Berwyn horseshoe

Peaks: Mynydd Tarw, Foel Wen, Tomle, Cadair Berwyn, Moel Sych, Moel yr Ewig, Godor
Area: Berwyn, Denbighshire
After a dry interlude yesterday (and a walk up Conwy mountain with the children), another depression swept in today. Dubbed Storm Barbara, it was another example of unfortunate pre-Christmas timing. In the event, however, Jez and I arrived in Cwm Maen Gwynedd just after 9am, and the worst of the weather had yet to arrive. We wasted no time, and injected a bit of pace for the steep climb up Mynydd Tarw: tarmac, then track, then steep fields. But the climb gets you onto the ridge very quickly: probably my fourth time round this excellent horseshoe. I thought it would make a good choice today, relatively sheltered in the east, and always with the option of dropping into the valley if things get too extreme. Ferocious gusts as we ran across the boggy terrain to the north: over Foel Wen and its tops, blown into the fence a few times. But it stayed dry initially, with a surprisingly high cloud base. After Tomle, Ffordd Saeson gave a few minutes respite before the main Berwyn ridge into the teeth of the gale. However, it wasn't quite as bad as I'd expected. Jez coped with the conditions better than I did, but we made good progress and even got some fine views to the south as we skirted Cwm Maen Gwynedd. The usual bog on top of the ironically named Moel Sych, then we took the great contouring narrow path down to Moel yr Ewig and along the ridge in deteriorating conditions: heavy rain and gale-force winds throughout. From Godor, an excellent fast descent back down to the valley bottom (2.15 for the round). Warmed up in front of the fire in The Hand, Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog.