A 2-day backpack around the hills and cwms of the upper Tanat valley of north-east Wales, visiting a couple of new Dewey 500m summits.
Llangynog nestles at the head of the Tanat valley, more tightly squeezed by towering hills than any other village we can remember. Perhaps the most striking is Craig Rhiwarth, an iron age hillfort whose broken slopes were quarried leaving an aggressive south face overlooking the northern quarter, while the steep nose of Y Gribin presides over the west. The western side is steeply riven by two major cwms, Cwm Pennant and Cwm Llech, that we have walked on previous trips.
This route was designed to explore the summit of Craig Rhiwarth and return on the high-level route above Cwm Pennant and Cwm Dwygo, joining the two sections via Post Gwyn and the pass of Milltir Gerrig. I didn’t see another walker in the whole two days.
Hello Geoff
It’s great to see you both out and about again. I’ve missed your wonderfully inspiring trip reports. We often used to rent a cottage in Llangynog, with the slopes of Craig Rhiwarth right outside the back door. I have happy memories of scrambling up that steep west face, via the old slate quarry, through the hill fort and on to the Berwyns. It is indeed a stunning valley from every angle.
All the best
Jim
Hi Jim, thanks for the welcome back.
The quarry on the west face and the rocks above looked quite interesting and enticing but the steepness didn’t, anyway I wanted to revisit the Nant Sebon valley and that gave a more civilized angle of ascent. It would appear from the lack of trodden lines that few visit the top.
I was struggling to work out where this was until I saw the reference for waterfall! I’ve heard much about the bog up in this area. The masochist in me says I should give it a go 🙂
Llangynog is always bustling with people in summer but very few of them seem to walk the hills around the village except for short strolls up the Sebon valley. It’s probably because those hills don’t make the magic 2000′ height and contain only Dewey 500m tops, Post Gwyn normally being approached from Pistyll Rhaeadr and regarded as a different area.