25.02.22 Mynydd Nodol
(SH 865 393)
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| Mynydd Nodol (SH 865 393) |
Having visited and
surveyed Moel Heulog (SH 987 353) I wanted a relatively easy hill to visit
before continuing my way toward Nantlle for the weekend with my brother, and
Mynydd Nodol ticked all boxes, especially as it is over 500m and qualifies for
Dewey status and I had only visited its heathery domain once before, in April
2000 when I remained on its summit for 10-15 minutes admiring the extensive view.
Time between ascents,
and especially ones encompassing 22 years have a tendency to create paths on
hills where few previously existed.
These intervening years have also created online logs giving detail of
various routes to the summit of this particular hill. My previous route followed a fence line and I
found going on its north easier than beside it on its south, picking up a
narrow animal track that took me toward the upper section of the hill. However, I remember the going was rough in
places. One online log mentioned a path
to the south of this fence and as a convenient parking spot close to the start
of a track gave access to this fence, this was my chosen route of ascent for
the day.
Leaving my car I joined
the track heading directly northward across the western flank of Mynydd Nodol. The sun cast colour across the land with
shadowed patches accentuating the darkened heather, of which there was plenty.
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| Mynydd Nodol from the track leading to the disused tip |
The track led past a
disused tip and proceeded to lose a little height before connecting with the
fence line that then strode confidently upward toward the summit. I left the track at its high point having
spotted what I thought a sheep track through the heather, this meandered uphill
as a path, always on the south of the fence which was about 20-30 metres away. The path gave relatively easy progress uphill
and only petered out toward the top.
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| Arenig Fach and Llyn Celyn |
As I headed up I could
see an aerial positioned on the summit and suspected it had been set up by a
SOTA enthusiast, as I neared the point where the fence joins the summit ridge the
person who had set it up was heading my way, we stopped and chatted for ten
minutes or so. He had already been to
the top of Arenig Fach earlier in the day and wanted to visit the summit of
Carnedd y Filiast before nightfall, my humble two little hill surveying day
felt inadequate by comparison!
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| Arenig Fawr |
I watched him start to
descend toward the path I had used on my ascent before I headed across to the
ridge path and the large cairn that marks the summit of this hill. It felt good to be back, but with a gap of 22
years since my only visit I suspect it will be the last time I venture to this
particular hill. Over the intervening
years I had passed Mynydd Nodol an inordinate amount of times travelling west
and heading back east on the A4212 road beside Llyn Celyn. When visibility permitted I would always have
a quick glance toward the top of Mynydd Nodol and wonder when my next visit
would be. One hill after another always,
until today, got in the way, as they are prone to do.
The 22 year wait for my
second visit did not disappoint as the view from the summit was as I
remembered; extensive, and although on my previous visit I had spent a number
of minutes looking out toward the many hills that are on view, my priority
today was to establish the high point of the hill and survey it. LIDAR gives two options for the summit, both
close to one another, with a further point nearer the fence only just lower. With reports of Abney level surveys on the
Hill Bagging website giving a rock beside the large summit cairn as 20cm higher
than the point beside the fence. I
assessed the lay of land from a number of directions and came to the same
conclusion that the rock beside the cairn was the highest point of the hill.
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| LIDAR image of Mynydd Nodol (SH 865 393) |
As a brisk breeze blew
across the upper part of the hill I secured my rucksack in place with two
substantial rocks, one on either side, before placing the Trimble on top
aligned with the high point of the rock below, before noting the measurement
offset between its internal antenna and the rock at its base. It only took a couple of minutes for the
equipment to attain the 0.1m accuracy level before data should be logged and it
was soon then activated to gather data.
During data collection I
stood behind the large cairn out of view of the equipment and let it gather its
customary five minutes of data. Once
data were gathered and stored I closed the equipment down, took a few
photographs and packed it away.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Mynydd Nodol |
Leaving the summit I
looked back to it as I re-joined the ridge path, after all this would probably
be my last visit to this hill. This
feeling of finality has only just entered my conscience; it is due to age and
the realisation of time between ascents, it is also the realisation of however
many hills there are in Wales, there are always new ones to prioritise and visit.
I met and chatted with a
couple on my way down, the man originated from Aberystwyth and the woman from
Cardiff. They had lived in Y Bala for
eight years, so Mynydd Nodol is one of their local hills. They were on the initial part of the path as
it leaves the track. I waved my goodbyes
after ten minutes or so and made my way down to the track, as I did so I peered
up and the blue sky from earlier in the day had now been replaced with high cloud
giving a late afternoon feel to proceedings.
Survey Result:
Mynydd Nodol
Summit Height: 540.0m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH
6000) (significant height revision) (Deweys significant height revision)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 86514 39339 (Trimble GeoXH 6000)
Bwlch Height: 370.8m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 85660 39014 (LIDAR)
Drop: 169.2m (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
Dominance: 31.34% (Trimble GeoXH 6000 summit and LIDAR
bwlch)
For further details please consult the Trimble Survey Spreadsheet
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