A trip to the Berwyn Mountains in Wales.
May/June 2021
Weather: very warm, hazy sunshine, breezy.
Miles walked: 24
Bag: Alpkit PD600
Tent: Lightwave T10 Trail
Bag: Granite Gear Blaze 60
Weight: 9kg + 3 days food + water
Boots: Salomon Quest (well worn)
Photos: (old) Sony Cybershot camera, Samsung Galaxy s6
It was May half-term and I had a week off. A trip was needed, not too long, just 2 or 3 nights out somewhere remote. The weather looked great so I opted for the Berwyns in Wales, and bag a few more Nuttalls (hills over 610m with a 15m elevation).
There are many routes up the Berwyns, but I chose to go up from the north, either from a village called Cynwyd or from the Coed y Glyn Forest. Parking seemed tricky in the village, so I drove on to a layby in the forest. That meant the first day was going to be a there-and-back walk from the pass at the top instead of a more circular walk. A decision I slightly regretted later, though the route through the forest was really nice.
The forest.
The trail started with a pleasant uphill walk on a forest track that followed a stream (Afon Llynor). Once out of the woods, tall brown hills loomed up ahead, promising a long hot trek to the pass (Pen Bwlch Llandrillo). The forest was a nice mix of coniferous and broadleaf trees with plenty of bird-song now early summer had really began.
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| The Coed y Glyn Forest |
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| The Coed y Glyn Forest |
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| Leaving the forest to walk up to the pass higher up. |
The first Nuttall - Moel yr Henfaes (621m).
After the forest came rough upland grazing land dotted with sheep and large quarts rocks that glinted in the sun. A few miles on a stone bridle-path was reached, which took me to the top of the pass where a memorial stone sat among handy boulders to sit on. I decided to follow the fence north to the first summit (Moel yr Henfaes) to have a long lunch break and air out my feet.
The views from here, and all along the ridge and summits, were of hill and mountain, forest and field, and endless sky. It felt quite remote, the nearest village at least 3 miles away, the nearest town at least 8 miles as the crow flies.
The big Snowdonian hills hazily loomed in the distance, the Arenigs and Arans closest, the Shropshire hills lay shimmering to the east. To the south, about 3 miles away, the main Berwyn summits dominated the ridge.
Moel yr Henfaes is a Nuttall that can be bagged (with permission...) but cannot be listed as having bagged on hill-bagging.co.uk as its on private land (just over the fence).
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| Big lumps of white quarts lay dotted across the hill. |
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| Looking back at the forest. |
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| Moel yr Henfaes |
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| Moel yr Henfaes |
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| Hazy views from Moel yr Henfaes. |
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| Looking at Moel Fferna from Moel yr Henfaes. |
Moel Fferna (628m).
From Moel yr Henfaes I followed the fence for just under 3 miles all the way to Moel Fferna. The rough trail takes you through heather, bilberry, emerging cloudberry, tufty grass, sedge and bog. The rough trail and several smaller summits on the ridge made progress slow. Unfortunately this had to be walked twice to get back to the pass due to my earlier decision to start from Coed y Glyn and not Cynwd.
Moel Fferna is a fine summit with great views of the llantisilio and Ruabon Mountains north.
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| Looking back (south) at the main summits. |
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| Looking south to the main summits from Moel Fferna. |
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| Looking north. |
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| Looking north. |
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| Looking south to the main summits. |
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| Looking north. |
The first camp.
Back at the pass, I decided to walk on a little in search of water and a place to camp. A lumpy area south provided an almost flat grassy space away from the trail and prying eyes. A boggy puddle was used to re-fill my water bags.
I stupidly forgot my water-filter and tablets so filtered the water through a clean handkerchief and boiled it afterwards.
Once the tent was pitched and dinner was cooked, a fine sunset over Snowdonia was enjoyed. A few sheep came and checked me out and an owl flew overhead. A grouse occasionally sounded its strange call and skylarks sang till nightfall.
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| First pitch of the tent, needed tweaking a little. |
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| Watching the sunset over Snowdonia. |
Cadair Bronwen (784m)
After a comfortable night I woke early, but did not see the sunrise. After packing up it was a long hot slog up Cadair Bronwen where I paused briefly to take pics and admire the views. A stiff breeze blew from the south-east, making the heat just about bearable.
From Bronwen a steep path takes you down to another pass (Bwlch Maen Gwynedd) from where I missed the shortcut to Tomle and took the longer steeper way round via the main ridge.
