MOEL HEBOG
Where mountains meet sea...
WE START WITH the one that is furthest away from Snowdon. Moel Hebog’s toppermost rock is a shade under five miles from the summit of Snowdon as the Welsh raven flies, but the distance just means you get to enjoy the spectacle of Snowdon without feeling overpowered by it.
Thrusting into the sky just south-west of Beddgelert, Hebog is very nearly a free-standing mountain, with only its outliers Moel yr Ogof and Moel Lefn to keep it company.
It’s also more or less a coastal mountain, enjoying a vast panorama across to the Glaslyn estuary (where lie Porthmadog and Portmeirion) and Tremadoc Bay.
The result is a singular combination of mountain and marine views, stretching from the sea, up the valleys of Rhyd Ddu and Nantgwynant, past the big glory hog and all the way up to Moel Siabod, away to the north-east.
The climb starts easily, crossing the scenic line of the Welsh Highland Railway. But it soon becomes appropriately rough and rugged, as befits a mountain that isn’t climbed as much as its neighbours. And soon Hebog changes aspect, morphing from genteel bulk into something more like the jagged blade of a kitchen knife, with unsuspected rock faces peering down on your progress.
There’s a little scrambling to be done on this rough-hewn footpath but it’s fun and never too technical, though there are loose stones in patches.
And when you finally pull yourself up onto the summit ridge, you know you’ve earned the magnificent view that unfolds.
The summit is surprisingly benign, considering the steep endeavours required to reach it. It’s rounded and gentle, with the vertiginous drops to the east well and truly hidden.
The view is sumptuous. Snowdon commands the most attention of course, seen here in its unfamiliar south-western aspect: a fat dome of spurs and ridges, topped by the tiny pyramid of the summit.
From here you can continue onto those two cute outliers, Moel yr Ogof and Moel Lefn. It’s a fabulous ridge, turning Hebog and its friends into a selfcontained range that, if it were anywhere other than in Snowdon’s shadow, would be adored as a piece of mountain architecture.
It’s a self-contained range that, if it were anywhere other than in Snowdon’s shadow, would be adored as a piece of mountain architecture…”
Moel Lefn boasts two exciting pinnacles at the very top, while to the east of Moel yr Ogof’s summit is a cave where the Welsh hero Owain Glyndŵr – the 15th-century ruler of Wales and defiant rebel against English rule – is said to have hidden from the forces of King Henry IV.
(That said, it’s worth exploring carefully around here; more than one source reckons the ‘true’ Glyndŵr’s Cave has still not been found and lurks elsewhere on the mountain).
Owain came up here because it was quiet. And even today, you probably won’t be troubled much by other walkers. Very often, the only sound you’ll hear on the summits of Moel Hebog and its brethren is the ‘hoot hoot’ of the Welsh Highland Railway, some 700m below. It was good enough to hide a Welsh prince on the run; for peace and quiet in a busy national park, it’s perfect for you, too. Matthew Pike
WALK HERE: See Walk 22 in this issue.