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Stayed in a b&b in Dolgellau for a couple of nights, me, Chaz and this time Sarah my wife joined us for her first hill walk in about 7 years. Started from the car park at Minffordd, a £4 parking charge but we only had £1.50 in change! A generous chap from the Midlands gave us £2.50, what a saviour otherwise we would have had to waste time getting more change, cheers mate! You meet a better class of people on the hills!
We set off up the Minffordd path, well made with large steps alongside a stream so very pleasant and height is quickly gained. The path is easy to follow and eventually turns to the west heading for Llyn Cau. A number of stops to admire the views although the tops were cloud covered, Chaz had some fun climbing a large boulder then up onto the start of the ridge. This was more impressive and rocky than I’d expected, some ups and downs and great views down to the lake along with a couple of very steep gullies, always near the edge of the cliffs. A brief break in the clouds showed the sun on the ridge to the north.
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- window in the cloud
Over boulders and sometimes made sections of path led us to our first peak, Craig Cwm Amarch at 791m. We continued to the north and after about 1km reached the foot of the main peak, at this point the cloud started to lift and the rocky peak was in sun. Over the boulders to the highest point at 893m with the cloud coming and going as we ascended. At the top it was clear and we were in a temperature inversion with most of the cloud below us, superb! The rocks were covered in a thin layer of hoar frost.
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- sea of cloud
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- i can see for miles
We sat just below the summit and had food and drink, marvelling at how lucky we were with the views around us. There is a large stone hut here, quite a few people had chosen to have their food in the shelter so couldn’t see anything! The wind was a bit cold though I suppose. On we went, our route took us to the north of the lake to complete a circuit. We headed north east, into a dip and into mist. Funny thing, I had been thinking ‘what if we see a brocken spectre’ then ten minutes later as the ground started to rise, there they were! For about 5 minutes we were treated to this sight, coming and going at different strengths, wonderful!
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- brocken spectre
We followed a faint path through grass and across rocks, right at the very edge of sheer north-facing cliffs so a bit of a test of the nerves. After about another 1km the ground rose again, to the final peak of the day Mynydd Moel at 863m. Here it was clear on top again and there were more great views, the stone windbreak was very welcome for a brief stop and some drinks.
For the descent we headed south planning to join a path after about 1km, however there is a path that follows a fence that starts from just west of the summit – neither are shown on the Quo Explorer map. The path is horrendous though, water-scoured and consisting of boulders and scree so was slow going; we would have been better staying to the grass. Eventually this reaches the path we’d been aiming for, which is better and gives easier going back to the earlier Minffordd path. The cloud had cleared a bit by now so we saw a good sunset, we’d stupidly forgotten the camera though so all photos were taken on the mobile!
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- Tal y Llyn lake and sunset