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| Not enjoying the heat much! |
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| The big summits just ahead. |
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| Cadair Bronwen |
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| The way up to the main ridge. |
Four more Nuttalls.
Not looking forward to another long hot trek across rough terrain, I slowly set off down the steep slope that leads to Tomle, Foel Wen, Foel Wen south top and Mynydd Tarw. The route resembled a 3 mile rollercoaster of small grassy summits with boggy areas in between.
Somewhere along the ridge I decided to have a long lunch break. I found a dry spot and started taking my boots off when I realised I sat in an ants nest, not what you expect at 600m high.
Great views of the steep face of Cadair Berwyn opened up to the south-west. The wind tried to blow me over a few times, but kept the heat and flying insects at bay. Finally Mynydd Tarw was reached and I experienced a moment of joy at the completion of another 6 Nuttalls.
Mynydd Tarw had a small stone windbreak, but I was happy to take a few pics then tackle the return journey back to the main ridge.
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| Looking east towards Tomle, Foel Wen and Mynydd Tarw. |
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| Looking at Cadair Bronwen. |
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| Looking back up to the main ridge and the rocky top of Cadair Berwyn, |
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| Looking at Cadair Bronwen. |
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| Looking at the steep east face of Cadair Berwyn. |
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| The tiny cairn on Tomle. |
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| Cerrig Geneugiaid |
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| Approaching the summit of Mynydd Tarw. |
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| The windbreak on Mynydd Tarw. Spot the fire in the distance. |
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| Mynydd Tarw |
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| The smug look of satisfaction after bagging 4 more summits. |
To the north I could see smoke rising from the hills near llangollen, this could be seen all day. I hoped it wasn't yet another devastating wild-fire on the Llantysilio Mountains. It took 3 months for the 2018 fire to be extinguished. A week later I read that it indeed was a large gorse fire in the llantysilio Mountains, possibly started by human activity, not helped by the warm and dry conditions.
Not long after setting off, a young man in bright red shorts appeared in front. he must've ascended from the valley below (Cwm Maen Gwynydd), a steep way up. My eyes followed his quick progress all the way up to the summit ridge, my legs did not have the energy to make the same pace, but I determinedly kept going till the last steep haul up to the ridge leading to Cadair Berwyn.
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| Looking at the main ridge. |
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| A bit of posing before plodding on. |
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| The long way back up. |
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| Looking at Godor across the valley. |
I proudly managed the steep uphill section in one go and happily reached the path to the summit. I'd looked forward to peering down the steep cliffs, but the wind was so strong it wasn't safe or enjoyable. At the trig point a man with a big aerial was talking loudly to presumably another man with a big aerial at another trig point. A different way of hill-bagging I guess.
I finally got to the summit cairn and sat out of the wind. I suddenly missed my walking buddy, a bearded collie now retired from hill walking. Last time I was here we watched the sunset and sunrise together. I didn't feel right being there without her, so I wasn't sure whether to camp there or not.
But first I needed water so I headed for the pond below the trig. When I got there a dead sheep lay decomposing in the water. With no other water source near, I decided to head down the western side and follow a trail into a valley with a stream running through it.
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| Hazy views west from the summit. |
The second camp.
The valley seemed idyllic, mostly protected from the wind, small soft flat grassy areas just right for pitching a small tent, a stream, away from busy paths or prying eyes, and with great views of Snowdonia.
When I found a near perfect spot I dropped my bag and went to fill up my water bags from another smaller stream running close by. I walked over to where I could hear the water running through a narrow gully, then froze in horror. A sheep had fallen in some time ago and obviously had got stuck. The poor animal had died a lonely death.
All thoughts of camping there dissipated, so I followed the main stream down some distance till I got to another suitable place to pitch the tent.
A leisurely evening was spent cooking and eating food, drinking tea and hot chocolate, listening to the birds (skylarks and curlew), and watching the sunset over distant hills, the rays glinting off several lakes far away. A gentle breeze kept midges at bay.
The night was quite warm, which after a winter of being wrapped in several insulated layers, made a pleasant change. No condensation in the tent despite being zipped up.
My feet were really sore, a combination of heat, hormones, hard insoles, so it was nice having boots and socks off. Maybe it's time to start using trail shoes more often.
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| Nice little spot with great views. |
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| Another nice sunset. |
Day three.
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| Looking back to the summit. |
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| Trawsnant |
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| Moel-ty-Uchaf |
