Fach and the Migneint lie to the N. The NE skyline is filled by the rounded swell of those two lonely outliers, Carnedd y Filiast and Foel Goch. Rising beyond Lake Bala are the Hirnant hills and the distant Berwyns. The urgent thrust of Aran Benllyn kindles the spark SE, while SW the sharpness of Dduallt complements the soft curve of Rhobell Fawr with the Dovey hills and Cader Idris arcing the horizon. The scene is stolen W by the Rhinogs, with Moel Llyfnant providing a massive foreground. The circle is completed NW by the ranges of Snowdonia, with Snowdon itself, Tryfan, the Glyders, Moel Siabod, the Moelwyns, Cnicht and the Ffestiniog hills all competing for pride of place. Set this in your mind's eye within a mosaic of moors, forests and glittering lakes (for you should count yourself unlucky if you cannot see at least Llynnau Conwy, Tryweryn and Y Garn) and you have a picture to treasure.
Looking north-west up the Lliw Valley (AG23)
The Migneint
This is a book on hills, but no essay on the Arenigs would be complete without an introduction to that remote wilderness known as the Migneint over which they preside.
The Migneint is an expanse of windswept moorland, cupped in a shallow depression with higher ground all around. No ridges or hills gladden the eye. Instead you have the austere beauty and solitude of virgin moors and their secret places: a haven of tranquillity for quiet contemplation with a unique ethereal charm that, once experienced, long casts its spell. The sense of other-worldliness is enhanced by the absence of landmarks in the long miles of marsh and heather. There are no tracks and scarcely a cairn; even one solitary stone astride another, marking a spot height, is an event!
The Migneint has acquired a harsh reputation as a confusing and squelchy bogland, full of knobbly tussocks and deep trackless heather. While this has some truth, it can often be exaggerated. You must treat the Migneint with respect. There will be few, if any, fellow walkers to help in case of trouble. Plenty of map and compass work is needed, and when mist swirls it is an eerie place, best avoided. Yet there are ways through which are easier than you might suppose. During the wet summer of 1985, for instance, I crossed the Migneint in both directions, a walk of some 14 miles, in an unhurried seven hours. I had ample time for pictures and a leisurely lunch on Arenig Fach, and ended the day with dry feet! I was alone that day, incidentally, and that is the best way to appreciate the Migneint's delicate charms. Despite the rigours, it is no place for groups.
Arenig Fach across the Migneint (AG13)
Arenig Fach is the unquestioned king of the Migneint, looking a veritable giant and reassuringly familiar as it towers over its wild and marshy serfdom. Combine it with a crossing of the Migneint and you have a pearl of a day in country that is both wild and serene, remote yet evocative.
Arenig Fawr
Arenig Fawr is not a mountain you can ignore. Set apart from its fellows and totally dominating the surrounding moors, its twin-topped summit makes it an impressive and familiar sight for miles around.
Most visitors form their first impression from the W when its smooth, uncluttered slopes suggest a simple straightforward peak. However when you see it from the E, say from Llidiardau at 874382, you may well have second thoughts. For though the profile is little changed, with the conical top as pre-eminent as ever, a craggier face is now evident, especially S. Even then, neither of these lowland viewpoints reveals either Llyn Arenig Fawr or the cluster of little tarns near Craig y Bychau. To observe these you must take to the fells – which you may do with confidence. The senior Arenig is a friendly giant offering easy going. Even in mist it is safe, provided you stay on the main tracks and only leave the top alongside the remains of the old wire fence that crosses it.
Sad to relate the trig point on this lofty summit faces a memorial to eight American airmen who died on the mountain in 1943 when their Flying Fortress crashed on the final stage of its flight from the USA.
Llyn Arenig Fawr route (AG1)
The classic route up Arenig Fawr.
The route starts over a stile at 846396. A slow rise up a stony road is dreary and quite uneventful until, after 0.5 mile, the desolate Llyn Arenig Fawr comes into view below the frowning bastion of its guardian peak. A sombre, melancholy scene. The road ends by an old sluice house and weir but a track carries on, rambling up the heather-clad slopes of the ridge that rises enticingly before you.
The scars of civilisation now yield to the wild of the fells with views of the crags that threaten the lake improving with every step. Higher up the ridge the path crosses a fence, then a second one. The summit is in view by now, and you can see that it is well set back with still some way to go.
The path now sweeps round to the R to maintain height before gradually curling back L towards the summit where it runs below, but parallel to, the main ridge. The path never reaches the ridge so you must abandon it and work diagonally up the grassy slopes to a ridge path that follows a wire fence to the top. Better still, aim direct for the ridge immediately after the second fence. That way you gain height sooner with an overview of the lonely Pen Tyrau uplands and their scattering of teardrop tarns.
Arenig Fawr from the west
Arenig Fawr from the north (AG1)
Craig y Bychau route (AG2)
At 823393, just E on Pont Rhyd-y-fen, a gritty spur road breaks away from the country road from Bala, heading W. Follow this for a short 0.5 mile to a sheepfold adjoining a disused quarry. (You are spoilt for choice because a dismantled rail track parallels you R while a green path contours across the hillside up-slope L.) At the quarry change to a stony path that moves away S to curl round Arenig Fawr's W flank with Moel Llyfnant building up imposingly ahead.
Keep L after passing the ruined homestead of Amnodd-wen where a farm road curves round before you. The R fork leads to Moel Llyfnant (AG6). Carry on for about 1 mile until the road peters out by an old stone wall high up on the exposed col between Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant. Turn L and follow the wall (no track) to the skyline. Topping the rise brings quite a surprise; a secluded enclave of outcrops, grassland and lakelets, snuggling serenely beneath Arenig Fawr's protective bulk.
A steep trudge up the S ridge follows with grass gradually yielding to scree and impressive views of the crags of Carreg y Diocyn. It is hard work and you will be glad of the excuse of a last view of the lakes to take a brief rest when you reach Arenig Fawr's subsidiary top at 828366. Only a quick down-and-up then remains to put you on the main top.
W face direct (AG3)
Just beyond Amnodd-wen you can struggle directly up the hillside to gain the summit ridge slightly N of the cairn, using a shallow groove that slants across the face of the mountain and which you can discern from almost anywhere to the W of it. A brute!
N approach (AG4)
For an adventurous way down follow the fence from the trig point until, after 1 mile, you come to a plateau of clumpy heather, rocky terraces and scattered tarns not unlike one of the more benign parts of the Rhinogs. Keep E for views of the crags towering over Llyn Arenig Fawr, then march on to the
