01.04.18 Graig Goch (SH 714 084), Tarren Cadian (SH
729 072), Tap Llwyd (SH 719 065), Tarren y Gesail (SH 710 058) and Graig Wen
(SH 694 068)
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| Graig Goch (SH 714 084) |
The hills of the
Tarennydd are like forgotten beasts nestled as they do against their higher and
more dramatic neighbour of Cadair Idris.
Their slopes and ridges have been ravaged by man, with many now swamped
in regimented conifer plantations and higher cymoedd dug deep with old mine
workings. However, they do have a
peaceful charm, one where few people tread.
The circuit of Glyn Iago
was suggested by Aled, who I met in Abergynolwyn at 8.30am on Easter Sunday,
with the previous day damp and grey and the next forecast for heavy, persistent
rain, we had chosen wisely as an early morning chill pervaded the land with
edges of blue sky and a forecast of dry overhead conditions.
Having left one car in
Abergynolwyn we drove toward the farm of Rugog and left the other in a large
lay-by on the A 487. This enabled an
ascent of Graig Goch via its north-eastern slopes on a gauged out track that
meanders its way up the hill from the aforementioned farm. On our way we called at the farm to make
place-name enquiries and were met by a number of barking dogs and one of the
two occupants appearing in her dressing gown, after a cordial chat and
permission to use the track we set off uphill.
As height was gained the
bulk of Cadair Idris with its snow-capped slopes bulged in to view, a dramatic
scene dominating the western view, ahead lay the upper reaches of Cwm Dylluan
and the large conifer plantation that takes in much of the lower slopes of
these hills, however much of the upper section of trees had been felled which
would help in connecting Graig Goch with Tarren y Gesail and hopefully with a
number of surveys that were planned for the day ahead.
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| Cadair Idris |
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| The felled forestry leading from Graig Goch to Tarren Cadian |
The track petered out
near the summit of Graig Goch with a narrow path leading toward the hill’s high
point, as I set the Trimble up Aled headed off to investigate the western
slopes which plunged down in a dizzying way to the watered calm of Tal y Llyn
below.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Graig Goch |
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| Dizzying views down to Tal y Llyn |
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| Cadair Idris and Tal y Llyn |
Leaving the summit we
back-tracked toward the end of the track before venturing in to the felled
forestry which quickly brought us down to the connecting bwlch which consisted
of a T-junction forest track, and once five minutes of data were collected with
the Trimble we headed up a zig-zagging bulldozed narrowing track that led up
toward the connecting north-easterly ridge of Tarren y Gesail where two hills
were positioned that were going to be Trimbled.
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| At the bwlch of Graig Goch |
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| The felled forestry beyond the end of the narrow bulldozed track |
The going on the ridge
consisted of moorland tussocks with a slight path of sorts leading beside the
ridge fence toward the high point of Tarren Cadian, a 597m map heighted hill
whose summit peered out on more conifer plantation to the south-east.
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| On the ridge leading to Tarren Cadian |
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| Aled heading for the summit of Tarren Cadian |
Two tussocked hummocks
vied for the high point of the hill, we used an improvised method of levelling
to determine the higher and once the Trimble had gathered its allotted data we
set off on the continuation of the ridge down toward the connecting bwlch which
we judged to be positioned amongst the conifers, this was Trimbled before we
excavated ourselves from the trees and headed up toward Tap Llwyd.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Tarren Cadian |
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| Not the best place for a survey |
This next hill is given
15m of drop on the Ordnance Survey Interactive Coverage Map hosted on the
Geograph website, and with a summit over 500m in height, it should, according
to these figures qualify for Uchaf status.
However, I surveyed this hill in September 2005 as having 44ft 6˝ /
13.6m of drop, on that day I could only survey the high point of the hill that
remained out of the conifer plantation and with no knowledge of the spot
heights that would later appear on the Geograph map I was satisfied that this
hill was not an Uchaf. But today we
found the forestry felled which gave the opportunity to survey two points for
the summit and two for the bwlch position.
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| Gathering data at the high point outside of the felled forestry |
The first potential
summit point to be surveyed was beside the ridge fence, the second was amongst
the debris of felled trees, on ground laid waste by the blight of conifers. These were followed by the bwlch with two
points surveyed to ground at the base of the ridge fence. Happy with our efforts we plodded on.
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| Following the ridge fence toward the high point in the felled forestry with Tarren y Gesail in the bcakground |
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| Gathering data at the summit of Tap Llwyd |
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| Gathering data at one of two positions surveyed for the bwlch position of Tap Llwyd |
The next part of the
walk consisted of putting your head down and plodding uphill and in the process
gaining about 110m of height toward the connecting fence to the trig pillar
atop Tarren y Gesail. As Aled munched on
a sandwich beside the small wind shelter next to the trig I set the Trimble to
gather data amongst a sea of tussocks, any of which could have laid claim to
being the summit. Aled then investigated
the high land of tussocks and suggested a second data set was taken nearer the
trig, once this was done we headed down toward a forest break that led to a
forest track which headed toward our last hill of the day; Graig Wen.
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| Looking back toward Tap Llwyd and Tarren Cadian |
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| Pick your tussock - gathering data at the summit of Tarren y Gesail |
The forest track
conveniently passed over this hill’s connecting bwlch which was Trimbled and
then followed a slow plod uphill leading to the summit of Graig Wen.
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| Gathering data at the critical bwlch of Graig Wen |
By now the wind had
increased in strength and the cloud had caused a milky sun which heralded the
incoming weather front that would soak the land the following day, thankfully
we remained dry for the nine hours that we were on the hill.
The summit of Graig Wen
consists of an attractive rocky knoll and as the Trimble gathered data I sat
with Aled trying to shelter from the chilled wind. Once data were stored and the Trimbke closed
down and packed away we headed down toward the high dead end paved road leading
to the old Bryn Eglwys Quarry.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Graig Wen |
The paved road is steep
in places but gave a relatively quick descent to the awaiting car parked in
Abergynolwyn. It had been another good
day on the hill with five hills surveyed and a new Pedwar in Graig Wen bagged,
and with new land covered connecting Graig Wen with Tarren y Gesail.
Survey Result:
Graig Goch
Summit Height: 585.6m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 71479 08459
Bwlch Height: 455.9m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 72601 08269
Drop: 129.7m
Dominance: 22.14%
Tarren Cadian
Summit Height: 598.1m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 72947 07296
Bwlch Height: 529.4m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 72369 06752
Drop: 68.7m
Dominance: 11.48%
Tap Llwyd
Summit Height: 565.7m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 71990 06571
Bwlch Height: 550.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 71857 06414
Dominance: 2.70%
Remoteness: 2.875km (Pellennig addition confirmed)
Tarren y Gesail
Summit Height: 666.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 71031 05890
Bwlch Height: 201.2m (LIDAR)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 73733 09375 (LIDAR)
Drop: 465.3m (Trimble summit and LIDAR bwlch)
Dominance: 69.81%
Summit Height: 454.1m (converted to OSGM15)
Summit Grid Reference: SH 69405 06806
Bwlch Height: 367.5m (converted to OSGM15)
Bwlch Grid Reference: SH 69874 06631
Drop: 86.7m
Dominance: 19.08%
