Completing the Arans – July 2013

Fri 19 July 2013

Late Friday evening and Vince and I find ourselves in the bar of The Goat at Maerdy discussing possible routes for the coming weekend. We had a choice of three walks in mind and fairly swiftly decided that Nuttall’s route 8.2 The Eastern Arans would be our Saturday walk, and on Sunday we would head to Pen-y-pass and do “the Last Nail in the Horseshoe”, Gallt y Wenallt. A heat-wave had lasted for a couple of weeks across the country and looked set to continue over the weekend, though thankfully it was not forecast to be as hot (in the south-east several days in a row had exceeded 30°C). One problem would be getting to the Pen-y-pass car park early enough to find a space.

But then, half way through the second pint of Tetley’s Dark Mild, a sudden revelation that the weather would be perfect to do the Aran ridge. We had climbed to the highest peak on the ridge, Aran Fawddwy, in July 2004, but had not seen very much as the summit was in mist and a gale was blowing. This was also before we discovered Nuttall’s guides and so had not done any of the other 2,000 foot-ers on the ridge. So, the plan was conceived – Route 8.1 The Aran Ridge on Saturday, and Route 8.2 The Eastern Arans on Sunday. If all went to plan we would complete another range of Welsh hills.

Sat 20 July 2013

We had not done any preparation for this walk, so we just put our trust in my satnav to take us by the quickest route to the small car park in Cwm Cywarch. It took us along very narrow, twisting roads and we did not realise that one of them was in fact the Bwlch y Groes road, the steepest part of which we would have to walk up to complete Sunday’s walk.

It was quite warm as we set off (at 9.25am) and both of us opted for summer boots, on the assumption that the long, hot spell would have dried out any boggy areas on the route. Our boots did get quite damp, but ultimately it was the right choice. Initially the route followed the path above Hengwm, gently ascending diagonally across  the lower slopes of Pen y Allt Uchaf. Nuthatch were heard as we began on this path, and we saw a juvenile robin a bit further along. Higher up the slope we could hear a reed bunting singing from somewhere down in Hengwm. After two kilometres we arrived at a fence beside a re-entrant where Nuttall recommended we ascend directly up the hillside to the summit. As we studied the map hoards of midges descended on us, prompting us to quickly apply Jungle Formula repellent – which was no deterrent to them whatsoever! The map showed we had 200m of ascent in 400m, so a stiff test of our fitness ensued. It took half-an-hour to climb to the top, where we felt we deserved a banana and chocolate bar break (no coffee carried with us today, we had both chosen to carry extra water instead because of the warm weather).

The way continued north, heading for the col between Waun Goch and Drysgol, keeping to the left of Waun Goch (a hill of no significance) to avoid peat hags. At the col we climbed over the fence and aimed around the headwaters of Pumryd Fawr and onwards over grassy slopes to Gwaun Lydan. A meadow pipit took flight from very close to our path, and searching the area it had flown from we found its nest expertly hidden in the grass. A small pile of white stones marked the summit of Gwaun Lydan, from where there would have been good views of the Aran ridge had it not been obscured by low cloud.

After munching another chocolate bar we pressed on westwards up a fairly gentle slope towards Drysgol.  Both peregrine and buzzard were seen as we ascended and, as we neared the the top, a red kite as well. The summit of Drysgol is quite an impressive top but the ground to the west just fails to have the requisite drop of 15m to qualify it as a mountain in its own right.

Beyond Drysol the path began to curve northwards, leading us onto the main Aran ridge and eventually to our highest point of the day, the 905m summit of Aran Fawddwy. Arriving there at about 13:15 we found a sheltered spot to eat our lunch (after the obligatory summit photos).

After a relaxing half-hour break we descended northwards towards the next objective, Erw y Ddafad-ddu. The initial steep descent over boulders soon levelled out to become an easy walk following a fence to this next top, marked by a large untidy heap of slatey stones.

The northernmost summit on the ridge, Aran Benllyn, was attained after a further kilometre of walking, following close to the fence all the way. A large untidy cairn was a great viewpoint for Bala and Llyn Tegid, but the actual summit was a few metres away on a flat rock platform on the edge of the cliffs.

We now had to turn around and retrace our steps back to Aran Fawddwy. This was easy as we just had to keep close to the fence we had followed on the outward journey. It was not necessary to go back over the summit again; when we got to the point on the fence where we had first met it when descending from Fawddwy we just continued to follow it (over very rocky terrain) keeping to the west of the highest ground. When this fence met the one coming up from Drysol, we continued steeply down SW, still following a fence, towards Waun Camddwr. This was where my knees started to complain about going downhill.

When we were more-or-less level with the height of Gwaun y Llwyni we turned away from the fence to cross the Camddwr stream and head south-east over rough grass to the summit. From this spot there were good views of the head of Hengwm and the steep ascent that we had made early in the morning on Pen yr Allt Uchaf. Finished off the last of our chocolate bar rations!

