Moel yr Hydd
1 SH684453 From the
parking area, keep the stream to your left and follow it to a waterfall. Go through the gate and take the gently rising track into Cwmorthin. Before long, and just past a small hydro scheme, Llyn Cwmorthin comes into view and a slab bridge is crossed before going through a gate. Routefinding hereabouts is simplicity itself, allowing you to soak up the sombre ambience of the cwm and investigate some interesting relics on your way, such as the old chapel, over which two Scots pines stand guard. At the head of the cwm lie more dilapidated buildings and the track rises leftwards, passing another waterfall before arriving at the old Rhosydd quarry.
2 SH665462 Rhosydd is a powerful place where ghosts of the past inhabit a post-industrial wasteland littered with rusting artefacts of a bygone age. With the large barracks on your left, head towards the incline, passing a tumbledown structure with its distinctive arch. Climb the first incline (noting a dark, dank adit at its foot), at the top of which the path continues on the left before ascending the next rise. A slatey path then passes another derelict shell and delivers you onto a spacious plateau. Moelwyn Mawr dominates the scene and an unusual view of Cnicht can be enjoyed across the deep trench of Cwm Croesor. Less interesting to the eye, perhaps, and only 600m away is Moel yr Hydd, your peak of the day. A brief skirmish with a sodden trod will see you on the summit. And what a summit it is! The aerial view of Blaenau Ffestiniog is arresting and the main peaks of the Moelwynion are a sight to behold, but the distant views over the vale of Ffestiniog and beyond will fascinate with an array of peaks known only to epicures of esoterica.
3 SH672454 Leave the summit via a path (roughly west-south-west) and follow the fence line, outflanking the worst excesses of bogland where necessary. Soon, at a defaced sign, go through the gate and turn right, making your way onto a superb track which contours high above Llyn Stwlan. The track will eventually lead you to Bwlch Stwlan and care is needed in several places. At the bwlch, head down towards the southern shore of the llyn and pass through a concrete gap on the edge of the dam. A path then leads steeply down a gully, after which the stream is followed until you reach service road. Take the road for a leisurely stroll back to the car park.