Moel Hebog 782m Sun 3rd April
Weather:
Forecast -Heavy showers dying out. Patchwork of sunshine, Light wind
Actual - Not far off, though a tad windier on the summit than predicted
As crepuscular rays swept across the national park, we headed towards Beddgelert for a few pockets of precious sunshine, and walked up the main path towards Y Grisiau. Hebog has always been a favourite, with the prospect of an spectacular view from the summit it rarely fails to impress, However the cloud level for the most of the day hung around the pillow lava outcrop at approx 700m, with the odd clear spot providing just enough of a tease to keep hope alive for a break in the cloud at the top. As we gained the small summit plateau the wind bit hard. Blowing in from the coast with a slight saltiness to the rain we tucked in on the leeward side of the drystone wall for a quick brew, mmm Earl Grey... pass the sponge fingers. No luck with the view we back tracked as far as Y Grisiau then turn North down Y Diffwys ridge towards Y Braich. With the rain improving to hail you could see the sheep palling up to take shelter in the hut circles far below, not so stupid!
Recalling a previous loosely related sheep based event September last year. On the way up Hebog I heard few barks, echoing around the Cwm, not an uncommon occurrence. Looking up towards the line of Companionway I could just make out what I thought was a ewe stuck on a precarious ledge just to the left of the rake about half way up. Again, not that unusual. It would probably find its way down somehow. We carried onto the summit an were rewarded with a cracking sunset. On the way down I heard the barking again this time more plaintive. Stopping at the point where Companionway tops out, i leaned out as far as I could. The ground was wet, and as it was late in the day I didn't fancy trotting off down the rake unnecessarily, but I could just make out what I thought was the ewe I'd seen earlier, but now it looked like two of them, no, hang on Three of them, and err no they were dogs not sheep, I took a pic with the camera and zoomed in. Yep, defo, Three dogs. We headed back to the ridge and decided to take a better look from the base of the crag. Ok, one dog, it could be a stray, with no owner, but if you get Three in one place then that's a bit odd. I looked to see if there were signs of anyone taking a fall, loose waterproofs rucsac etc but no nothing. A few minutes searching further down the crag, still nothing just the dogs on the ledge. It was unusual enough to warrant a phone call. With no signal at the base of the cwm, we headed back onto the main Gelert path and dialled 999, after a brief discussion with the police they said they had received a similar report the previous day, the police were surprised that the dogs were still there, but understood it was being dealt with by MRT. Walking back to the car, one of the Aberglaslyn team Landys came towards us, i said I'd made the call but couldn't see anything more than the 3 dogs. A few days later, the incident reports had it down as some strays from the local hunt. You never know, it could have been a lot worse.
Hope the dogs were ok though, they'd had cold wet night. The report just said Animal Rescue.
