Here we are on our last day and potentially the hardest. I had walked in the Rhinogydd quite some years ago when the bigger hills of Rhinog Fawr, Rhinog Fach and Y Llethr were tackled. My memory was of hard going – I soon found there had been no change.
Today we were heading towards Moel Ysgyfarnogod and the northern Diffwys.
Route I must add that this is not accurate once we hit the heavily shaded area!
We parked the car in a small quarry scraping east of Cefn Clawdd, the only occupied holding in this area, and then took the path leading to Wern Fach.
I say path, more like a small river. The whole area is one huge bog with lots squelching and the occasional swear word when your foothold sinks beyond the top of your gaiter. There is one signpost directing you to Cwm Bychan and the path roughly follows a wall.
As the land rose the bog became less and a coffee break was well deserved.
Our way up to the tops was via Bwlch Gwylim, a steep pull through snow.
Once at the bwlch the views opened up over to the estuary and Portmerion ( remember the series “The Prisoner?”). A lunch spot was found overlooking Llyn Corn Ystwc.
From here the route map should be taken with a pinch of salt. We were roughly heading for the ground below Moel Ysgyfarnogod and Diffwys. There was a lot of up and down, the latter involving some scrambling, not the place to be caught out in the mist – with hindsight good fun.
Having had enough “fun” we headed down to the wall and as planned found the track which led us back to Cefn Clawdd and the car.
If you want the wilderness field, this the place to come.
The end of an enjoyable week.
bobsoutdoors 