Raw Head, Penycloddiau, Cyrn-y-Brain and Moel y Gamelin

I drove up to Sue’s at about 8am to meet up with Su, John, Simon, and Mike Nicholls. This was an achievement insofar as that it was the day following my birthday, but I had taken a relativelt early night.

We drove first out to Penycloddiau, however a closed road diverted us past Raw Head, which John had scheduled for the next day. Stopping off here we shot up the Sandstone Trail, at the base of which is a layby, took in the hill and its cave, and returned to the car before 10am!

Setting off again we stopped at Penycloddiau, the walk to the summit of which was a fair length from the car park to the South East end of the ridge, and it was quite cold at this point. Being fairly clagged in we did not get much of a view, however Moel Arthur across the way looked worth exploring at some point.

We next heade for the Horseshoe Pass above Llangollen, where we first ascended Cyrn-y-Brain, in cold claggy weather, walking as far as the ruins of Sir Watkin’s Tower. On our return to the pass the weather brightened considerably, and we enjoyed a rather pleasant stroll up Moel y Gamelin, with decent views.