Pen Yr Ole Wen hike

Where: Carneddau range, Snowdonia/Eyri

Distance: 7 km with nearly 700 m elevation gain.

Difficulty: Medium (a few metres of scramble)

Summit height: 978 m

Navigation: Easy to follow trails on both sides of the lake, the uphill trail clearly veers towards the peak at the only intersection. Trails easy to find on OS Maps app.

How to get there: Parking available at Llyn Ogwen lake along the A5, which is the starting point for many of the most popular day hikes in Snowdonia.

*NOTE: Be extremely diligent when parking near Llyn Ogwen, as anyone with an inch of tyre on grass or sidewalk gets a parking fine. Luckily the fine isn’t massive (we had to pay £35), but literally scores of people got fined even though their cars were not in anyone’s way. Not a hugely considerate scheme considering there are parking spaces for about 1/10 of the cars present. Yes Conwy Council, I am talking to YOU.

The hike

Pen Yr Ole Wen is a Snowdonia classic, but nowhere near as heavily trafficked as Mount Snowdon, the Glyderau peaks, or the more gnarly pyramid peak Tryfan. It’s the 3rd highest mountain in the 24 peak Carneddau range, located in the northeastern section of Eryri National Park. You could hike the three high peaks (this one + Carnedd Dafydd at 1044 m and Carnedd Llewelyn at 1064 m) in one long day hike loop. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to bag more than one peak before the long drive back to London!

You can walk either along the pavement or along the lakeshore to reach the foot of the mountain. The lakeshore track is a very pretty option for the outbound hike – save the more straightforward roadside return for when you are tired and eager to get back to your car. The climb begins where the lakeside and roadside trails intersect (marked by a wooden pole).

The climb is long but very scenic. Some poor souls have built stone steps into the path, which makes it easy going underfoot. You’ll have excellent views of Tryfan behind you (perhaps best enjoyed on the way back down). The trail veers up to the left, and you have a choice of two reasonably equal paths that quickly join together to take towards the summit. It’s here that you’ll eventually encounter a small scramble. I have been climbing for five years and found it completely unproblematic – as did my 68 year old dad – but my friend with a fear of heights was less excited about this bit.

You will see plenty of sheep and their lambs on this trail. They’re pretty chill but don’t like to be approached, so give them space. But their presence means that there are droppings everywhere, hence it would be a really bad idea to drink water from the rivers unfiltered. This should go without saying, but I saw a group of guys stick their whole heads in to drink. Not smart.

Beware of the many false summits! Pen Yr Ole Wen is much higher than you can see from the starting point, so be prepared for a solid climb. I’m fast and in good shape, and it still took me a couple of hours to reach the top. I highly recommend bringing trekking poles for extra support, the descent can be brutal on the knees. I don’t like to give timings for hikes because everyone’s pace is different, but it took us 4 hours return with a lunch stop at the top + plenty of photo stops.

The views from the peak are just glorious. On a clear day you can see Anglesey, Snowdon, the Glyderau (even the famous slate formation Castell Y Gwynt), Y Garn, Elidir Fawr, and many other Snowdonia gems. While the peak is usually quite windy, there are plenty of flat rocks to sit on for a lunch break. The path towards the two other Carneddau high summits is very easy to spot and would offer fabulous views as well. Doing this as a return hike obviously means that you head back the same way you came!

We were beyond lucky with our Welsh weather, having enjoyed beautiful sunshine for a full three days. Make sure you explore Anglesey while you’re in North Wales, the vast Aberffraw beach is my favourite in the entire UK. I have barely begun to explore Snowdonia but I am in love. I can’t wait to bag every single peak in the park!