Monday 10 June 2019

Mapping Mountains – Trimble Surveys – Elenydd


28.03.19  Cerrig Gwaun y Llan (SN 865 779), Cistfaen (SN 867 775) and Llechwedd y Cloddiau (SN 853 786)

Cerrig Gwaun y Llan (SN 865 779)

In June 2008 I tramped through copious amounts of rough tussock grass approaching from the south to visit the 535m map heighted summit of Cistfaen (SN 864 771) and retraced my steps happy in the knowledge that I’d bagged another 500m P15.  However, summit locations are prone to change and a few years later when the Ordnance Survey Vector Map Local appeared on the Geograph website, the connecting forested summit towards the north-east was given a 536m spot height.  Therefore, I wanted to visit the new summit and if conifers permitted gather Trimble data from its high point.

The weather forecast was set fine for the day with light breeze, blue sky and increasing warmth and I was parked beside a cattle grid at the top of the dead end road at the base of a track leading to the mast atop Llechwedd y Cloddiau and ready to head in to more tussocks by 8.15am.  I’d been this way before in April 2000 and March 2009 and remembered it being rough underfoot with a semblance of a sheep track / narrow path easing passage toward the summit of Cerrig Gwaun y Llan, and I wanted to take advantage of this before the summer months when the rough grass of the Elenydd can hide any semblance of path and make walking particularly difficult.

From where I parked two fences lead down in to the land of tussocks, I followed one and soon made my way to the connecting bwlch of my first hill of the day; Cerrig Gwaun y Llan.  Considering the open nature of this land and the underfoot conditions it was not too difficult to pinpoint the area for this hill’s critical bwlch and the Trimble was soon atop my rucksack gathering its customary five minutes of data.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Cerrig Gwaun y Llan

As I stood at the bwlch the only sound that pervaded this land was that of Sky Larks, with soothing incessant song they accompanied me for large stretches of the walk; and proved a welcome backdrop to the wild land of the Elenydd.

A path of sorts headed up from this bwlch and I started on it and soon lost any semblance of its continuing direction and slowly stumbled the remainder of the way on to the broad tussock and heather bound summit ridge of Cerrig Gwaun y Llan and veered right to walk toward its high point on the southern periphery of its summit plateau.

Gentle blue sky shone from above as the Trimble gathered its customary summit data set, as I stood back waiting for the 300 individual datum points to be stored I wondered what the tussock grasslands would be like for the continuation of the walk toward the forest ride that would give access toward the summit of the 536m map heighted hill.

Gathering data at the summit of Cerrig Gwaun y Llan

The walk down to the next connecting bwlch positioned close to the forest ride was broken by a number of large rocks strewn on the moor; a welcome addition for the eye compared to an otherwise bleak but wonderful scene of open moor and quietness.

The forested summit of Cistfaen from the approach to its bwlch

The position of this critical bwlch proved relatively easy to pinpoint and again the Trimble was soon set-up gathering data.  Ahead of me I could see the start of the forest break that led up toward the summit of the hill I wanted to visit and after the Trimble was closed down and packed away I headed toward it.

Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Cistfaen

The forest break proved relatively wide compared to many that I’ve ventured on to over the years and formed a cross roads higher on the summit ridge.  With the bisecting break from the south-west connecting to the lower 535m map heighted summit of Cistfaen, whilst this same forest ride continued to my left toward the higher map heighted summit.

The forest break leading to the summit of Cistfaen

The way up on the left and the summit on the right

Once at the summit I waited an inordinate amount of time for the Trimble to slowly ebb down toward its 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged and stood silent in shade where nothing stirred with a canopy of blue sky and succulent greens of conifers above.  Every five minutes or so I would dash toward the Trimble to check on its downward progress and walk away knowing that my wait would be a long one, eventually I activated the equipment and waited patiently for it to gather and store data.

Gathering data at the summit of Cistfaen

I now had to retrace my inward route, down through the forest break and across the bwlch, up past the rocks and over the summit of Cerrig Gwaun y Llan and down through the tussocks and heather to its connecting bwlch.  During this my mind wandered and trance like I made steady progress, enjoying the wild land whilst listening to the accompaniment of those ever present Sky Larks.

My original plan was to include a visit and survey of Cefn (SN 851 772) which connects with these hills, but I also wanted to head toward the north-eastern Pumlumon range and re-survey Y Grug (SN 840 934) for Uchaf status, and with a visit to the trig pillar and ancient cairn on Llechwedd y Cloddiau which was positioned above where my car was parked, I decided the survey of Cefn could wait for another day and headed up following the inward fence to the minor road and forest track that leads toward the mast positioned close to the high point of Llechwedd y Cloddiau.

Entering the forest on the track I was met by the gentle scent of pine needles and instantly transported back to a walk through pine forests on Cyprus where piecing blue sky radiated from above.  The forest track soon led me to the mast and a muddied and wet forest break then led onward toward the ancient cairn and trig pillar which constitutes the summit of Llechwedd y Cloddiau.

The trig pillar is positioned in the centre of an ancient cairn which has been re-made to form a wind shelter, although nowadays the forest canopy will give protection from the incoming wind.  The land beside the ancient cairn is now vegetated and on its north-eastern side almost reached the highest rocks of the cairn and as this was solid I decided to place the Trimble here considering it now a part of the hill.

Gathering data at the summit of Llechwedd y Cloddiau

As data were gathered I stood beside the conifers and waited and looked at the moss on trees, the many hued greens and the morning light, it was a quiet scene and one that I appreciated.

All that remained was to retrace my steps back toward the mast and the forest track leading downhill to my awaiting car.  I now wanted to head toward Y Grug for a series of summit and bwlch surveys that I hoped would determine the hill’s status.    

 

Survey Result:


Cerrig Gwaun y Llan

Summit Height:  538.1m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 86560 77993

Bwlch Height:  484.5m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 85778 78270

Drop:  53.6m

Dominance:  9.96%





Cistfaen

Summit Height:  535.1m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 86787 77515 (summit relocation retained)

Bwlch Height:  512.9m (converted to OSGM15)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 86609 77748

Drop:  22.3m

Dominance:  4.16%





Llechwedd y Cloddiau

Summit Height:  559.7m (converted to OSGM15)

Summit Grid Reference:  SN 85382 78688

Bwlch Height:  518m (SH)

Bwlch Grid Reference:  SN 85314 79750 (SH)

Drop:  42m

Dominance:  7.45%








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