05 GAZE OUT FROM SUMMIT TO SEA
Yr Eifl, Gwynedd | 4.5 miles | 3 hours | Challenging
Mountainous in spirit if not in height, Yr Eifl is a hill of vertiginous vistas and igneous granite intrusions. Its craggy summits have various names but are referred to here as Garn For, Garn Ganol, and Tre’r Ceiri, and this walk scales all three, offering walkers the chance to gaze across the vast waters of the Irish Sea, obscured now and then by reefs of pulsing clouds.
The first two peaks are a bit of a scramble. For an alternative, lower route, there’s a valley path that skirts the northern and eastern fringes of the mountains.
1 ISLAND VIEWS
Bus passengers from Pwllheli can alight at Llithfaen and walk to the car park along a quiet road with silvery views to St Tudwal’s Islands over the Llyn Peninsula’s soft hills.
2 HEATHLAND
From the car park, take the Wales Coast Path to Bwlch. The scratchy heath brushes at your ankles, the pastel-coloured scrub scarred with streaks of matt-grey granite.
3 FOREST TO KING
Far, far below a glossy stand of pines, fringed by a charcoal-grey beach, sea-smashed and seal-haunted, is the old quarrymen’s village, now
