"Back to one of my 'special' places. Needed to tick off the nuttall Glasgwm, so decided to do a route I've only ever come down - up the side of the waterfall. Decided on the clock wise route over to Aran Fawddwy and Drysgol from Glasgwm, making my 3rd summits of both. Got my feet wet despite taking care, and ended up with some painful frostnip on my toes due to minus 6 temps, wind chill and snow. I live and learn - always pack waterproof socks, or carry some bags to put feet in ;-) Oh, and put your gaiters on even if you think you can hoverboard over the bogs! Despite being colder, the weather was quite enjoyable with blue skies and very little cloud. Winds were only around 20kmh. Was one of those days where one minute I'm down to a T-Shirt, then a middle layer, then switching between down and hard-shell jackets." — adventure-stricken • Mar 14, 2026

"Not an easy route at various stages, to include a scramble beside a waterfall with loose rock and narrow sheep paths. Very quiet, remote route. I only see one person from about a mile away descending Drysgol and a Scottish couple whilst I was sat in the summit shelter on Aran Fawddwy. The worst part of this route is from the top of Pistyll Gwyn and over to Gwaun Lydan and up to Drysgol. Slow going, terrible, spongy, boggy terrain which zaps your energy having to lift you legs so high in places. Also the descent down from Foel Hafod-fynydd into Ceunant y Briddell and up onto the trail again was stupidly steep. The grass was wet and I did slip but hiking poles saved the day. If they hadn't I would have slid down into the rocky waterfall gorge." — adventure-stricken • Jun 23, 2024

"The principal objective of a 15km long round walk from the carpark at the end of the valley road to the south. This went steeply up the ravine to east and north of Glasgwm, taking in Waun Camddwr through the boggy land. Some kind soul has placed planks through the worst part of this path which follows the fenceline pretty much to the top of Aran Fawddwy. A very hot day I couldn't stay at the top long because of the swarms of flying ants, so descended quickly via Drysgol, taking in Waun Goch, before descending along the long diagonal line south westwards." — vygodski • Aug 9, 2022

"Solo walk. From the carpark at the SE end of Llanuwchllyn. Ascended the north ridge of Aran Fawddwy. Deviated to take in Garth Fach and Garth Fawr. Went to the summits of Pen-aran, Aran Benllyn and Erw y Ddafad-ddu on way up. Back same way but not going to summits of various tops. Mostly dry but rain towards the end." — peter43 • Aug 20, 2019

"Monday 7th May 2018. An ascent of Aran Fawddwy 905m/670m, Waun Camddwr 621.7m/15.5m and Glasgwm 779m/215m on the Aran massif, from Cwm Cywarch, North Wales. 17.6km, with 1090m of ascent. 8hrs 50mins. When I looked at my records, I noted that I had only scaled Aran Fawddwy twice before, and the last time was over fifteen years ago. When JdF proposed a hike in the high Welsh hills, I suggested a round of the two 'Welsh Corbetts' on the Aran massif. This was much to his liking, so a day was set. It proved to be a good one weather-wise, the last day of the second mini-heatwave that Wales experienced in 2018. We met up in Bala, and left his car in Llanuwchllyn at the southern end of Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake). I drove us up the narrow mountain road that leads to Bwlch y Groes, the most challenging mountain road pass in Wales, and steeply down into the upper Dyfi valley. Near Dinas Mawddwy, a lane heads north up into Cwm Cywarch, one of the most dramatic mountain valleys in Wales. It is little known, and a sure bet for a busy bank holiday Monday when the 'honeypot hills' are teeming with people. We parked in the car park provided near the road-end. Our hopes of mountain pea..." — marktrengove2 • May 7, 2018