Moel Hebog - GW/NW-014 SOTA (2021)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Wednesday 30th June, 2021.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Moel Hebog, North Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/NW-014 (6 points).
Summit Height: 783m elevation, 585m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 53.00051, -4.14009. Maidenhead Grid IO73wa.
Distance: 9.7km travelled with 716m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T2.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 4hr 40m (including operating).
Weather: 21°C, 9 mph NNW wind, 77% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 13 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Moel Hebog, meaning “Hill of the Hawk” in Welsh, is a prominent 783-metre mountain that dominates the skyline above the picturesque village of Beddgelert in Snowdonia. With its prominence of 585 metres, this mountain narrowly misses out on a P600 classification but still offers exceptional views across to Snowdon, the Nantlle Ridge, and down the Glaslyn Valley.

I had previously ascended Moel Hebog in 2019 from its southern side, which involved some effort pushing through overgrown ferns and heather. For this activation, I chose what would prove to be a more pleasant circular route starting and finishing in Beddgelert, one of Snowdonia’s most charming villages. There are several good car parking options here.

From the village centre, I headed towards Cwm Cloch Isaf, passing the Beddgelert station of the Welsh Highland Railway. Following the Snowdonia Slate Trail for a short distance led me through picturesque woodland towards a farm situated at the edge of the mountain’s access land. Here, I experienced an unexpected rural delay - waiting about 20 minutes while the farmer herded a flock of sheep across my intended route. We exchanged a few words about the mountain before I continued on.

Once past the farm, I began the main ascent up the eastern flanks of Moel Hebog, following a well-defined footpath. While the Ordnance Survey map indicates a right of way in this area, there’s no visible evidence of it on the ground. The path I followed, however, provided straightforward navigation as it steadily gained height.

About halfway up the ascent, the route presents a brief section of easy scrambling. While not technically graded, this short rocky passage shouldn’t pose difficulties for reasonably competent walkers and could serve as an excellent introduction to movement on rock for novice hillwalkers.

As I approached the summit, the path gradually became fainter, but navigation remained straightforward in the excellent visibility. The summit plateau is crowned with a trig point, from which I enjoyed spectacular panoramic views across Snowdonia on this beautiful summer’s day.

Setting up my Yaesu FTM100D at the summit, I was rewarded with productive radio conditions. Operating primarily on the 2-metre band with some activity on 70cm, I completed 13 contacts in total. The highlight was achieving four summit-to-summit contacts, including stations on mountains in both Wales and the Lake District. These included Roger MW0IDX/P on Moel-y-Gest, Richard MW0GWG/P on Hafod Ithel, and John GW4TQE/P on Moel y Gamelin.

After enjoying the summit and completing my SOTA activation, I continued the circuit by descending to the northwest towards Moel yr Ogof (655m). There is a cave marked on the map here if you fancy a detour. From here, a well-maintained footpath led through the exceedingly pleasant surroundings of Beddgelert Forest before looping back to my starting point in the village.

This circuit offers an enjoyable variety of terrain without ever becoming too challenging. The eastern approach proves substantially more pleasant than my previous southern ascent, providing steady progress on good paths for most of the route. For anyone seeking a satisfying mountain day in Snowdonia that combines woodland, rocky terrain, and expansive summit views, this Moel Hebog circuit from Beddgelert is highly recommended.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Moel Hebog on Wednesday 30th June, 2021.

Walking Route for Moel Hebog

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Moel Hebog. The GW/NW-014 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 13 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/NW-014 Moel Hebog on Wednesday 30th June, 2021 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Moel Hebog:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/NW-014 Moel Hebog.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Moel Hebog.
• Google Maps Page for Moel Hebog.
• Wikipedia entry for Moel Hebog.
• 360° Panorama near summit of GW/NW-014 Moel Hebog.

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