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Y Garn high-camp, Nantle ridge high-walk, Lakeside wildcamp, & dodging bears on Mynydd Mawr.14th-16th November 2011.
Three days, 2 nights,
25.73k, 2,169 meters of ascent.Having spotted that Mackenzie wanted a walking partner for a few days in Snowdonia on what looked like a good spell of weather coming up, I jumped at the offer as I was already planning a wild-camp or two anyway.
As he is still ticking of Hewitt’s I left the area and mountains to him, but was pleased when his plan was these western hills as I haven’t done them for many years, and although I had done all the Snowdonia mountains over 2,000ft, there was one I actually had not done…Mynydd Craig Goch, a hill that had been promoted to the magic 2,000ft from 1,998ft in Sept 2008.
So the plan was to camp Monday night on Y Garn (Nantlle Ridge) then do the rest of the ridge on Tuesday, doubling back to Trum-y-Ddysgl and descending to the South and picking up the ridge heading up and over Moel Lefn, Moel yr Ogof and eventually up Moel Hebog for another wild camp on the summit.
I was worried that my pack would be much heavier than MacKenzie’s, as he had told me that he would be bringing his 200gram tarp and no sleep mat. So with slight panic
I kept mine to essential only, thinking I would never keep up with him otherwise, being as I can give him a 28 year start in our age difference. My gear all fitted nicely into a 30 litre daysack with a weight of 9.2 grams, so when I picked up MacKenzie I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his bulging 45 litre rucksack which must have weighed 12k or more
.
Monday 14th. Day 1. Y Garn.
2.12k (441m ascent)We set off at about 2.45pm from the B road near to Llyn y Gader up the steep path that leads directly to Y Garn, with out rucksacks full of gear, shelter, food and water (no water available until we dropped of the ridge somewhere tomorrow) for the coming days.
Looking to Snowdon from Y Garn pathWe made the summit in about 1.10 hrs and were pleased that we found a wall that would shelter us from the cold wind, unfortunately it was right next to a sheer drop of 2,000ft!
But hey…needs must!
The Nantlle Ridge from Y Garn
Y Garn. Wildcamp behind the wall
Y Garn. Wildcamp showing part of the drop...Don't go sleepwalking!It was good to see that I’m not the only one to forget essentials when on these trips, Mackenzie had mistakenly only brought a summer sleeping bag and had forgotten his bivvy bag, oh how he had fun when the condensation on the inside of his tarp flicked on his face and sleeping bag when the wind whipped up throughout the night!
We were rewarded with a nice sunset to the west at about 5.30pm
, then it was hot drinks and food before having an early night at about 7.30pm
Y Garn. Sunset
Y Garn. Sunset
Y Garn. At dusk.Tuesday 15th. Day 2.Nantlle ridge (and back) to Llyn y Dywarchen
17.4km, (1152m ascent)We both awoke at about 7.15am to clear skies and a lovely array of red and crimson colours in the dawn sky to the south east.
Y Garn. Daybreak
Snowdon from y Garn at dawn
Y Garn. Sunrise
Y Garn. Sunrise
Nantlle Ridge at sunriseAfter many pictures and breakfast we were away at 9.10am towards the shapely pointed Mynydd Drws-y-coed and our first scramble of the day.
Mackenzie had asked why was this ridge is so raved about, the best way to sum it up I said was that it just had about everything, towering peaks, narrow and broad ridges, grassy paths, rocky scrambles, many ups and downs, fantastic views and finally its very long, especially when you back track from the end of it, as we were about to find!
Setting off for Mynydd Drws y Coed
Yr Aran & The Moelwyns
Mynydd Drws y Coed, 1st scramble of the day
Looking back to Y Garn.The light today was something else, one of them days when you cannot believe your luck, the early morning mist gave us silhouetted mountains and foggy valleys, the making for spectacular pictures.
Moel Hebog from Mynydd Drws y Coed
Moel Hebog group
Trum Y Ddysgl
Moel hebog
Wonderful ridge walking
Misty Mountains.After going over Mynydd Drws-y-Coed we were quickly on our 3rd hill of the day Trum-y-Ddysgl where we would leave our rucksacks to pick them up later and then drop down the ridge to the south for the Hebog group.
So onwards we walked lightweight and quickly reached Mynydd tal-y-Mignedd with its towering obelisk on the summit.
