Whilst Jon and Sue headed south to bag one of Jon's few remaining Welsh Marilyns, I headed to Beddgelert for what I planned to be a short stroll up to the sub 400 metre summit of Moel y Dyniewyd.
The soft early morning sunlight was soon replaced by duller conditions as cloud swept in from the south west. But it didn't rain. I headed from a convenient lay-by past Sygun Copper Mine - closed, but its miniature waterwheel was whirring energetically - along a good path signed to Cwm Bychan.
Fires and an area of hillside that appeared to be a scene of devastation were explained by a National Trust sign: "We are working to clear the rhododendron ponticum that is taking over the hillside and killing the native plants."
Grib Ddu was soon reached, from which my targeted summit wasn't much more than a further kilometre, over fairly rough but not unpleasant ground. There are lots of paths hereabouts, very few of which are marked on my Harveys 1:40000 map. I seemed to bypass most of them, and my route also included some scrambling.
So it was a pleasure to reach the summit after an hour and a half, just beating the cloud that was billowing in. Today's photo was taken from that summit, looking in the Nantmor direction.
Time for elevenses in a sheltered spot that obviated the need to supplement my t-shirt and fleece with anything windproof.
I'd expected a quick descent, but I missed the path to Beddgelert and finished up traversing the ridge to Nantmor. An interesting route, with steep crags blocking any descent to the west, and with a final descent beside a high wall over precipitous ground, finally emerging on the Cym Bychan path that would have been a more sensible and much safer option. I reached that path with some relief, as the other elderly gents on the hill had disappeared, as had the search and rescue helicopter that had been monitoring my progress down the cliff.
A pleasant stroll from Aberglaslyn, beside Afon Glaslyn, with foamy water and autumn colours trying hard to be vibrant under the grey sky, saw me back in Beddgelert by 1.30 pm after this 11.5 km stroll with about 400 metres ascent, in a shade under 4 hours.
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