09.09.23 Pt. 505.8m (SN 785 598) and Esgair Hirnant (SN 792 594)
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| Esgair Hirnant (SN 792 594) |
It was back to the Tywi
Forest today, to visit Esgair Hirnant and an adjacent Welsh Highland Sub, the
higher prominence hill is one of four remaining for my completion of the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list;
however I also have to re-visit Mynydd Trawsnant as LIDAR has relocated its
summit, so although there are four hills remaining, there are five walks for a
completion!
Over recent months the
expanse of the Tywi Forest has been interesting to explore. I did a big circular walk around many of its
500m P15s in 2009 when one forest break led to another and miraculously
progress was made from hill to hill.
Since then the remaining hills have been visited as single forays which
have given days of relative relaxation with only an occasional summit where
wind-blown trees resulted in producing an obstacle course.
When the list that is
now known as the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion
Cymru was first compiled there were a number of hills that I examined on
the map that did not overexcite. These
were mainly bog-bound or covered in conifer plantation. Three hills stood out, and all could be
combined, if feeling adventurous. These
are Esgair Gerwyn (SN 788 586), Esgair Hirnant (SN 792 594) and Esgair Saeson
(SN 795 603). The latter will soon be
officially deleted from the Welsh
Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list as its 500m map height comes to 498.4m
after LIDAR analysis. Therefore, this
just left just two of these hills. Along
with Aled I visited Esgair Gerwyn in July of this year when we drove up a
forest track and parked close to its summit.
We now planned to use the same forest track and drive beyond Esgair
Gerwyn and park close to a forest ride to the west of Esgair Hirnant. This would allow relatively easy access to
its summit, as long as there were no wind-blown trees scattered across the
forest breaks and its high point.
Between our planned parking place and the summit of Esgair Hirnant was a
Welsh Highland Sub that Aled wanted to visit.
These two hills would be my objective for the day, however Aled wanted
to visit a further five hills, three being classed as Deweys and another two as
Welsh Highland Subs, and if possible to ease the going for Aled I would drive
between each. We needed good weather to
do this and for the barrier at the entrance to the forest track to be open, and
with a forecast for dry and warm conditions it was an ideal day to visit.
I was driving on the
mountain road through Cwm Tywi before 8.30am, having picked Aled up in Caersŵs. This road is a delight to drive on and in its
full length is one of the wildest in Wales.
We were soon approaching the start of the forest track which would lead
toward our chosen hills and thankfully the barrier was open giving us access up
in to the forest. We soon passed were we
had parked for Esgair Gerwyn and continued heading westward, stopping once to
take photos of our hill in the morning sunlight.
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| On the forest tracks in the Tywi Forest |
The track then lost
height, crossed a stream and headed northward, gaining height as it did
so. From this direction there are two
forest breaks that head east toward the summit of Esgair Hirnant, we parked
close to the northly of these, but on Aled’s recommendation from aerial images
we walked back down the forest track to the southerly of the two forest breaks.
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| Entering the forest |
We entered the forest on what proved an extremely good and wide forest ride. Underfoot conditions were generally good, with the forest ride having copious amounts of summer Elenydd grass in evidence. This can be torturous on the hill as it is tough and in the summer months can be so thick that any sheep path is soon smothered from view. As occasional boggy patch showed itself through the grass, but in general the going proved relatively easy.
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| Heading toward the summit of the Welsh Highland Sub |
As we walked eastward
the first sub of the day was to our left, and therefore we soon left the
comfort of the forest ride and headed in to the trees. Thankfully at the moment these are mature and
therefore gave easy access through them.
Nearing the summit of the sub a few wind-blown trees barred direct
progress but we were soon standing on the summit area and with the aid of the Trimble
used as a hand-held GPS we zeroed in to the LIDAR co-ordinates Aled had
produced. A few summit photos were taken
before we headed back down through the trees toward the forest break.
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| At the summit of the sub |
Heading further eastward
we soon came upon a crossroads where a 487m spot height appears on the
contemporary Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map. From here the summit of Esgair Hirnant can be
approached on forest breaks from its north or south. The southerly approach is slightly shorter
with a little height lost toward its end when another forest break heads for
the summit, the northerly approach contours the land without losing height and
is slightly longer, we opted for the southerly approach.
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| The cross roads of forest breaks where the 487m spot height appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map |
By now the conditions in
the forest were starting to become humid, thankfully we were rarely in direct
sunlight, with the shade at least giving some comfort from what was an
increasingly warm day ahead. We soon
passed another crossroads of forest breaks, if turning left this would connect
up with the break on the northerly side of the summit. Continuing we soon came to the forest break
on our left that would take us to the high point of Esgair Hirnant. Considering how horrendous this approach
could have been, it thankfully proved relatively easy.
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| Approaching the summit of Esgair Hirnant |
The forest break took us
up to the high point of Esgair Hirnant where with the aid of the Trimble we
zeroed in to the LIDAR co-ordinates for the summit. We remained on top for a few minutes, taking
photos and in my case; regaining my breath.
The tree branches were festooned in mosses, all hanging forlornly in the
shade with blue sky piercing the canopy above.
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| At the summit of Esgair Hirnant |
As we reversed our
inward route I followed Aled as he kept parallel to the break but inside the
forest. This at least shielded us from
the sunlight which was now illuminating patches of the forest ride.
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| Heading back out of the forest |
Emerging out of the
trees it was only a slow plod back up the forest track to where the car was
parked. For me my days’ walking was
over, but for Aled he still wanted to visit five more hills. This necessitated driving between each hill
and dropping Aled off and watching him disappear in to the trees, emerging
again with one or two horror stories of thick undergrowth and almost
impenetrable summits.
The last hill Aled
wanted to visit was Cefn y Cnwc (SN 773 588), we hoped to park immediately
under it to its west and then continue down the track and exit close to where a
red kiosk used to stand and back on to the paved minor road. However, as we approached on the track to
where a cattle grid and mast are positioned a locked barrier across the forest
track barred further progress. We
debated various options until Aled said he’d walk to the hill from here, this
meant losing height on the track to avoid a particularly gruesome looking bog,
and for the inward route to be reversed after visiting its summit, regaining
height on the track as he did so.
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| The locked barrier that halted the continued drive on the forest tracks |
As Aled headed off for
his last hill of the day I turned the car around, opened the doors to let in fresh
air and walked beyond the barrier around the corner of the track to take photos
of the hill and watch Aled walk up it. I
then headed back to the car and sat on my camping chair in the afternoon sun
reading, until Aled appeared having visited the hill. He’d done well today as one or two summits
were tough.
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| Cefn y Cnwc (SN 773 588) |
All that remained was
the drive out on the track back down to our entrance point where the barrier
was thankfully still open. Just three
Welsh Highland P15s to visit.
Survey Result:
Pt.
505.8m
Summit Height: 505.8m (LIDAR) (significant height revision)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 78575 59899 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 492.4m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 78513 60070 (LIDAR)
Drop: 13.5m (LIDAR) (Welsh Highland Sub addition)
Dominance: 2.66% (LIDAR)
Esgair
Hirnant
Summit Height: 505.1m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SN 79200 59463 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 487.3m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SN 78820 59802 (LIDAR)
Drop: 17.7m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 3.51% (LIDAR)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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