Carnedd Llewelyn from Gwern Gof Uchaf

At 1,064m, Carnedd Llewelyn is the highest point of the Carneddau and, Wikipedia records, second only to Yr Wyddfa in Wales by prominence, the summit of a range of broad, rounded mountains north of Llyn Ogwen that feel emptier and less rugged underfoot than the Glyderau or Yr Wyddfa massif across the valley. The route starts from Gwern Gof Uchaf, a farm and campsite on the A5 a few minutes from the foot of Tryfan’s North Ridge, reached by the same drive up the A5 through Capel Curig from Betws-y-coed.

Walking Britain gives the round from Gwern Gof Uchaf as 10 miles (16.3km) and around 1,000m of ascent, close to eight hours. The climb onto the ridge past Pen yr Ole Wen includes a short scramble, the one hands-on section of an otherwise walked route; above that the path crosses a summit plateau that stays above 3,000ft for roughly three miles, a flat, boulder-strewn expanse linked south-west to Carnedd Dafydd, north to Foel Grach and by a spur north-west to Yr Elen. The Carneddau is managed by the National Trust, whose land here holds more than a thousand recorded ancient monuments, and around 300 semi-feral Carneddau ponies, a population thought to date back to the Bronze Age and found genetically distinct from the Welsh Mountain pony, graze roughly 13,500 acres of common grazing across the range under the Carneddau Pony Society’s agreement with Natural Resources Wales.

At 16.3km and 1,000m of ascent over the best part of eight hours, this is a long, serious day on ground that gives few landmarks in cloud, and it does not suit a first hill day or anyone wanting a short outing. It suits an experienced walker who wants scale and remoteness rather than scrambling, since beyond the one short step near Pen yr Ole Wen this is a walk, not a climb. For a shorter mountain day nearby, Moel Hebog from Beddgelert asks 8.9km and 758m of ascent.