Walking eastwards on the B4403 and turning R then L on the minor roads, I left the narrow lane at a footpath sign pointing to Gyrn Farm. Keeping a careful eye on the map I turned R uphill immediately inside the farmyard and quickly L through a gate onto a grassy track that follows the field edges to a tiny stream. The easy cropped grass track can be seen ascending ahead, curving around towards the forest edge, and higher up approaching the trees I forked R on a fainter damp track to the first top Lledwyn Mawr, an unmarked grassy rise where I dropped my pack to sit and cool down. There was hardly a breath of wind and the air was thick, dank and grey with poor views today.

I followed the forest edge eastwards and the next grassy top came into view: we have often remarked on the steep shapely cone presented by Foel Figenau when descending from the Arans, and the small summit is marked superfluously by a wooden post. Unfortunately the views had still not improved much.

I descended the grassy slopes to rejoin the tractor track that continues to ascend SE, enjoying easy walking for a while before leaving it to tackle Cefn Coch, the first of the true Hirnants. The first stage over the minor rise of Mynydd Carnedd Hywel is a mixed affair, some grassy bits, some typical rough heather and tussock, then some bog is added to the mixture before the very rough and tiring slopes of Cefn Coch. Some extra toil was required to tramp around and locate what I thought was the highest point. The views were clear enough on the ascent for a photo looking NE to the Foel y Geifr ridge.

The continuation to Foel Tyn-y-from was more of the same... only worse... occasionally needing some muscular strength and a good sense of balance to move forward at all, and the sprawling summit area of bog and peat hags was something to behold: like a mixture of Kinder Scout and Black Hill in the Peak District.

The descent southwards was a lot easier: I bog-dodged my way along the fence a short way and once clear of the summit morass, where the land starts to drop, I veered R towards a grassy ravine and was able to stay on easy but increasingly damp ground to the stream confluence at the foot of Moel y Cerrig Duon. There is some marshy ground to cross beyond the valley fence but the subsequent main ascent alongside the ridge fence is quite easy. Llyn Efyrnwy can be seen to the east through the folds in the hills.

An easy descent on grass to Bwlch y Groes gave a sombre and moody view of the upper Dyfi valley.

The county boundary fence continues from the minor road, crossing a short boggy patch and climbing easily to the broad grassy top of Bryn Glas. The map shows the 558m highest point near the fence and that looked about right. Shortly afterwards I spotted a sheep ahead, motionless and pressed against the top of the fence with one leg raised: I knew the score right away from experience and prepared for another woolly rescue, she had a horn well and truly locked in the wire lattice and the fleece around her ear was blood red from her futile struggle (I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often, the grass is always tastier on the other side...). A fairly easy rescue this time, I grabbed the fleece behind her neck to lift her weight with one hand and worked her horn free with the other. Once free she was unsteady and fell down a couple of times but she should recover well.

The fence marches on, giving views down the steeply incised side valleys to the upper Dyfi, and passing a prominent cairn on a minor hump to reach the side fence leading out to Mynydd Coch. The view eastwards is a vast expanse of unrelenting rough heather and tussock moorland forming very broad shallow stream valleys: the rather dull photo below shows the Hirddu Fawr, it would look a lot more inviting with some sun and flowering heather.

A little further on I pitched the tent and did the out-and-back walk to Mynydd Coch without my pack, using a convenient tractor track for the initial short descent but then struggling through more dense heather and tussocks.

A surprising gusty wind blew throughout the night and at one point I awoke with the tent inner sagging around my face: the tape tensioners at both ends of the tent had worked loose and slipped back to the start of their travel. In typical LaserComp fashion there was no tape left to get hold of, and I struggled around by torchlight to decouple the connector and retension them. A few more notes and mods to be added to the LaserComp website page.

Setting off in the rapidly clearing mist I quickly reached the top of Moel Llygoed, remarkable only for the sense of apprehension it gave me when looking onwards to the south: ahead was the boggiest section of the route, the wide birthplace of the streams that combine to form the Afon Twrch, and whose length is emphasized by the seemingly endless fence disappearing into the wilderness.

The rough moor became gradually wetter and the crux of this traverse was between Carreg y Fran and the 531m spot height, a wide expanse of reeds and sinuous emerald green velvet bog that required some tramping around and strategic planning to cross dryshod on the reachable protruding tussocks. Such is the nature of this frustrating terrain: one minute I'm cursing the gruesome tussocks and heather, the next when faced with a really nasty bog I'm shouting "where are the tussocks when I need them!...". Once across this patch the worst is over and there are no more difficulties.

