Snowdonia trip - December

The opportunity arose at the start of December for another week away and after very little thought I decided on Snowdonia National Park, a search for accommodation on the Friday, resulted in a cottage booked up for the next day. Nic, was left at home to fend for herself and look after the cat, whilst moi, would enjoy a week with no one to please, but myself. It's a tough life.

Migneint, Snowdonia National Park

I have a reasonable overview of the Snowdonia National Park and booked a cottage in Blaenau Ffestiniog a central location and with good road access to other parts of the Snowdonia NP. There are also interesting landscapes and geology in close proximity to Blaenau Ffestiniog, these being : Ceunants, Migneint and Moelwyns. Excursion itineraries were subject to the weather and weather resilience, with a list of locations to explore and subject matter, to cherry pick from : hills, moorland, ceunantydd, geology, mosses and lichens.

Ceunant

Ceunants are the Welsh name for gorges and ravines that have been fluvially eroded into the bedrock by water draining the adjacent higher ground and possibly sub glacial drainage. One ceunant is also a Geoconservation Review site for its fluvial geomorphology. Geologists have estimated their development has taken place over millions of years.

Ceunant

The steepness of slopes and inaccessibility of ceunants to grazing herbivores means that most have ancient semi natural woodland. The high annual rainfall maintains a high humidity and an ideal habitat for the bryophytes and lichens, of the Celtic Rain forest. These fragmented woodlands are part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for old sessile oak woods.

Taylor's flapwort (Mylia taylorii) 

It would be fair to state that the Migneint is an extensive area of upland bog and moorland, courtesy of the climate and elevation. It is also where ice accumulated during Quaternary glaciations and evidence of ice flow can be gauged from glaciated bedrock and the quarrying/plucking of exposed bedrock outcrops.

There are also some compelling views of the Migneint and from it.

The Moelwynion are a range of hills, overlooking Blaenau Ffestiniog, little visited by walkers, who overlook them for the hill ranges of more commanding stature. Nonetheless the views are good.

Flush lines, blanket peat and glacially scoured depressions, provide a habitat for sphagnum mosses.

Whilst bryophyte and lichen communities take advantage of bedrock outcrops and boulders.

The Snowdonia National Park is predominantly underlain by Cambrian and Ordovician aged, sedimentary, volcanic and igneous rocks, that have been weakly metamorphosed and folded during the Caledonian orogeny. Some of the rocks tell the story of explosive volcanic eruptions generating pyroclastic flows with bedding surfaces, indicating pulsed flows, ash still hot enough to weld when it settled and volcanic pyroclastic breccia.

Pyroclastic flow with planar foliation and cross bedding 

Welded tuff with fiamme in-weathered

Volcanic pyroclastic breccia

I also chanced upon bedrock outcrops with igneous intrusions of flow banded rhyolite into tuff, cut by vein quartz (segregated quartz?) and intrusive rhyolite breccia with net veins of quartz.

Some outcrops of intrusive rhyolite presented an opportunity to photograph miniature landscape with an accompanying flora of saxicolous mosses and lichens

One dawn outing, suffered from a number of unforeseen events and own goals, on the journey and at the location, that culminated in a radical change of plan. The dawn colour was good, followed by a brief window of sunlight, before the sun rose into cloud.

Overall a good trip, a mix of weather, varied subject matter and plenty of photography opportunities.