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Moel Siabod
Photo by Darkroom Daze
Moel Siabod (872 m) from the N, by the double lake of Llynau Mymbyr near Capel Curig, Snowdonia, Gwynedd, North Wales (Cymru).
This peak looks dramatic and imperious when viewed from the E or NE (e.g. flic.kr/p/kRy6fU, or on the approach to Capel Curig) but on this side it looks quite tame and rather dull. It’s an easy climb from this side too, but it gives good views across much of North Wales.
SNOWDONIA (ERYRI)
Moel Siabod lies within the Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri). Although diminutive in height compared with many mountains beyond Britain, much of Snowdonia is rugged and offers serious challenges to walkers, climbers and mountaineers, especially in winter. Another factor is that like many other British mountains, ascent routes often begin quite close to sea-level, so elevation difference in the ascent is often around 1000 m. This isn’t a lot different from, say, many Alpine mountain walks, which begin at say 1000 – 1500 m altitude and ascend to 2000 – 2500 m. Inexperienced tourist walkers often underestimate Snowdonia terrain. There are relatively few constructed trails or way-marked routes and you often have to make up your own route. Even in summer the weather can change suddenly bringing poor visibility and surprisingly low temperatures.
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IN DARWIN’S FOOTSTEPS
DARWIN’S ‘WELSH EXPEDITION’ TO THE ‘NORTH-WEST MOUNTAINS’: AUGUST 5-18, 1831: LLANGOLLEN TO BARMOUTH (ABERMAW)
Darwin did this field trip just a few months before he sailed on HMS Beagle. The field trip was instigated by his then geology professor at Cambridge, Adam Sedgwick, whom Darwin accompanied as a student assistant for some of Sedgwick’s longer trip. Darwin also did some the expedition separately from Sedgwick. Much of the geology of North Wales is challenging and there were few previous studies. Although it was a relatively short trip, Darwin later acknowledged that it significantly helped him to develop his geological knowledge and field skills, as well as his enthusiasm for geology generally. It therefore laid important foundations for his Beagle voyage. (It is not always realized that in the years before he published his best known work (Origin of Species, 1859), Darwin regarded himself primarily as a geologist, and was recognized as such by his contemporaries during those years.)
Darwin did not record the exact dates and route of much of this trip, but Michael Roberts (source below) has drawn on various sources to make a plausible reconstruction, which I have used to caption these ‘footsteps’ photos.
Darwin climbed Moel Siabod on August 15th 1831 from somewhere close to this viewpoint. He did this alone because at this stage in the trip, Sedgwick had earlier diverted to Dublin and was at Holyhead (Anglesey, North Wales) on his return from there, on August 15th. His field notes (transcribed ‘as is’) for this are:
"Moel Shiabred [= Moel Siabod]
May be described as consisting of three parts. I will describe the formations as seen in ascending from the Eastern end of the Capel Curig lakes [i.e. Llynau Mymbyr as in this photo]. 1st a rock like a coarse quartzose Grey Wacke [i.e greywacke], combining alternately Porphyritic & conglomerate, with pebbles of porphyry & a compact greenish slate; proceeding higher a Feldspathic rock with veins of quartz and Chlorite. At this point there appears a line or rather a valley of separation. it is about half way in the mountain. After this the whole northern side of the mountain is composed of a blue rock slate: the lower part almost is made of Terebratulae, the higher parts are more indurated. but specks cavities of a rusty substance appear to be remains of fossils. The general cleavage is SW & SE) W 3 S, E 3 N which is also that of the 1st part of mountain & indeed in this. there have been are signs [of] Organic Remains.
"The 3d part of mountain or the top is of a crystalline grey coloured Trap, with its usual cleavage. this forms a precipice to the South & composes all that side of the mountain. The line of disturbance seems to have run NE-SW. At the Western end of hill, the Slate appears to overlie the Trap. the beds composing N 1 of mountain appear to Dip E 2 S, & in general looks seems of different formation to main mass of mountain."
The three-part structure of the mountain, as Darwin saw it in relation to his ascent of it, is shown in this view too.
SOURCES
– Darwin, C.R., 1831. darwin-online.org.uk/content/record?itemID=CUL-DAR5.B5-B16
– Barrett, Paul H. 1974. The Sedgwick-Darwin geologic tour of North Wales. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 118, No. 2. (19 April), pp. 146-164.darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&i…
– Roberts, Michael B., 1998. Darwin’s dog-leg: the last stage of Darwin’s Welsh field trip of 1831. Archives of Natural History v. 25, p. 59-73.
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Photo
© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.
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