Route – The Puddle Buckley Round

Route

The Puddle Buckley is not a route, just a series of checkpoints (summits and lakeshore locations) which we suggest you hike, run and swim between. Think of it as the drunken inspiration of a stranger in the pub. It may be the ingredients of an amazing adventure, but it’s down to you to make sound judgments about how to safely undertake the adventure.

This GPX file was created on mapping software and is merely an overview of the route. It therefore should not be followed step for step, as it may not relate to the best or safest route on the ground

The route is easily split into 4 sections, each finishing at a road, directly after 1 of the 4 swims.

Leg 1

19.8km across land, 0.7km across water, 20.5km total

Checkpoint	Location	Details	OS Grid reference	Height (m)	Distance (km)	Accumulative Distance (km)
Leg 1 Start	Llanberis parking shore of Llyn Padarn	Near large sword	SH 5781 6043	94	0	0
1^st Summit	Moel Eilio	Summit Cairn	SH 5562 5772	726	4.3	4.3
2^nd Summit	Foel Goch	90m NNNE of path/fence junction	SH 5709 5635	605	2.1	6.4
3^rd Summit	Moel Cynghorion	On fence line	SH 5865 5639	674	2.3	8.7
4^th Summit	Yr Wyddfa	Trig point	SH 6099 5437	1085	3.7	12.4
5th Summit	Cribau Tregalan	Cairn	SH 6053 5370	931	0.9	13.3
Swim 1 Start	SW edge of Elephant Rock	Where the shore meets the rock face	SH 6435 5210	67	6.5	19.8
Swim 1 Finish	Llyn Gwynant Beach	Beach at north end of lake, west of reeds	SH 6486 5236	67	0.7	20.5

Leg 2

10.5km across land, 0.5km across water, 11km total

For your round to be official you must NOT travel along the A498, A4086 or A5. You can cross them but not travel along them. (This is to increase safety and enjoyment).

Checkpoint	Location	Details	OS Grid reference	Height (m)	Distance (km)	Accumulative Distance (km)
Leg 2 Start	Llyn Gwynant Beach	Beach at north end of lake, west of reeds	SH 6486 5236	67	0	20.5
1^st Summit	Carnedd Cribau	East of fence	SH 6761 5370	591	4	24.5
2^nd Summit	Carnedd Moel Siabod	Trig point	SH 7052 5463	872	3.4	27.9
Swim 1 Start	Flat grassy bank east of the narrows, west of the woods	Watch out for bank holiday campers!	SH 7100 5745	182	3.1	31
Swim 1 Finish	Where an overgrown wall meets the north edge of Llyn Mymbyr	Boulders on east of wall, may need brambles clearing for access.	SH 7145 5780	182	0.5	31.5

Leg 3

16.9km across land, 0.4 across water, 17.3 total

Leg 3 summits, leg 3 swim and leg 4 start

For your round to be official you must NOT travel along the A498, A4086 or A5. You can cross them but not travel along them. (This is to increase safety and enjoyment).

Checkpoint	Location	Details	OS Grid reference	Height (m)	Distance (km)	Accumulative Distance (km)
Leg 3 Start	Where an overgrown wall meets the north edge of Llyn Mymbyr	Boulders on east of wall, may need brambles clearing for access	SH 7144 5779	182	0	31.5
1^st Summit	Pen yr Helgi Du	Western cairn	SH 6980 6303	833	8.3	39.8
2^nd Summit	Carnedd Llyewelyn	Summit cairn	SH 6836 6439	1064	2.1	41.9
3^rd Summit	Carnedd Dafydd	East cairn	SH 6629 6304	1044	3	44.9
4^th Summit	Pen yr Ole Wen	Summit cairn east of path	SH 6559 6193	978	1.4	46.3
Swim 3 Start	Where a wall with style meets north shore of Llyn Ogwen	Please give fisher-people a wide birth even if this means changing your entry and exit points for the swim. They pay to fish the Llyn so we need to maintain good relations!	SH 6559 6046	301	2.1	48.4
Swim 3 Finish	Headland on centre of Llyn Ogwen’s south bank	Most prominent point on headland	SH 6591 6029	301	0.4	48.8

Leg 4

14.1km across land, 0.6km across water, 14.7km total

We strongly recommend that you recce the route over Tryfan and onto Glyder Fach. There is a lot of steep, loose ground and cliffs. Poor route choice could be fatal.

Checkpoint	Location	Details	OS Grid reference	Height (m)	Distance (km)	Accumulative Distance (km)
Leg 4 Start	Headland on centre of Llyn Ogwen’s south bank	Most prominent point on headland	SH 6591 6029	301	0	48.8
1^st Summit	Tryfan	Adam and Eve boulders	SH 6640 5939	917	1.4	50.2
2^nd Summit	Glyder Fach	Highest rock on main summit boulders	SH 6563 5829	994	1.4	51.6
3^rd Summit	Glyder Fawr	Summit cairn	SH 6423 5795	1001	1.6	53.2
4^th Summit	Y Garn	Summit point by wind shelter	SH 6308 5958	947	2.3	55.5
5^th Summit	Elidir Fawr	Summit shelter	SH 6119 6130	924	3.6	59.1
Swim 4 Start	Pontoon at east end of Llyn Padarn	Through Gorsaf Ddu car park to pontoon	SH 5831 6045	94	3.8	62.9
Swim 4 Finish	Llanberis parking, shore of Llyn Padarn	Near large sword	SH 5781 6043	94	0.6	63.5

*Distances are estimates and dependant on route choice. Heights are height above sea level and do not indicate total height gain between points.

A successful completion requires you to visit all the checkpoints under your own power with no mechanical or physical aid. Swimming is compulsory between adjacent checkpoints on the water’s edge. A roads may be crossed but not travelled along. Always put your own safety and that of everyone else above that of completing the round.

There are so many possible adaptations with this route, so if you feel it is too hard or easy we’d love to hear about your alternatives. Here’s a couple we considered:

Missing out Llyn Ogwen, Tryfan, and the Glyders and instead swimming the length of Llyn Idwal and going up the Devils Kitchen straight onto Y Garn.
Adding in an extra swim the length of Fynnon Llugwy.