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A return to Wales following a few years away saw us staying in Blaenau Ffestiniog, a town famous for slate, zip wires and rain. On the Sunday morning we had hoped to pop up Manod Mwar as it was just over the road from us and just a few short miles to the top and back. The weather had other ideas however as it turned up early and with a vengeance. I've seen rain, and I've seen heavy rain but the rain on Sunday was of biblical levels as the local wildlife started to pair up and form a queue and the small water fall up the street turned into Niagra in spate. We battened down the hatches and stayed in the cottage all day and made do with making a start on a 1000 piece mazzle of the Central Lake District.
Sometime overnight the rain relented and Monday saw a complete transformation as blue skies with fluffy clouds dominated the scene.
You don't have to go far to walk up a mountain in Blaunau Ffestiniog but rather than the dull looking lumps over the road we made the very short drive, (we were on holiday
) to Tanygrisiau to take in the Moelwyns.
We found a convenient place to park above the village and set off up the road to the reservoir. My research into this walk suggested that the way up onto the hills from here was up a disused incline that passes through a short tunnel but we decided that it looked very steep and lose so kept going in the hope that the public right of way was actually a path up the hillside. This turned out following searching about for awhile to be a mistake. Even at this point going back down to the incline was probably the best option but we decided to head on up the rough pathless hillside bereft of even sheep trods
On the track heading up Llyn Stwlan by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
The tunnel at the top of the incline just visible by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Manod Flyby by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Looking over to Blaenau Ffestiniog by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Ivor the Engine by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Clogwyn yr Oen by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Intrusions running through the rocks by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Alpine flowers.........possibly by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
As the steepness relented the ground was quite wet for a before an old mine track was discovered to take us around the base of Moel-yr-hydd's crags. The going was now easy until an obvious easy gully with some very mild scrambling took us up to the grassy slopes of our first hill. When seen from the town Moel-yr-Hydd looks like a very fine viewpoint and in actuality it doesn't disappoint with terrific views in every direction from its grassy plateau. We sat and had some rations and admired the extensive panorama on offer. Some of the higher mountains were moving in and out of cloud adding some drama to the views from this superb lunch stop.
Worst of the rough stuff over with by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Crags of Moel-yr Hydd by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Hughie takes a breather by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Heading up the easy gully by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Towards the Moelwyns by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Light and shade on the Cnicht by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
A valley of Green and Grey by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moel-yr-Hydd summit rocks by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Towards Moel Druman by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Allt-fwar and Llyn Cwmorthin by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Dramatic skies towards Crib Goch by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Having a stretch by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
We retraced out steps down the hill side and then had a decision to make; we could either cross some very moist looking ground to get to the main path heading up Moelwyn Mwar or carry on up the small rocky rib on the edge of the cwm. In reality it was a no brainier as the small rocky rib provided fine going under foot and some splendid views down to Lynn Stwlan, things did get a bit steep on the final grassy pull to the summit but soon enough we arrived at another magnificent viewpoint. Here the view across Cwm Croesor took centre stage with so may fine mountains well seen as well as the none pointy aspect to the Cincht.
Looking back at Moel-yr-Hydd by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Lyn Stwlan and Moelwyn Bach by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Drama towards Moel Siabod by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moel-yr-Hydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moelwyn Bach from the ascent of Moelwyn Mwar by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moelyn Mwar summit by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Looking across Cwm Croesor by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Looking towards the Nantle Ridge from Moelwyn Mwar by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Partners in Crime by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Epic Hughie shot by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
We didn't linger too long and set off for the Craigysgafn ridge which was a nice route with some minor scrambles on the way down to the col with Moelwyn Bach. The eroded path up our final top did not look too inviting but in reality it was OK and the third stellar view point of the day was reached. Here the view to Tremadoc bay and out to sea was superb and took most of the attention but as with the previous tops the views were great in all directions. Moelwyn Bach also had some fine summit rocks to sit on so we finished off our food for the day sat in the sunshine.
Llyn Swalan from a gap in Craigysgafn ridge by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Looking back at the simple scramble down from Moelwyn Mwar by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moelwyn Bach by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Back to the Craigysgafn Ridge by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Moelwyn Bach summit rocks by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Tremadog Bay from Moelwyn Bach by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
All good things must come to an end however so we headed back down the eroded path, which was again better than expected, before finding our way to the dam. We now had an option of a lose and slippy looking gully or crossing the dam. Unsurprisingly we crossed the dam which we found out at the other side we apparetly shouldn't have done, oh well.
Dam on Llyn Stwlan by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Llyn Stwlan by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
Dam and Moelwyn Bach by
Anthony Young, on Flickr
We followed the tarmac all the way down before taking a small detour to see the falls, still in boisterous mood following yesterdays rain. This was an excellent way to get the holidays walking off to a start and most welcome following Sundays Deluge.
Falls at Tanygrisiau by
Anthony Young, on Flickr