Arenig Fawr Circuit - Part of Nuttall Walk 6.1Route:One mile west of Arenig Village on the minor road off the A4212- Arenig Fawr (178) (191)- Arenig Fawr South Top (192)- Arenig Fawr South Ridge Top (193)- Moel Llyfnant (179) (194)- One mile west of Arenig Village on the minor road off the A4212 Distance:~9 miles Ascent:~2,820ft (860m) Time:3 hours 10 minutes (9:40am-12:50pm) With:Alone Conditions:Poor visibility, cloudy, misty, breezy, but mild. After weeks of good weather, a walk in conditions that were navigationally challenging!
Arenig Fawr Circuit.
The Nuttals state 'in another half a mile a wall and electric fence meet the track at a gate. Naivgation is easy as this fence is followed on its left-hand side all the way up the north-west ridge to the summit.' Good in theory but in practise it proved to be a challenge! At about 590m the route becomes pathless and on the approach of a big boulder I didn't heed the advice and lost the wall, I veered slightly too far left. This resulted in scrambling up the 'area of shattered rocks on the left'.
Memorial plaque to the eight-man crew of a Flying Fortress who were killed when it crashed on the 4th August 1943
Arenig Fawr Summit Trig Due to the conditions did not see the point in taking any pictures of the South Top or South Ridge Top....
Moel Llyfnant Summit
Moel Llyfnant Summit, again, just highlighting the conditions. I meant to decend the nose of Moel Llyfnant trying to keep near the SH 81000 grid line however went too far left then over corrected to far right and nearly ended in the swamp at SH 81700 35400. Decided to trust the GPS and just headed back to the previously recorded track taken for the ascent. Really should have taken a compass bearing or created a waypoint as a target for the GPS to aim at?
This area used to be highly industrial - this is a small quarry that I passed near the start of the walk.
Path of the old Railway line, now providing good grass for the sheep |
