Meirionnydd Round.

[RobW]

Pruning on the Rhinogs now put on hold!

Shame . Must have been seriously chilly last weekend?

[RobW]

Pruning on the Rhinogs now put on hold!

OK, I'm onto it. Will spend a bit of time there this weekend with the secateurs .

Next proper recce is Feb 21-22. Plan is to look at Rhinog one day (full length or at least north from Rhinog Fawr). The other day either Aran/Dyfi Forest, or maybe Arenig again to run the new Dduallt - Rhobell route we sussed out last time.

Then Mar 13-14 for a final look .

I'll email the folk I know about; if anyone else fancies a run, let me know.

Rob

[Boy Wonder]

Will be in Wales that weekend but with a bunch of walkers - I was vaguely thinking about a day on the Rhinogs, so we'll wave as you run past

[RobW]

Will be in Wales that weekend but with a bunch of walkers - I was vaguely thinking about a day on the Rhinogs, so we'll wave as you run past

We probably wouldn't have kept up with you anyway given your abovementioned exploits

[Boy Wonder]

Oh ho ho ho..... maybe if I'd handicapped you all with 50kg sacs I might have kept up

[RobW]

Recceing in thick mist - perfect .

Saturday started with Carn Gorllwyn above Barmouth. A few iterations sorted out the little area of gorsy ridges above the houses. Then a bit of de-gorsing and de-brambling at the wall crossing. Then a few iterations established the best line to and from the summit itself. Finally the next mile thru the little walled fields as far as the open hill at Bwlch y Llan.

Most of the day was spent on a circuit from Trawsfynydd NPS to Arenig Fach and back. Over Foel Fawr - Craig Wen I was able to refine my GPS track over the unmemorable undulating route. By the B4391 my feet were frozen so I had to give the duck pool a miss again , ran the road to the A4212 junction then went up and sorted out a decent line off Arenig Fach. SSE off the summit along a quad track towards Y Foel, steep descent then drop down SSW into a tussocky area; pick up a sheep trod which curves L following a stream. 100m before the wall cut half-R, across a deep-heather shoulder, pick up another trod, cross the wall, descend on decent grass keeping L of a spur then R of a fence corner. At the bottom, pass R of sheepfolds, 1 fence and you're at the road. Just as I arrived at the fence a farmer went past on a quad, didn't stop or seem bothered. I then returned over a half dozen 400m and 300m tops.

Overnight at Fynnon Wen YH which was fairly quiet: a few kayakers (interested to note they don't go kayaking but paddling)

Sunday a few oddments including some Meiri bits:-

Sec 5 start: from Pont Fronwydd, once above the tree band I was pleased to find several new stiles :-) so it's now more or less a beeline to the 455m top.

Sec 5 end / Sec 6 start: detailed look at the descent & ascent for the version which includes the impressive Maen Du (just in case I have time for this variation). The direct ascent to the 509m top (SH827158) is quite interesting

Next weekend the Duck Pool, maybe ?

[RobW]

Sec 5 end / Sec 6 start: detailed look at the descent & ascent for the version which includes the impressive Maen Du (just in case I have time for this variation). The direct ascent to the 509m top (SH827158) is quite interesting

Photo here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1166020

And Yiannis's line:
Attachment 1845

BTW that green stuff (brown in my pic) is bracken - hence May 9th

This Saturday looking like Arenig to run the new improved Dduallt - Rhobell line, preceded by Duck Pool probably

Sunday Northern Rhinog, with ydt Himself

[molehill]

Good luck, I'm envious of your days out there. Will soon be back to play, but may have to lose a bit of weight (booze belly ) to get up those big hills again.

[RobW]

Good luck, I'm envious of your days out there. Will soon be back to play, but may have to lose a bit of weight (booze belly ) to get up those big hills again.

Very happy to assist with your rehab, Moley. Bet you can't wait to get back to misty boggy Cymru . Next (probably last) reccies 14 & 15 March.

Spent a bit of time with the camera; accordingly the cloud was low !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8589216...7614316201747/

Sat a.m. met Alan and Lawrie at Pont Fronwydd; sunny drive up to Bala but that was the end of the sunshine for the day. Picked up Sec 3 at the B4391, over Carnedd Iago, down by the fence, passing just L of the Duck Pool (looking very green and deep). Quad track most of the way. Hop over the fence, heather not too bad (burnt a few years ago) to base of little Arenig where there's a beautifully built little stone shelter. Tried out a few route variations on the descent, then crossed pasture at the bottom to cut out a few hundred m of tarmac. Lawrie having retrieved his car ambushed us here with a pack of sausage rolls :-)

Arenig Fawr summit in cloud, we met a lone walker. Descending to the Llyfnant col I stayed high to make the best of the running. Moel Llyfnant summit 2 more walkers. We descended the SE ridge, probably better than the direct scree descent. Long leg to Dduallt went nicely (can be seriously bad if you get the worng line!), contouring at about 450m on the W side of the valley. This time we stayed high, above the ruined farmstead. Usual crossing point for the infant R Mawddach - the gravel bank. Highly unusually we saw some walkers along this wild remote valley. Dduallt we descended the S ridge - path all the way and nice running, found the cut thru the forest and the ride to the foot of Rhobell. Looking back we couldn't help thinking it's a long way round though.

Sunday I met ydt opposite Trawsfynydd NPS, the usual layby. Drove to Graigddu-Isaf, ascended Rhinog Fach then ran the remainder of Sec 2 N back to the A470. ydt has quite a neat route between the 2 big Rhinogydd these days: about 50 mins without pushing it. Good descent line to Llyn Du. Spent a while nailing the descent to Roman Steps (a micro-cairn - don't tell the BG cairn-kickers!). After Craig Wion I tried keeping well R of the wall - surprisingly I got a fair bit ahead of Yiannis who followed the rocky path by the wall, so I guess it's a goer.

Immediately after Craig Ddrwg we tried L and R of the lower summit. L seems best after all. After the .594 summit we sussed out the route which keeps L of Llyn Du - much better than R. Then did ydt's "compulsory scramble" which manages to look harder than it is - a little gem. Foel Penolau - E summit is higher on the 25k map and the most convenient, but W summit looks as high (albeit in mist with no horizon behind). Nice line across (the other) Diffwys; spent a while on the fiddly first bit of the Gyrafolen descent. Off Craig y Gwynt we headed ENE, crossing the wall just N of the wall junction. All very neat, Mr T

Took another look at the Maen Du ascent on the way home. Various playful lines up thru the crags, but a fair bit of bilberry slows things down: I'm left thinking the longer grassy line is probably best after all.

[molehill]

Anything happening here - I'm back .