, turning left off the path before getting there. You then head off across relatively rough ground to the rocky jumble of rocks that marks Bera Mawr’s summit. Here you have a bit of easy scrambling if you want to get to the true summit as I did. Once down you head on over the short leg to Bera Bach’s summit. Again a jumble of rocks with some scrambling to get to the top.
You now have a pretty long leg of around 2km to Carnedd Uchaf. The going is steady/gently uphill. The top being yet again a jumble of rocks but with no scrambling. You have been heading East for all this time but now you head South for the out and back 2km leg to Foel Grach. It’s uphill but steady until you get to the small stone bothy/shelter (no beds) just below the summit. You have a sharp pull to the cairned summit with gorgeous views onto the main Carneddau ridge. My statistics to date were 13.6km/1,160m HG/4hours.
The next stage was the long but moderately easy 2.5kms leg North to the stone built trig point of Foel Fras, mostly on a defined path. The views to the coast and across to Berau are quite lovely from here. Next was a steep decent and steep ascent to Lleytmor the last Nuttall of the day. Mainly off piste but it was not difficult. There is a small cairn here and a jumble of rocks further on. I went to both.
Your on the long home leg now so you retrace your steps to the col and turn right/SW. you basically go on pathless terrain all the way down to Afon Goch where you start to head NW. Again it is pathless bar sheep trails and quite a steep downhill section. I did end up having to use my hands in places on some rocky outcrops. Eventually as you come closer to the top of the falls you pick up a defined but rocky single track path. You basically follow this all the way down to the valley floor. It does get moderately exposed with some hands on stuff in several sections. It’s a long leg but the end is in sight when you reach the Aber falls path again. In no time at all you are back at your start point after a great day out in the outdoor office.
Parking: Free at the stone bridge for a dozen cars. Payment at the top car park.
Route Summary: Good valley trails, rough moorland, defined tracks. Moderate scrambling if you want to tick off the high points. Lots of ascent. People describe this route as very rough. It was much better than I expected. Good views but not superb. The Glyders and Snowdon are basically hidden behind the bulk of the Carneddau. It’s still a great hike.
Route Stats: 25kms, 1,400m HG done in 7.30mins.
GPX files: For gpx files go to the Peakbagger website by following this link and go to the bottom right hand of the page and click ‘Download this GPS track as a GPX file.’
Ascent Entry: Bera Bach and Fawr Circuit
Route Overview using ViewRanger.
Start point car park and the path up to Aber Falls. The wooden bridge is just below the falls (within sight) and you go over it to traverse the valley.
The second wooden bridge over the valley and another smaller waterfall.
The section leading to the Garn Wigau col with Drosgl and going over to Garn Wigau's twin rocky summit. The true top is the rocky outcrop in picture no four.
The view over to Drosgl, the track just below it and the summit cairn.
The view looking across at Bera Mawr (left) and Bera Bach (right) from Drosgl.
The rocky outcrop and summit of Bera Mawr and views looking across at Bera Bach.
The rocky top this time of Bera Bach and the views on the way up to Garnedd Uchaf.
The jumbled rocky summit of Garnedd Uchaf, the view up to Foel Grach, the hut/emergency shelter just below the summit of Foel Grach and the summit cairn.
The trig point on Foel Fras, the view over to Llwytmor, the summit cairn on Llwytmor along with the rocky sub peak further on. Then it is the journey back to the start.