The Cairn on Mynydd Tal y Mignedd
The Cairn on Mynydd Tal y MigneddOur next mountain after a steep drop was the towering and imposing Craig Cwm Silyn, where we decided (well not knowing there was a easier path to the north!) to scramble up the steep and rocky east face, all good stuff though and adding some extra spice to out ridge walk.
Craig Cwm Silyn
Craig Cwm Silyn
View South from the ridge
Looking back along ridge to SnowdonOnce over Craig Cwm Silyn it was easy going along the broad ridge to Carnedd Goch
Cardigan Bay
Heading to Garnedd GochWe then had another drop before our last hill of the ridge Mynydd Craig-goch, this is the one which was promoted to a Hewitt in 1998, so a new hill for me
, and a fine summit it has, the large circular rocky outcrops give it a look of a ruined castle.
Here we met one of only 4 lone walkers that we saw all day, so good for a joint photo on the summit.
On Mynydd Craig Goch
On Mynydd Craig GochAbout turn now and head back over the three mountains to pick our rucksacks up again at Trum y Ddysgl, this time finding the easier path down Craig Cwm Silyn.
Part way along we both realised that our plan of continuing to Moel Hebog would be a bit of a tall order to get there in daylight, and with a hard walk already we were tiring, so we discussed our options and decided that the best plan was to drop off the ridge north at Trum y Ddysgl and camp by Llyn y Dywarchen that night.
Back along the ridge
Snowdon beyond the Mynydd Drws y Coed Ridge
Dropping down to the Nantlle valley.The ridge that leads north from Trum y Ddysgl is steep and heather clad and seldom used by us humans with only a feint sheep track to follow, where at stages I think that these particular sheep must have suicidal tendencies with one particular part of the route that they have chosen!
When we got to about 350 mts our tiring legs had to climb over the lower northern ridge of Y Garn, then down again steeper knee jarring heather and grass slopes to the road for a final climb uphill to finally drop to Llyn y Dywarchen, where luckily we found a nice flat short grassed area to set up camp.
A very nice farmer had disposed of some sawn tree branches and old fence posts nearby, so we had fire-wood for the evening as well.
All that was needed now was for Mackenzie to put his recent bushcraft course of fire starting skills into action. Well it looked like our lovely pile of nicely broken branches would stay just that and we would have another cold and early night….until I showed him my fire starting skill of lighting a fire using a gas stove as a flame thrower!
So we had a good night after that for a few hours until about 9.30pm swapping storey’s and tales of our past outdoor adventures, many of which included how we both could be really good at losing and forgetting things on our backtracking trips…I’m glad its not just me!
Also I tested my Canadian friend on some mountain Trivia, like what is the highest mountain in Canada? Easy for a mountain loving Canadian you would think? after many wrong answers he went so far as to even guess Mount MacKenzie
....Oh dear in the corner with a "D" hat MacKenzie
Camp-fire by Llyn y DywarchenWed 16th Day 3. Mynydd Mawr. 6.48km, (574m Ascent)Up again at 7.15am, sadly no red sunrise this time
, just grey cloud overhead, but we still had another mountain to do, and another new Hewitt for Mackenzie…Mynydd Mawr, one that I had done before about 20 years ago with my daughter Michelle who was then about 9, so it would be good to go back and do it again
.
Our wild- camp spot by Llyn y Dywarchen on a cloudy morning.After breakfast and packing we walked down the road to the car to drive to the start of the walk by Llyn Cwellyn.
The path leads up through a forest at first, where you pass an amusing (that is if you don’t actually meet any) sign saying don’t feed the bears!
They must have known a Canadian would be passing by to make him feel at home.
Just to make McKenzie feel at home (he's Canadian!)After the steep climb to the start of the ridge at 627mts. We started to see glimpses of the sun and blue sky, then the clouds completely parted to give us great views to the summit and the north, we even had a glimpse of a Broken Spectre, another first for McKenzie.
Above the clouds on Mynydd Mawr
Mynydd Mawr ridge
Mynydd Mawr summitOnce on the summit we had 360 deg views, only our ridge of yesterday and some of the mountains to the east and south were still in hanging cloud, so what was going to be just another ticked walk in the clouds turned out to be another cracker.
High above the Nantlle Valley
Y Garn still in the cloud
Llyn Cwellyn & the Moel Eilio Range
Still misty to the South
Llyn y Dywachwen & Moel HebogBack down our upward path, this time taking a few more pictures, we were back at the car 1.50mins after setting off.
This was for sure a great few days to remember, and thanks to McKenzie for the excellent company.
And here is my video taken over the 3 days....[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Uyezi4Oto[/youtube]
