statcounter

Sunday 18 October 2009

Cnicht and Moelwyn Mawr 13 October






















Walk four of my walk-every-third-day-in-Wales plan commenced just three days after the Blaenau hills walk on 13 October.
Today’s menu would start with the pyramidical Hewitt called Cnicht and be followed by the Hewitt/Marilyn Moelwyn Mawr and it’s satellite Moelwyn Bach.
This is, I have to report, another great classic Welsh hillwalk. If you go to Wales, you really ought to have a bash at this one.
We start at the hamlet of Creosor, an ex-quarrying village in Cwm Creosor, once concerned with the produiction of billard tables, apparently. Anyway, whatever, there’s a free car park and a café there now.
Arrows point the way to “Cnicht” and me and superdawg and two or three other parties were soon engrossed in the sheer pleasure of climbing up Cnicht’s south ridge.
This a narrow, rocky, spiky sort of affair, but never anywhere difficult or scary and almost gets to scrambling at one or two points, but doesn’t quite make it. If you climb this and you are scrambling, you’ve gone the wrong way.
The summit is an airy perch high above Cwm Creosor and the ridge continues Northwards in a bumpy kind of fashion. Two Nuttal-baggers (poor, demented souls) were busy bagging Cnicht North Top and I came across these two lads at various stages later in the day.
After the delights of Cnicht, we traversed a complex area of knolls and tarns, made a bit more complex by the fact that the path on the ground seems to be a bit South of the path on the map. Ultimately we get to start climbing the North ridge of Meolwyn Mawr, where we all bag the diminutive Nuttal, Moelwyn Mawr North Ridge Top (I think) A nice enough place, but it needs a better name…..
Me and Bruno continued to the top of Moelwyn mawr whilst the two Nuttal baggers baggerred off somewhere else. Moelwyn Mawr is another splendid high perch from which to survey a domain, if you have a domain to survey. Otherwise its quite a good place to eat chocolate.
Craigysyfarn was next – a smallish but veryu rocky bump a bit South and with a very steep descent to Bwlch Stwlan where there are ancient quarry traks and a circular shelter for the drinking of the last dregs of tepid coffee and a short snooze. The path avoids a direct approach to Moelwyn Bach’s crags by a little easterly and obvious path and soon pops out on to the wide summit.
We romped down the long Western ridge and then by road back to the start.
Another four Hewitts and a marilyn bagged (and, apparently, a Nuttal or two as well)
Fab walk in bright and at the same time, misty weather.
9 Miles and 3400 feet (that’s quite a lot of feet so far…!)

2 comments:

Martin Rye said...

Its a fine mountain and the views are good as well.

Mike Knipe said...

Special stuff this, Martin. It was a bit misty for me, so no big views - but I enjoyed the mood that the mist created.