Carneddau run

Peaks: Moel Wnion
Area: Carneddau, Eryri
Our scheduled pre-Christmas Snowdonia run precisely coincided with the worst of an unusually deep depression and wild storm. It all made for a memorable outing, albeit far shorter than planned. Peter, Jez and I left Aber in torrential rain, benefiting from the shelter of the village and woods until we emerged towards the top of the tarmac start of the Foel Fras race route. Here, the wind was gusting to 80-90mph: and was directly in our face as we skirted Foel Dduarth heading up to our 'bad weather option' of Llyn Anafon. We were blown over a few times as we attempted to 'jog' into the upper valley - memories of the legendary OMM in 2008 and many other occasions - before giving up and heading back down to the car park. We then adopted another default plan, heading to Aber Falls. An astounding volume of water at the Falls, seemingly a wall of spray reminiscent of Yosemite. Quite exhilerating, though, and the rain eased a little as we ran along the top of the valley. As we descended back to the coast, Peter suggested trying to get up Moel Wnion on the assumption that we may get a tailwind. This worked, and we ploughed up the sheltered Afon Gam stream valley before ploughing up the boggy slopes of Wnion in a crosswind. After sheltering in the cairn to give some respite from the constant battering, we enjoyed a superb fast descent (with tailwind) down the Foel Fras race route climax. Dried off with a pint in the Albion.