Carnedd Llewelyn

At 1,064 m this is the highest point of the Carneddau and one of Wales's highest summits, yet it sees a fraction of the boots that pour up Yr Wyddfa. On a clear day the panorama is genuinely huge: Tryfan and the Glyderau across the Ogwen valley, ridge after ridge of peaks to the south, and the Menai Strait and Anglesey away to the northwest.

The summit is a broad, stony, boulder-strewn plateau with a cairn, not a sharp pointed peak. The scale is what people remember: bare high ground falling away into glacier-carved cwms and steep crags on several sides. Do not count on shelter or facilities up there, and be aware that in cloud the plateau can feel featureless.

• Usually quieter than Yr Wyddfa, with no railway or cafe at the top.
• Tryfan nearby is sharp scrambling ground, while this summit is reached by a long, high-level walk across big open ridges.
• It sits at a hub of ridges, so Carnedd Dafydd, Yr Elen, Foel Grach and Pen yr Helgi Du can be linked into a longer Carneddau ridge walk.

This is a strenuous, exposed, rough mountain walk. Bring sturdy footwear, warm and waterproof layers, plenty of food and water, and the navigation skills to get yourself off a broad plateau in cloud. Mountain weather here changes within minutes and the tops catch cold, wet westerly winds. In winter, snow and ice make this a full winter mountaineering objective.

Stable, clear weather matters far more than the calendar. Late spring through early autumn gives the longest daylight and the best odds of picking out Anglesey. If the cloud is down, plan the day around navigation instead of views, because the panorama simply is not there.

The wider Carneddau is home to semi-feral Carneddau ponies, and chough and rare arctic-alpine plants are possibilities rather than guarantees on these high slopes. If you do meet ponies, give them plenty of space and never feed them.

Approaches are long, rocky and often wet underfoot, the upper slopes are steep, and there is nothing at the summit to rely on. In mist the plateau gives you few landmarks and the view simply is not there. Anyone after a short, easy, well-serviced summit walk should look elsewhere.