The view from Moel Eilio
Our first (and only) visit to Moel Eilio was in March this year (see post #121) – the photos of the day show rolling green hills with the last remnants of winter snow, and no hint at all of the blizzards that were to hit North Wales two weeks later. The views from the summit ridge were fantastic, and I knew we would return again and again ….
Moel Eilio from below
From below, Moel Eilio is a fairly unremarkable grassy lump, though if you know what you are looking for, the views of Moel Eilio from the road near Deiniolen promise great things. One thing for certain, though – the way to the summit involves a lot of ‘Up’!”
From the start, the way is up….
…. and up ….
…. and up ….
…. with some more up ….
….before arriving at the summit
All that ‘up’ is worth it – if Moel Eilio doesn’t appear very interesting from immediately below, the views from the summit are stunning.
The view to the southwest – the peaks of Yr Eifl on the coast
The view south – (L to R) The Moel Hebog Ridge, The Nantlle Ridge and Mynydd Mawr
The start of our route down
If the views are easy on the eye, the walking is easy on the legs, with a broad grassy switchback of a ridge leading off south. The crowded summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) is about 6 kms (3¾ miles) away in a straight line, but these hills are comparatively deserted. The easy terrain underfoot makes for fast progress, and the ridge is very popular with hill-runners.
A rolling switchback ridge, popular with runners
The lake of Lynn Cwellyn below
Our last summit, Foel Goch, with Yr Wyddfa beyond
Looking back to Foel Gron and Moel Eilio
Then, suddenly, it’s all over. The last bit of ‘up’ to the summit of Foel Goch is followed by a short descent to a bwlch (pass) and even easier walking on a good bridlepath.
The last bit of ascent ….
…. before heading down
On the bridlepath, looking back
Great views, good walking, what’s not to like! – I can see that Moel Eilio is going to be one of our regular trips.
The walk out
Text and images © Paul Shorrock
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 
Remember doing Moel Eilio about 15 years ago, on possibly the windiest day in the history of mankind! Our border collie actually got blown onto that fence in your first photo and she was put on the lead very shortly after. We then ended up crawling for a short while, before finally giving up and going back down!
Happy memories!!!
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Time for a return trip then Chrissie – highly recommended!
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Fabulous views! Thanks for allowing us to (virtually) join you 🙂
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Thanks for coming along 🙂
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wow! are you sure you weren’t on the Howgils by mistake – looks very much like them Paul. But honestly a superb set of photos and a really interesting description…excellent!
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Thanks SP – yes, at times like the Howgills, and the Foel Gron escarpment reminds me of the Brecon Beacons, but the sublime views could only be Snowdonia!
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I do Moel Eilio a lot – whenever Snowdon is cased in snow and ice and too fearsome for me, I go up that range instead and lie there on the grass in the sun watching the ants sliding about on Snowdon! 😉
That photo looking back to Moel Eilio – I went up the ridge in front of Moel Eilio once and it was probably more fun than the long slog. If you keep left of the fence (which I did), it gets quite exciting near the top.
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Thanks for that Carol – I’ll have to give that ridge a try! Having said that, I don’t really find the ‘slog’ to be a slog! It’s just the right angle (for me anyway) to switch off and enjoy looking around, In the days I was hill-running I would probably have run most of the slope – I’m not sure that Chris agrees though 😉
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I’ve certainly run all the way down it – I can only run downhill though! 😉
I find it a pleasant ridge up but it has a very steep section at the start… it’s a very nice hill!
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Glorious day for it, Paul, and superb views especially down the Llyn peninsula to Yr Eifl – many memories of happy beach holidays in Nefyn and Abersoch. We’re up in the Lakes (getting wet), I must check this post out again when back home against the map.
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North Wales is a wonderful place to be Andy, though I have the occasional wistful moment thinking about the Lake District – I lived in Cumbria for 25 years, and still enjoy getting back there.
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I love Snowdonia!
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Thanks for reading and for the comment 🙂
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Fantastic shots 🙂 Greetings from NRW, Kerstin
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Hi Kerstin, and thanks for visiting my blog. I navigate in the hills and mountains, but I have never tried geocaching – perhaps I should 🙂
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Thanx for answer. Geocaching is a cool thing, love to go in the wood and to lost places here we have not really hills and mountains-sign 😉
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Are you anywhere near Bavaria? Chris and I walked in the mountains there once, and it’s beautiful!!
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I was in Bavaria for a short trip, that´s true it is fantastic there. No I live without mountains, I live here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia
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Ah, now I know where you are 🙂
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5 hours with the car, and than I´m in Bavaria 😉
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