thesweetcheat

Yr Eifl’s main summit (left) and Garn For (right), both topped with cairns. From Merbwll to the northeast.

St Aelhaiarn’s Well (see folklore posts), now kept locked.

Gyrn Ddu is the hill to the left of centre. Seen from the road between Tre’r Ceiri and Llanaelhaearn.

From the hillside below the magnificent Tre’r Ceiri hillfort.

From the footpath to the southeast.

The southern entrance. Carn Fadrun and Garn Boduan can be seen in the distance.

The frankly jaw-dropping eastern rampart.

Looking towards becairned Mynydd Carnguwch, with the south coast of Lleyn between Pwllheli and Llanbedrog beyond.

The magnificent elevated view of the settlement buildings, presided over by the bulk of Yr Eifl’s tallest peak.

The Bronze Age cairn on the summit, inside the fort.

Looking towards a hazy Yr Wyddfa (right skyline) and Gyrn Ddu.

Looking down on the western entrance, showing how the stonework extends considerably beyond the width of the wall, in order to form a narrow passage.

Imposing western entrance through the inner rampart. The stonework lining the passage extends out from the wall itself.

Entrance through the lower/outer rampart. From here the path climbs fairly steeply to the much more powerfully guarded inner entrance.

The odd thing mounted on the trig pillar is a metal number “4”, with an “A” and “H” affixed to its sides. I have no idea what it is meant to signify.

Looking northeast from the summit cairn. Yr Wyddfa crowns the centre skyline, with the Carneddau and Glyders to the left, the Nantlle ridge in front to the right, Moel Hebog to the right again and the Moelwyns far right. The ramparts of Tre’r Ceiri are visible on the edge of the shot, right middle.

On a clear day the Wicklow Mountains, Isle of Man and Pembrokeshire can be seen from Yr Eifl.

The top of the summit cairn has been messed about to make an inevitable shelter, but the cairn is so large it seems less intrusive than might normally be the case.

Looking southwest from the summit cairn. G/F sits by the southwestern cairn and admires the magnificent views.

The massive summit cairn from the southwestern cairn. Beaches of Ynys Mon to the left, mountains of Snowdonia to the right.

The low southwestern cairn, now surmounted with two modern stone piles and difficult to distinguish from the rocky surface of the summit ridge. Looking south towards Pwllheli and Llanbedrog.

Looking down on Garn For (Pen Bwlch Yr Eifl), the northwestern of the three summits of Yr Eifl, from the cairns on the central summit. The cairn on Garn For is placed precariously above the ongoing quarrying of the peak’s north face. Hazy today, but Holyhead Mountain at the tip of Ynys Mon can be seen on the horizon above Garn For.

Looking southwest across the low southwestern cairn. Many prehistoric sites are visible on the peninsula below, most notably the superb hillforts of Carn Fadrun, Garn Boduan and the long promontory of Trwyn Porth Dinllaen.

The superb high-level view of Tre’r Ceiri with Yr Wyddfa beyond unfolded to alleviate the slog of the climb to the summit of Yr Eifl.

Tre’r Ceiri from the southwest. Moel Hebog can be seen in the distance over on the right.

From the south the rocky nature of the hill really becomes apparent, tumbled scree and boulders overlain by scanty heather and bracken making for a daunting climb.

Garn For and Garn Ganol, the northwestern and central peaks of Yr Eifl. Both have cairns on the summits. The track is the old road that leads over Bwlch yr Eifl between the two peaks, and is likely to be a prehistoric trackway as well as being used by the Romans as a link to the fort at Segontium (Caernarfon).

Looking down on the field systems on the climb out of Nant Gwrtheryn. The northwestern peak of Yr Eifl (Garn For) looms above.

Nant Gwrtheryn is the valley with the buildings, centre of image, enclosed by steep sides and the towering peaks of Yr Eifl above. Seen across Porth y Nant from the southwest.

Yr Eifl from Pistyll to the southwest. The damaged northern summit (Garn For or Pen Bwlch yr Eifl) is centre of image, the highest summit Garn Ganol to the right. The top of Tre’r Ceiri can just be seen to the right of that.

The long promontory encloses Porthdinllaen and provides a sheltered harbour. Seen from Ffrondirion to the east.

The imposing profile of the hill from the northeast.

The huge outer rampart.

Huge pile of stonework next to the southwestern entrance, suggesting a guardhouse or other substantial structure.

Towards Carn Fadrun.

One of the larger round houses inside the fort.

Round house inside the fort.

Neat stonework deliberately blocks one of the entrances to the inner citadel.

What appears to be an entranceway through the rampart of the inner citadel.

The remains of a possible Bronze Age cairn crown the summit of the hill, but the shape has merged with the rampart and been messed about by visitors, making it difficult to discern.

The inner citadel.

Free Wales.

Looking south over the inner citadel rampart towards Llanbedrog and (far right) Mynydd Tir y Cwmwd. This hill is a prominent landmark from the ruined chambered tomb on the latter.

Looking southwest over the rampart of the inner citadel towards Carn Fadrun hillfort.

Looking northeast from the inner citadel and possible cairn towards Yr Eifl and Tre’r Ceiri.

Overview of the main round house group inside the fort.