icyuk.co.uk

01.11.2011 01:16:12

Rhydian Wilson

I've had the pleasure of being out in the hills on my own without any groups to worry about... I've got to admit it was great, though I also have to admit it's harder to practice than to preach!

A circuit of Moelwyn Mawr - Cnicht on Tuesday  11/10/11 was great fun. The Weather was clagged in from the start. Extensive hill fog (above 250-300m) meant we didn't see much all day but that mattered not. It rained... well the cloud was low anyway, I didn't put my waterproof trousers on quick enough & had soggy legs, & eventually boots, for most of the day. It was very mild, just a base layer & a shell all day.

The forecast said high winds.... & it was right. Nearly got blown off my feet on Moelwyn mawr, it was strong enough to move you on slippery rocks. I made the classic mistake of putting my head down as I navigated off the summit of Moelwyn Mawr & ended up bearing SE instead of E. Luckily I was pacing & noticed I wasn't where I should be withing 200m. A timely reminder that concentration is essential in bad weather.

We passed through Croesor & Rhosydd quarries, with the buildings & spill piles looming eerily out of the mist & fog... looks like a great place for an adventure picnic when the weather's good!

Cnicht from the NE isn't very exiting, especially in 150m visibility! The scramble down is fairly straightforward, I remember doing this on my ML training. The only thing I'd change on the whole day is the direction I did it in. Next time it's clock wise from Croesor NOT anti-clockwise!!

Aran Fawddwy & Aran Benllyn

I was out again yesterday, 30/10/11 this time a circuit in the Arans. I walked here a while ago with Simon, we had similar weather that day too. This time I decided to do the walk clockwise from Blaen Cywarch, to get the steep bit out of the way first (did I mention my knees?...) & to go out from Aran Fawddwy to Aran Benllyn as well.

As the clocks were going back I made sure my iPhone would automatically change during the night, set my alarm for 7 & fell asleep. Alarm go's off, I jump out of bed, get ready, leave the house, text my mate to say I'm on the way... he texts back saying "It's 6.45 not 7.45 you Muppet!" I was just texting back to tell hi  to stop taking the mick when my phone changed back an hour! Thanks to Apple I was early for a day out for probably the first time ever!!! Laugh?

Weather was good. Mild in the valley but a bit chilly on top. Cloud was around 850m when we started but dropped to around 650 before we got to the top... sods law being what it is, it lifted off the tops completely when we got back to the car!

It's not very navigationaly challenging once you get up out of the valley. Follow the fence.... then the ridge/fence... then on the decent, the fence again, this time off at right angles to the SE. That said it was a nice day out, good exercise & an OK time of 5hrs.45 mins (not great by super Simon's standards but OK for me!)

Here's looking forward to more days in the hills. Cheers.

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