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!
