From the Tanygrisiau road we took the footpath that crosses the Ffestiniog railway and ascends to a contouring line high above the village and below the towering crags of Craig Nythygigfran. The path emerges onto the Stwlan access track and a footbridge by the falls where the very steep profile of the Wrysgan incline is seen ahead. The incline, built to serve the beleaguered Wrysgan Quarry, is not straight but in the shape of a catenary, the slight curvature becoming more apparent when looking down the incline to the lower section on the other side of the Stwlan track.

A short walk up the road brought us to the untidily vegetated rock pile at the foot of the incline where a notice warns of loose falling rocks. Blue sky prevailed through the tunnel hole at the top as we began the slow climb, the upper section giving a grand view of the sheer rock scenery and eastwards towards Craig Nythygigfran. Apart from the unrelenting steepness, there was no difficulty with the ascent… until there was!.

Part way into the tunnel in semi-darkness, there is a vertical wall of wet rock about 1m high with no footholds, while the rock just above the wall is wet and has no really good jugs for leverage, at best some finger holds. Someone has stacked a few slaty rocks in one corner to give a bit of starting height: this step combined with a foothold on the side wall may be just enough for me to stretch and heave myself up, but there was no way we could both get up safely. Maybe in younger days when we often did some scrambling but not at 80!. Furthermore there was no guarantee of a feasible route onwards to Moel-yr-hydd and we may need to get back down.

Returning to the tunnel entrance and scanning the sides, there was no chance of bypassing it: sheer rock all around.

It was a shame to miss Llyn y Wrysgan and the quarry at the top, but that's what exploration is about and we descended laboriously back to the track. Part way down, some walkers on the access track stopped to look upwards and photograph the incline, no doubt our distant failure is forever captured on someone's social media page.

We returned to the footbridge by the falls and ascended via the good track into Cwm Cwmorthin with a view to a possible pitch near the Rhosydd quarry. Walking through the cwm however, the wind was becoming quite gusty even at this level and we also wondered about the unknown popularity of the Rhosydd area. We decided to remain in the lower cwm and found a good pitch near the stream and old building ruins at the foot of Bwlch Cwmorthin.

A clear blue sky greeted us at sunrise and a low sun highlighted the craggy face of Foel Ddu as we began the ascent towards Rhosydd on the curving stony track in Bwlch Cwmorthin. Reaching the first of the old quarry remains at the top just half an hour later, morning mist was already forming around the high points and turning the sky grey, while the cold wind had strengthened considerably. Arriving at the main slate buildings of Rhosydd, we quickly took shelter from the wind by the stout walls and were surprised to see the number of tents pitched here with some campers up and about - our apprehension was evidently justified.

Our direction was north-westwards towards Llyn Cwm-corsiog. The flat Rhosydd quarry area can be a navigational nightmare but we soon spied the line, a path that crosses some boggy ground and is often ill defined despite being part of the standard round of Cnicht and the Moelwyns.

Arriving at the high point above the lake we saw that the ridge ahead was wreathed in clag and the perishing wind was still increasing. Though the clag would probably clear at some point later, we had no desire to ascend into that and the wind would be even stronger. We decided on a relaxed day meandering around the craggy landscape of Cwm Corsiog and highly enjoyable it was, pitching the tent quite early in the prevalent afternoon sunshine and absorbing the superb view over the lake towards Moel-yr-hydd and Moelwyn Mawr.

Once again the night sky was crystal clear with good views of the Milky Way and the first glimmers of dawn promised a fine sunrise: so it was, as we broke camp the eastern sky was glowing in orange hues reflected in the lake against the mountain skyline.

Reprising our outward route, a fine early sky was maintained over the Rhosydd quarry towards Foel Ddu.

We retraced our ascent route through Cwm Cwmorthin to the car park and took the quicker road route back to Blaenau for a very easy half day.