22.09.21 Garth Ganol (SH
626 394)
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| LIDAR image of Garth Ganol (SH 626 394) |
Garth Ganol was the last
of three hills we visited during the day.
Each were wooded, with the first; Bryn y Gwynt (SH 599 499) and this last
hill being relatively easy walks compared to the brambled domain of the second
hill; Cefn Coch (SH 610 396).
These three hills proved
an ideal way to salvage the day as the weather in the morning was particularly
unwelcome, with low cloud and wet conditions in this part of Wales, which meant
that our planned outing to Moel y Dyniewyd (SH 612 477) and it adjacent hills
was shelved for a more favourable day.
Garth Ganol forms a part
of a small peninsula overlooking the Afon Dwyryd close to where it deposits its
contents in to the sea. Aled had
previously approached this hill from the south-west and visited an intermediary
top. This approach was recommended but
it would also give us a longer route through probable unsavoury
undergrowth. Therefore, we opted for the
easy approach and drove up an unmarked paved road to just below the summit to its
north.
Before starting up the
hill I asked permission at a house beside the road named Bryn Dwyryd, whether
we could park the car beside a large barn a 100 or so metres from the house, with
permission granted we eventually opted to park close to a gate which was off
the paved section of road.
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| Heading up through the wooded northerly slopes of the hill |
The gate gave access in
to woodland that forms a large part of this hill. Above us were bee hives which we not
surprisingly purposely avoided. Once
through the first gate, a dirt track led to another solid gate and from here I
followed Aled as he weaved a way upward through the mature woodland to emerge
out of the trees near the summit of the hill.
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| Bracken, gorse and heather and the added bonus of a barb wired fence |
We were now standing on
a small intermediary top with the summit of the hill on the other side of a
barb wired fence, between us and it was a good scattering of gorse. Although prickly if wearing shorts; as I was,
gorse is not problematic unless thick and high.
Thankfully the gorse we encountered on this hill was neither and we were
soon on what looked to be the summit.
However, ground to our south-west needed investigating and I again
followed Aled as he headed that way.
Once there we deemed it higher.
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| Gathering data at the summit area of Garth Ganol |
There were a number of points
that vied for summit position, all a few metres apart and all of similar
height, we chose the one we thought the highest and soon the Trimble was set up
gathering data. When back home I analysed
this hill with LIDAR and this gives the Trimble set-up position approximately
eight metres from the summit and as the height produced by LIDAR is 0.25m
higher than the height produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey, it is the LIDAR
data that is being used for listing purposes.
In our defence the summit identified by LIDAR looks to be positioned in
a large outcrop of heather and gorse, with the natural ground below being
extremely hard to distinguish in height compared to its near surrounds.
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| Looking out toward the rough surrounds of the northern Rhinogydd and the Afon Dwyryd |
We of course, were
oblivious to the LIDAR summit position, but it is always good to get a
comparison against data produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000. During data collection I stood and admired
the view south-eastward across to the rough slopes forming a part of the
northern Rhinogydd and eastward down the near estuary of the Afon Dwyryd. It felt good to be on an open summit after
the confines of the two previously visited wooded hills.
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| Heading down with the higher cloud enshrouded Moelwynion in the background |
Once data were gathered
and stored we reversed our inward route, back to and then over the barb wired
fence and down through the wood to the awaiting car. It had been another excellent day with three
hills visited, in good company with good conversation, a meal sitting outside a
café in Llanfrothen, and a panad or two along the way!
Survey Result:
Garth Ganol (significant name change)
Summit Height: 75.6m (LIDAR)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 62600 39430 (LIDAR)
Bwlch Height: 27.7m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 62671 40069 (LIDAR)
Drop: 47.8m (LIDAR)
Dominance: 63.30% (LIDAR)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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