Descending north-west following a line of old fence posts we now made our way to the seventh, and last summit of the day. After 700m we arrived back at the fence we had followed down from Aran Fawddwy, and after another 500m following it we arrived at the small rocky knoll that is the top of Waun Camddwr. I recorded that we bagged this summit in July 2004, but in truth I think we passed 10m away, following close to the fence on our way to Aran Fawddwy.

With all the high points completed for the day it just remained for us to descend back to the car in Cwm Cywarch. I had been looking forward to descending the path beside the stream next to Craig Cywarch, but my knees were screaming out with every downward step and I just longed for it to all end.

We arrived back at the car at about 6.00pm (I think), and while we were taking one last gulp of water another peregrine flew into view in front of Craig Cywarch.

	Summit	Height (M)	Status
	Pen y Allt Uchaf	620	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Gwaun Lydan	632	Nuttall
	Aran Fawddwy	905	Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall
	Erw y Ddafad-ddu	872	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Aran Benllyn	885	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Gwaun y Llwyni	685	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Waun Camddwr	621	Nuttall

Sun 21 July 2013

It was overcast and breezy as we prepared for the off from Bwlch y Groes, but this was quite an improvement on last year when it poured with rain from start to finish of our short walk to Moel y Cerrig Duon from the same car park. We set off for another day of fence following, heading south-west towards Llechwedd Du. Nuttall warned that the terrain would be rough and boggy, but the areas of bare peat presented no problems as the prolonged dry weather had left it quite firm underfoot. After a little over 2km of fence-following we diverted 100m away from it to attain the summit of Llechwedd Du, marked by a small pile of white stones. Not the most impressive of summits, in fact a bit disappointing for my 100th Welsh Nuttall, and only 69m higher than where we started.

Heading back to the fence, which had now turned north, we followed it for a further 700m to a bwlch. Here we climbed over it and headed up beside the Afon Twrch until we could bear right and ascend the gently rising slope to Foel Rhudd. The top was marked by an old fence post and a white stone or two.

We could have now followed another fence, via a dog-leg, to the next summit, but as it was clearly visible we just made a bee-line for it through the strange looking peat hags that dotted this high moorland. The spot height of Esgeiriau Gwynion was shown on the map as 30m south-west of the junction of three fences, but it was not marked in any way, and was one of those summits that was difficult to identify with 100% confidence.

As we left the summit several swift zoomed low over the fence, presumably on their journey south. A couple of swallow swooped around as well. Sticking to the fence, we now followed it south-west to descend to Bwlch Sirddyn. Again my knees complained about going downhill. Once at the bwlch the route continued up to the ridge of Foel Hafod-fynydd. This looked steep but was not too tough an ascent. On attaining the ridge an easy walk over grass ascending 50m in 600m brought us to the summit, the second of two cairned tops, and we had completed another group of the Welsh Nuttalls.  A splendid view of yesterday’s route on the Aran ridge was our reward.

We retraced our steps eastwards along the ridge and continued straight on to descend (beside yet another fence) to the ravine of Ceunant y Briddell. About half-way down the slope we climbed over the fence and veered away from it to the left through through knee-high reedy vegetation to avoid arriving at the Ceunant y Briddell at its steepest part where crossing would have been a problem. Once across, a gently descending track was an easy route out to meet the Bwlch y Groes road at Blaen-pennant. With no need now to pay attention to route finding we could indulge in a bit of bird spotting and added goldcrest, great tit, grey wagtail, jay, pied wagtail and wheatear to our list.

Emerging onto the road at a hair-pin bend (that we recognised from yesterday) we knew we had a long slog back up to the car at Bwlch y Groes - 338m of ascent in 1.8km, and the day now very warm. It was going to take us 60 minutes. No alternative but to plod our way slowly and wearily to the top. We were very glad we did Moel y Cerrig Duon on its own last year and did not have to include it in today’s walk before returning to the car! We finished at about 2.00pm and had a quarter-hour break for food and drink before setting off on the long drive back to Oxfordshire.

	Summit	Height (M)	Status
	Llechwedd Du	614	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Foel Rhudd	659	Nuttall
	Esgeiriau Gwynion	671	Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall
	Foel Hafod-fynydd	689	Hewitt, Nuttall

This is the list of birds we saw/heard whilst out on the hill.

	Blue Tit	Buzzard	Carrion Crow
	Chaffinch	Dunnock	Goldcrest
	Great Tit	Grey Wagtail	Jay
	Magpie	Meadow Pipit	Nuthatch
	Peregrine	Pheasant	Pied Wagtail
	Raven	Red Kite	Reed Bunting
	Robin	Skylark	Swallow
	Swift	Tawny Owl *	Wheatear

* Heard at The Goat.