Wild Camping Weekend in the Moelwyns
April 2015

by John Hardwick

The Moelwynion are a mountain range extending from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Capel Curig. They have no 3000ft summits and so are not as popular as the higher massifs of Snowdonia. Nevertheless they are not without interest, Cnicht and Moel Siabod being the premier expeditions in the range.

Moreover, the legendary Afanc monster was dragged on a cart pulled by oxen from the Conway river via a pass through the Moelwyns to be dumped out of harm's way in Glasylyn below Snowdon. South of Cnicht, between it and Carnedd y Cribau, is a pass marked as "Bwlch Rhiw'r Y chen" (pass of the slope of the oxen) on the map. I had tried to lead a walk to this pass at the AGM a few years ago but the approach from the Conway Valley was so boggy that the walk was cut short by popular demand!

Therefore when a wild camping weekend in this area was advertised in the Newsletter I was keen to gain a better acquaintance with the region; not so other members, as I was the only persson to turn up!

Given full packs with tents, cooking equipment etc. we had no desire to do a long route, the main aim of the weekend being camping in this remote area. We headed up from the parking at Gellilago towards Moel Meirch that is south of Cribau. We chose the first campsite where the waters exit Llyn Edno at about 1800ft, located between Moel Meirch and Ysgafell further south. A little above the camp site we had a great view into Nantgwynant with the sun setting behind Yr Aran; it got very cold. In "An impression of Pen-y-pass, 1900-1920" G Winthrop Young reported a phenomenon, his text prècised here:

The sun was setting behind the four dark peaks of Snowdon; and suddenly, from sea to zenith, there rushed up the sky an even band of crimson light; it was the rare phenomenon of the "blood red sword", an omen of war in Caesar's Commentaries.

We were treated to a similar spectacle: more prosaically it is the red rays of the setting sun reflected by thousands of ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Not surprisingly we passed a cold night and it was a struggle to get up the following frosty morning to make a brew. After breakfast we made a rising traverse past the Dog Lakes (one of the most delightful walks in the range according to Poucher) and on to Llyn yr Adar (the lake of birds -well we spotted two Canada Geese and a black backed gull) and Cnicht. The latter is easily accessible from Creosor so the solitude we had the day before was gone. After traversing Cnicht we found an idyllic place to camp by Llyn yr Arddu allowing an easy walk out the next day.

Thanks to Peter Hinds for the idea and his eye for finding good camping spots.

Sun Piller above Yr Aran
Photo by John Hardwick

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