The fence zigzags around towards the prominent cairn on the small hump of Drum Ddu, passing a small rocky knoll where I saw one of those rare very small shepherd shelters - two vertical slabs of rock forming a V with a third slab across the top. This area at the head of the Nant Badlon is marked on the map as 'Y Berwyn National Nature Reserve' and there are more showcase bogs nearby.

Just by the Drum Ddu cairn there is a new forestry gate and fence. From here I descended S through the heather to the dense forest edge and joined a new rough track between the fence and trees, hoping to find a way through to the established track marked on the map that ascends to the top of Tir Rhiwiog. Sure enough after only a few yards a damp side track branched L into the forest and did precisely that, joining the surfaced forest road and taking me easily to a track junction at the summit contour. I explored the tracks in both directions but unfortunately the trees are very dense and right down to ground level all around. Since I was within yards of the true highest point (my head might have been level with it, it's impossible to tell) and as close as humanly possible within reason, I count this one as bagged!.

The westward branch of the forest road descends quickly out of the forest to give a view of the Nant Badlon valley.

The forestry track is a very pleasant walk, giving good views of the valley as it descends the flanks of the hill to cross a stream - this was my departure point for the next objective. Again I was lucky: a convenient tractor track ascends the hillside to the left of the trees and curves southwards across the wide grasslands through a fence directly towards Mynydd Maes-glas. As the track started to swing SE I left it and headed for the forest corner on easy ground, leaving a short easy climb to the 532m summit.

I followed the forest edge westwards to the next corner, crossing the last boggy depression of the trip, and turned north along the adjacent edge. As the ground begins to drop I veered L across easy grass to avoid the very steep slope ahead and descended to the familiar footbridge on the Afon Clywedog, joining a surfaced track down to the valley road.

A short way along the road I crossed the bridge and climbed to the higher parallel road and walked along to a mapped track that zigzags upwards through Coed y Ffridd forest. Above the trees this becomes a good grassy track that climbs at a very civilised angle to the 350m contour. Looking up the narrow NE ridge of Pen Foel-y-ffridd was a bit of a shock after such a gentle climb, a succession of very steep tiers with just a narrow sheep trod to follow, but the views down and ahead to Cwm Dyniewyd were mouthwatering. The slope levels out to a gentle climb and the summit is an elongated rise of grass and rock with great views of the surrounding hills.

Remembering the precipitous hill profile I had seen from afar, I wondered about the descent of the NW face: the map confirms some viscious contours here. I walked down to the obvious stream head and climbed a little rib of rock to be met by a near-vertical drop, I would have to investigate a descent by the stream. Descending steeply around the rib I picked up a thin path that slanted down neatly to the foot of the cliff and continued over the grassy shoulder of a second cliff, leaving a fairly steep but easy descent on grass to the bwlch.

A short sharp ascent by the fence gains the forest corner and a splendid view of Pistyll Gwyn and its long cascades with the Arans as a backdrop, while the bulk of Pen Foel-y-ffridd is well seen rearwards. The map shows the contours of the calamitous drop into Cwm Dyniewyd starting right at the forest edge, but in fact there is plenty of room and, surprisingly, a good path that follows the rim of the cwm crossing some dry little gullies on the way.

The path drops somewhat untidily to the attractive ravine above the waterfall, where I found the best line was inside the forest fence for a short way and out again to find an easy crossing point. A long steady climb of the grassy slopes of Gwaun Lydan lay ahead, and higher up I kept well R to head for the fence as soon as possible to avoid crossing a large area of peat hags. The summit is marked by a small white cairn and I made a pitch.

There was almost no wind in the cold night and the air was evidently very moist, producing a lot of condensation in the tent and extremely hazy views in the morning. Setting off up the slopes towards Drysgol I saw an inversion in Cwm Llaethnant through the thick haze, and it persisted until I reached the memorial cairn where it was hanging around the lower slopes of Gwaun y Llwyni. The views to Creiglyn Dyfi and the ridge were muted to say the least and needed much processing to brighten them up.

Reaching the ladder stile I took the route away from the fence that winds its way upward through the rocky slopes to arrive at the small subsidiary rise to the south of the summit. Despite the haze it was a gorgeous day to stroll along the silent deserted top and there were even a few small patches of snow lingering in the crevices. Llyn Pen Aran below Aran Benllyn was a perfect spot to linger a while before the long descent back to Llanuwchllyn.