22.02.19 & 28.03.19
Graig Fach (SN 821 930) and Y Grug (SN 840 934)
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| Y Grug (SN 840 934) |
The last time I headed
in to the northern Pumlumon range on the track past the waters of Glaslyn was
in May 2016 when clear blue skies met me; today was very similar with a gentle
clarity to the beckoning blue sky and the outline of distant hills on the
horizon.
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| The track to the hills |
I wanted to re-survey
two hills; Graig Fach and Y Grug, as both are marginal to the P15 qualifying
drop criterion for the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list, and since my last
visit Aled has analysed Y Grug via LIDAR.
Therefore I had a multitude of ten figure grid references for both
hills. But as with most hill walks, the
surveying seemed periphery to just being out in such a stunning place. The hills of the northern Pumlumon are the
gems of this range and especially those gathered round the northern valleys,
which dramatically sweep downward to the valley below.
As I walked past Glaslyn
I stood for a few moments taking in the scene with Cadair Idris away to the
north and Foel Fadian rising in yellow tinged colour accentuated by the morning
light.
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| Glaslyn and Foel Fadian |
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| Foel Fadian |
The track led toward the
northern moorland ridge of Banc Bugeilyn and nestled just beyond on the
opposite side is Graig Fach. I’d visited
this hill twice before, and each time I had surveyed it, once with my old basic
levelling staff and on the second visit with the Trimble. I now wanted to check on its summit position
and take a series of surveys mainly on the summit area, but if time permitted also
at its bwlch.
Graig Fach is a rough
hill consisting of moorland grass and heather, although a sheep track does
exist which heads toward its upper section and eases passage toward its
summit. I spent over an hour on this
hill taking three data sets on its summit area and two at its bwlch. During this time a thankful cooling breeze
meandered across the land as during the walk in I wondered if I was going to
overheat in the unseasonably warm February weather.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Graig Fach |
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| The Trimble set-up position at the summit of Graig Fach |
Once all required data
sets were complete I re-joined the track and reversed my inward route to where
a greened track headed south-east toward the Nant Goch and Afon Clyweog. I often find it hard to use words that give
justice to the hills and the unencumbered open space they offer, and when on
this greened track life seemed so simple with uncomplicated thought, just the
here and now with periphery detail seemingly gone. This to me is one of the great joys of being out
amongst the hills.
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| The green track leading toward Y Grug |
The track led to a large
barn and gravelled path leading down to a sturdy footbridge crossing the Nant
Goch. The path continued up on the
opposite side of the stream contouring toward a fence beside which I sat on the
hillside and luxuriated myself in the unseasonal warmth, letting my mind wander
and empty.
A sheep path led up
close to the fence toward the summit of Y Grug which consists of small clumps
of moorland grassed tussocks. I took two
data sets from the area of this hill’s summit before venturing down to its
grassed connecting bwlch.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Y Grug |
As the Trimble gathered
the last of its eight data sets of the day I stood and enjoyed the scene as the
slight breeze wandered across the ridge and the sun cast beautiful early spring
colour. It was good to be out.
Postscript:
As the surveyed drop for
Y Grug came to 14.98m which is only 2cm below Uchaf qualification, I wanted to
re-visit the hill and take further data sets from its summit and bwlch, and
ideally do this on a day that was relatively warm with little breeze. The opportunity to do so came five weeks
later on the 28th March and following the hill’s broad grassy
northern ridge I headed toward its summit.
I’d come prepared as I had done before, with ten figure grid references
for both summit and bwlch which were produced by Aled’s LIDAR analysis.
This was the fourth time
I’d been to this hill and every visit I’d surveyed it!
The Trimble was soon
positioned atop my rucksack and the measurement offset between its internal
antenna and the ground below noted and away it went quietly beeping as
individual datum points were gathered and stored.
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| The last of the five data sets taken on the summit area of Y Grug during the survey conducted on the 28.03.19 |
I’d brought small flags
to note each survey position and spent about 50 minutes at the summit taking
another five data sets to add to the two from my previous visit.
Happy with my summit
endeavours I sauntered down to its connecting bwlch and placed a small flag
where my eye initially positioned the critical bwlch and another flag where the
ten figure grid reference produced by LIDAR places the critical bwlch, between
these positions I placed another two flags, each four metres apart and spent
the next 40 minutes contentedly waiting for data to be gathered and stored from
these four positions.
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| The last of the four data sets taken on the bwlch area of Y Grug during the survey conducted on the 28.03.19 |
All that remained was
the walk back along the northern ridge to my car and the task of processing the
nine data sets just gathered.
Survey Result:
Graig Fach
Summit Height: 513.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 82117 93069
Bwlch Height: 498.8m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 82314 93321
Drop: 14.7m (500m Sub-Uchaf status confirmed)
Dominance: 2.86%
Y Grug
Summit Height: 519.4m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 84068 93472
Bwlch Height: 504.3m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 83978 93757
Drop: 15.0m (Uchaf status retained)
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