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After a sunny drive from Cheshire we arrived in Ogwen Valley just as the rain set in. Not wanting to waste the day we made a quick decision to give the Moel Siabod scramble a go and therefore turned around and headed back down to Capel Curig and parked in the main car park behind the shops. This parking spot necessitated a short road section off the A5 and down the A4086 before taking the path to the left just beyond the Plas y Brenin headquarters.
- View towards Snowdon when you take the path next to Plas y Brenin
After a short section through the woods and across a river valley you briefly join a lane before continuing up a farm track. Eventually this track turns into a path with Moel Siabod rising directly ahead. By this point, the heavy and persistent rain had caught us up and successfully penetrated my rather battered (but only 12 month old) Scarpas and there were definite puddles in the toe area. Definitely should have put the gaiters on…
Upon finally reaching Cwm y Foel the rain began to ease here we commenced a tricky bog crossing to the base of the southeast ridge. At one point, and with much hilarity, Hollie managed to go calf deep into the bog only for me to unfortunately follow soon after. I later read crossing Cwm y Foel to the south side of the lake is a longer but drier option.
Muddy and soaked but still smiling we finally reached the base of the south east ridge.
- Looking up the southeast ridge
The ensuing scramble to the summit is thoroughly entertaining with good rock throughout and ever improving views as you gain height. It’s listed as a Grade 1 but as stated in the guides all the difficulties are easily avoidable if one is that way inclined.
- Looking down the initial section of the ridge
- Hollie accessing the route!
- Looking across the summit ridge from the southeast ridge
We stuck to the rock as much as possible, generally on the right, and soon arrived at the summit to be met with a wonderful view of the Snowdon Horseshoe.
- View towards Snowdon from the summit
- View back along the summit ridge
After 10 minutes savouring the view we headed northeast down the grassy, rock strewn hillside to pick up the good diagonal path heading directly down towards Plas y Brenin.
- Path down back towards Capel Curig
There’s a short section through the woods at the bottom where it’s worth consulting the map to avoid a detour but it’s otherwise very straightforward.
Thoroughly entertaining afternoon walk and a good little scramble which is all the more worth it for the views from the summit – the bog aside we found it an ideal outing for the less than perfect weather!