Berwyns – Oct 2018

Saturday 13th October

To describe the weather as truly awful would be an understatement, the western parts of the UK were being thrashed by Storm Callum, the worst reported storms to hit the UK with gale force winds and heavy rain…..

I decided to stay low and local today, the thought to attempt one of the nearby Berwyn mountains didn’t even cross my mind, a thought that was shared by the majority of the group! Staying in an equestrian centre there was a network of bridle paths that we could link up to create a decent circular route that would enable us to stretch our legs. After a short map study, a route was identified providing a 10k circular route which we could cut short if the weather got too bad.

We headed out and up on to the first high point, the wind whipped the rain into our faces at such an intensity it felt like we were being stabbed by needles, so it was a case of heads down and plough on! Before long we changed direction, the wind and rain was now on our backs making the conditions a little more bearable allowing us for the first time to lift our heads and take in the views of this beautiful countryside.

Due to the relentless rain and wind there was little opportunity to take pictures with most people leaving their cameras and phones in the safe confines of a waterproof bag inside their backpacks. We did manage to find a sheltered spot within a forest that allowed us to have a snack to eat and give us a rest from the relentless wind and rain before heading back out into the storm.

After near on three hours of testing our waterproofs we returned to our accommodation to start the process of drying out and getting warm again – thank goodness there was a dry room! The weather for Sunday was looking to be better so a planning started for a shorter trip up onto the Berwyn Mountains.

Sunday 14th October

As it was a return home day the plan was to do a linear walk up onto Cadair Berwyn from Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall car park, this allowed people to turn around at any point if people needed to get home earlier than others. The weather was on our side so after packing up and cleaning up we drove to the carpark.

The route took us straight up on to Trum Felen, Moel Sych before topping out on Cadair Berwyn. On reaching Cadair Berwyn and after taking the compulsory summit pictures we decided to make the route a little more adventurous by heading down via Llyn Lluncaws for lunch and back to the carpark via the track below Cerrig Poethion.

Back at the carpark we took the opportunity to take in the waterfall and have refreshments in the teashop before making our way home.

Even though the storm tried to put a dampener on things for this weekend we managed to get out on both days and was rewarded with beautiful views especially on Sunday.

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