North Wales 2013 – Tuesday – The hill at the end of the garden

Posted by @ 10:27 pm on Friday 26th July, 2013.

Tuesday. Forecast: dry, hot and sunny again. Early morning saw a fine inversion filling the valleys, usually a good sign in these parts. It was a day to get the boots on and visit an old friend.

Inversion below basecamp

 

A wider view

After a hearty breakfast we were off up the track that passes the cottages. Moel Siabod was looking good under blue skies and the occasional light cloud:

The track to Moel Siabod

At the first reservoir one of the subsidiary summits comes into view

 

At the first reservoir

 A bit further on

 Nearing the first quarry, a lone shapely conifer clings to a spoil-fan.
Could this be the celebrated Lonesome Pine?

First quarry

Angles and reflections

Plenty of derelict quarry buildings

Just past the quarry the Daear Ddu edge comes fully into view.
You can argue all you like but it isn't a ridge, if you don't believe me, look at the contours on the map.
And while I'm being pedantic, the geology maps/books say it's made of dolerite (diabase) but there's gabbro in there too.
Look, here's a bit that Ella brought home:

Gabbro.
For those not familiar with pre-decimalisation coinage, the 1907 penny included for scale is 1.22" (31mm) in diameter

Just over the rise there's a fine view of the lie of the land.
As an aside, dodgy photo-stitching seems to have doubled my quota of daughters  😯

Private beach at Llyn y Foel - a perfect place to stop for lunch, and the last water-source for several hours

 

Walkers on the ridge edge

This critter was busy collecting grubs and flies at the waterside.
It's some sort of Pipit but we can't decide which flavour - Tree, Rock or Meadow.
Any ideas?

Ella & Anna enjoying a break

Another of Anna's intriguing pics

On the way again after lunch

Proof that Aliens exist - Ella finds the remains of a dead facehugger

Llyn y Foel from Daear Ddu

Chris and Anna a bit further up the ridge edge

 

That's gabbro, that is. Note the characteristic weathered pitted/knobbly texture.
Child included for scale.

About half-way up

The view over to Dolwyddelan

Ella and Chris on one of the steeper bits

Anna and Ella nearing at the top of the Daear Ddu

The trig point on Carnedd Moel Siabod is right at the top of the Daear Ddu,
or a longish stone's throw away if you keep to the edge as we did.
Basically, to miss the top you'd have to be a special kind of idiot.

Pano from the top.
In theory it's possible to see 13 of the 14/15/16 Welsh 3000s on a clear day.

Ella and Anna triumphant on Moel Siabod's top-most rock

Subsidiary summits from the shelter

 

Tryfan through the heat-haze

Birds of a feather ...

... stuck together

The grass around the summit was studded with vivid Harebells

A look over the edge of the cwm

 Looking down the gully before the rise to the first subsidiary summit

 Looking back to the main summit

Another gully, the one between the two subsidiary summits

 Stitch that!

Rest & Rehydration on outcrops of distinctive rhyolitic tuff

 Awkward ground - too steep to walk down, not steep enough to go scree-sliding

Back on the main the track, Ella took a shine to this tree

Back at the cottage it was boots off, feet-up and rehydrate. Despite the mainly overcast skies after leaving the ridge, the temperatures had still been pushing 30C and there had been hardly any breeze, so we were fairly dried-out. After baths/showers and a cooked meal we crashed out where we sat. The cider helped, of course. It counts towards your 5-a-day, allegedly.

It's a classic walk which provides varied terrain, a superb scramble, a fine ridge-walk and a summit-view that is, arguably, the best in Wales. If you've not done it, do it. If you've already done it, do it again!

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