The plan today was to meet up with a friend of Vince’s and do a couple of summits in the Pumlumon range. We checked out of the Wynnstay Arms and made the 45 minute journey to the little car park at Eisteddfa Gurig where we rendezvoused with Laura. The weather was dry and sunny, in contrast to the deluge we endured in 2016 when we first did all five Nuttalls in this range.
We set off at 09:40 and followed the track/path beside the Afon Tarennig passed some disused mine workings, and then continued more steeply to the summit of Pumlumen Fawr. Some nice clear views from the top.
The next summit, Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan, was only a kilometre away. It was simply a matter of following a fence in an ENE direction down to a col and then on to the summit.
These were the only two tops we intended to do today, so we now began the return journey by retracing our steps back to Pumlumon Fawr. Rather than return by exactly the same route we now followed the fence over Pen y Drawsallt, skirted around the forest and then on a track that led us back to the car park.
As this is being written up nearly two years after the event, my memory of this walk is very sketchy, so I have not put as much detail as I would normally. I cannot remember where we stopped for food breaks for example. I do remember (with Vince’s prompting) that at some point on the walk Laura produced a cake form her rucksack which went down very well.
| Summit | Height (m) | Status | ||
| Pumlumon Fawr | 752 | Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall | ||
| Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan | 727 | Hewitt, Nuttall |
Photos of both day’s walks here
Today dawned overcast but dry, as per last night’s forecast. We decided that the weather would be ok for our planned route in the Northern Rhinogs. After breakfast we packed up and loaded all our gear in the car. The midges were out in force and it was not until the following day that I realised I had been well and truly “midged” when the bites started to swell and itch. We drove to the start point, the last couple of kilometres on a very narrow road. Luckily we did not meet any vehicles coming in the other direction. The parking area at the end of the road was completely empty, so no problem parking. As we put on our boots it looked like it would be a great day for walking.
I’m sure we would have both soon spotted our error though! The walking was easy on an old mining track (so absolutely no difficulty in navigation). We needed to find a turn off this track to follow a path heading south-east beside some cliffs. This turned out to be very easy to find and it was a truly delightful grassy terrace to follow past the derelict manganese mine workings. As Nuttall pointed out in their guide book these were exceptionally neat and tidy with no ugly spoil heaps that are usually left by miners.The path continued for about a kilometre before circling round to Llyn Du, where we stopped for our customary banana (and Twix) break.
begin the ascent toward Clogwyn Mawr, but the problem was the path was on the east of the Afon Lloer which we would soon need to cross to continue upward on the west side. The stream looked impressive with the amount of water cascading down it, but unfortunately there was no safe place to cross. After a good few minutes fruitlessly searching for a crossing point, we had to descend some way to a footbridge that allowed us to cross the main stream, but we still had to leap one of the minor streams before we gained the west bank. Vince put right a group of Silver D of E students who had missed their intended path before we finally crossed. 
banana break somewhere on the ascent of the ridge, but cannot remember exactly where. After a bit of wet scrambling we eventually reached the summit. We did not stay there very long in the awful conditions – just long enough to take a few record shots. We pressed on to our next objective, Carnedd Dafydd. We had only gone a few hundred metres when I had to stop to add an extra insulating layer. I discovered my hands were so cold I could not operate zips or toggles and had to enlist Vince’s help to do this for me. I could not remember ever feeling so cold on the hill (even in Scotland in winter). We pressed on a little further, but I was glad that both Vince and Jack agreed that we should call it a day and make our way down. 
south-west ridge. This was a very rocky descent and finding the exact path turned out to be rather problematical. We made slow progress, but at least I was beginning to feel warmer. After what seemed like an age, we arrived down at the A5 at Pont Pen-y-benglog and the final 2k of road walking back to the car. At least the rain was beginning to ease off now.