Wales

Carnedd Moel Siabod (Moel Siabod)

Character: A tough walk, knee and ankle grinding. Satisfaction is found the the excellent scambly ridge to the summit

Ascent: ~2500 feet

Time: 5 hours

Map: Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure 17, 1:25,000, Snowdonia. Try this link to the map on the Ordnance Survey web site for Moel Siabod

Transport: Used a car! Nearest town - Capel Curig

Sources: Terry Marsh, "The Mountains of Wales"

Accommodation: Pen-y-Pass or Capel Curig YHA's. I stayed at Pen-y-Pass where the very helpful warden gave great advice on the route to take.

I may be biased against Moel Siabod, as the day I climbed it was a grim damp early March day in 2007. There was no visibility above 1200 feet. And although the rain did not pelt, it was enough to keep the misery level at moderate, just where I like it. The video bears this out to some extent.

Moel Siabod from the North

I started the walk at the obvious place of Pont y Cyfyng, where a bridge crosses the fast flowing Afon Conwy, or River Conway to the English, just on the eastern side of Capel Curig. Only 50 yards past the bridge on the narrow road you should look to park. A surfaced track leads steeply uphill just west of south. This meanders a little, then takes a bypass where a landowner must have objected to walkers passing their home - lovely!

Moel Siabod at dusk

After this relatively steep section the tracks turns to stone, but is clearly still used by farm vehicles. The crux of the walk is at a large gate and style, roughly at GR: 724 563. This is where the circular walk branches. I chose to take the obvious larger track, the more southerly of the two. In fact the more northerly is quite difficult to see, but essentially peters out anyway very quickly as it heads directly up Siabod's NE ridge. A pleasant part of the walk ensues. around a largish tarn (un-named on my map) and on to the small tarn that has made its home in a disused quarry. And it looks pretty pleased with itself too - very nice! At this point you go through abandoned mine workings. The video shows some of these from above on the descent via the NE ridge.

From this point on I was pretty much in the clouds cum fog cum rain, with visibility down to 10 metres or so. You cross a large boggy area near the shores of the fetid looking Lyn y Foel, which briefly appeared out of the gloom. Thankfully you slowly make your way out of this dank hollow on to higher drier ground, and gain the foot of the ridge of Daear Ddu (not marked on 1:50:000 maps).

This is a highlight of the walk. Good scrambling on solid rock. Never difficult, and often with an easier and a more difficult option, to suit your inclination (pun intended).

The summit I cannot recall(!). There was nothing memorable. And the next 30 minutes or so of the walk are what blighted (if that's not too strong a term) the walk for me. For this duration, you hardly descend at all, but bypass on the northern side bouldery crag after bouldery crag. There is no solid ground at all for the best part of a kilometres, in which you struggle, particularly if it is wet, over person size boulder, trying to jump to the next without slipping or breaking your neck. I wish I had taken the warden's advice, and decided not to drive, but instead not to do a circular walk, and from he summit descend to the NW or even west, on much easier ground.

Eventually the rocks relented, and the clouds lifted occasionally. On a clear day, this ridge would probably look quite good on the descent. A bit like Twistin' Hill near Crianlarich, from memory. There are views to Capel Curig and the hills all around.

Eventually you reach the style where the paths separated and re-join the track down to Pont y Cyfyng.