Ceunant Mawr waterfall  / Rhaeadr Ceunant Mawr

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here. Me and my human have just spent some time exploring Dinorwig Slate Quarry. From there, we drove the short distance to Llanberis and walked to Ceunant Mawr waterfall.

We parked in the village and walked towards the Snowdon Railway Station. On the left, we could see where we had previously been exploring. The immense remains of Dinorwig Slate Quarry loomed over Llyn Padarn and Llanberis.

Ahead of us on the opposite side of the road is the majestic Victoria Hotel with its manicured grounds. The mountains of Yr Wyddfa massif were clearly in view as the sun illuminated them.

The railway station on our right was quiet as it hadn’t opened for the year. Crib Goch and Clogwyn y Person dominated the skyline with Yr Wyddfa’s summit hidden in the clouds.

We turned into the ‘Quiet Area’ at the start of the Llanberis Path. After another right turn, with me leading the way, we passed under a railway bridge that carries thousands of passengers to the summit of the mountain.

The waterfall direction is signposted, and after passing through the gate at the side of the cattle grid, we headed uphill along a short section of road. Another arrow pointed along a track, leading to the footpath at the side of the waterfall.

We soon reached the rough path that runs alongside the Afon Arddu through the gorge. The path is uphill but not steep. It sits a few feet above the rushing water, so I had to remain on lead.

The icy water cascades over a series of drops and the rocky river bed. My human wouldn’t even let me have a paddle or a slurp of the water. He said that he didn’t fancy dragging me out of Llyn Padarn after I had bounced off every rock on the way to the lake. Fair comment, I suppose!

So, onwards and upwards. We could hear the rushing water of the falls as we walked uphill. The high sides of the gorge left us in and out of shadow as we plodded onwards. The waterfalls take their name from the gorge as Ceunant Mawr means the waterfall of the great ravine. The falls are also known as Llanberis Falls or Rheadr Llanberis.

As you can see from the photograph, I really wanted to have a dip. This area looked ideal, but it was too steep sided for me to climb down. So, I was ushered away by Killjoy.

At the end of the well laid path, we came to a viewpoint where we could see the bottom section of the falls. The water was crystal clear, and the falls have created a large pool. Now, this looked really tempting, but, as my human pointed out, if I got caught in the pull of the water at the base of the falls, I would never get out.

Sadly, people have died in this section of the falls as they underestimated the downward force of the water. The last death occurred only six months prior to our visit.

To view the top section of the falls, we could have climbed the rocky hillside to the right of the viewpoint, but my human said that it looked a bit steep and slippery. We were happy to go this far where we could see the Afon Hwch and the Afon Arddu creating the twin falls. Maybe we will view the falls from a different aspect on our next visit when we could approach the area from a different road.

After spending some time admiring the waterfalls, we turned back along the gorge pathway.

The views were probably better and more spectacular on the return walk. The height of the path above the water level was even more obvious. I made my human very nervous as I stopped to peer over the edge. He can be a right Nervous Nelly!

It was cold in the shade and then instantly warm as we entered the sun-drenched sections.

It was a pleasant, easy walk on a sunny winter afternoon.

We enjoyed the short walk from the village as it wasn’t crowded as it would inevitably be in the summer months.

After one last look at the river, we headed back to the junction where the cattle grid was situated. Instead of turning right to follow our previous route, we turned left to head along Church Lane.

The narrow lane took us back into the village after we had an encounter with some of the locals. I had a staring match with a local sheep as it emerged from the church grounds. I won the contest, and the woolly beast joined its mates on a walk into town. Strange creatures!

A few minutes later we arrived back at the car. I curled up on the back seat while my chauffeur drove me home. A perfect end to our little adventure. Till next time!