[09TH december 2024]
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This ruck was like no other i'd done in the past. Usually when I have to change plans it's on the route, never in the car driving into the area. Two days earlier storm Darragh battered the country, especially Wales, with near 100mph winds. With the flooding and fallen trees this restricted access to many locations I was looking into but eventually I decided on a failed trip I did a few years back. We summited, I found us a location to pitch however, he decided he didn't like any spot I chose and when the local farmer came by he was completely put off the idea and made me drive him home, all 2 and a half hours of it and I got home at 23:00. Long story short, it's why I only head out solo now.
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Anyway, this time wasn't to be either as the A44, the final and only road leading to the start point, was closed due to a fallen tree and a landslide. So I stumbled upon a car park where I reassessed my plans for the day and found there was an interesting looking forest about a kilometre away and thought, why not! I don't have any other options at this point plus it was already past midday and the sun sets shortly after 16:00. Whatever I was doing, I was doing it now so on went the rucksack and boots and I headed off into the middle of nowhere. No plan, no researched camping spot. I simply looked for the highest, most remote point on the map and began heading that way.
It wasn't long before I saw some of the effects of the storm. Most of the trees looked pretty beaten up but some had simply given up, sheerly breaking in half and would've blocked vehicle access to the village for the final few houses I passed. I did make a slight wrong turn and discovered a thriving chicken and duck community that seemed completely unbothered about the whole Darragh thing. They're probably gutted they'll never fly that fast again! Back on track and I headed into a large field with a twisting track that led upto part of the Wye Valley Walk which I hooked onto. It was nice to know this was an agreed route for us mere muggles to venture along and that there was no need to expect the old shotgun in the back, and a Welsh accent yelling "get off my land". Through another gate and here it was. My first view of the forest and my oh my, it looked dense! I couldn't wait to get in there so I quickly head down the steep hilly slope, past a load of sheep just wanting me to do one and along a very level, very well made stone track. I'm not used to this type of hiking at all! I felt like a gravely red carpet had been laid out for me.
It wasn't long before I saw some of the effects of the storm. Most of the trees looked pretty beaten up but some had simply given up, sheerly breaking in half and would've blocked vehicle access to the village for the final few houses I passed. I did make a slight wrong turn and discovered a thriving chicken and duck community that seemed completely unbothered about the whole Darragh thing. They're probably gutted they'll never fly that fast again! Back on track and I headed into a large field with a twisting track that led upto part of the Wye Valley Walk which I hooked onto. It was nice to know this was an agreed route for us mere muggles to venture along and that there was no need to expect the old shotgun in the back, and a Welsh accent yelling "get off my land". Through another gate and here it was. My first view of the forest and my oh my, it looked dense! I couldn't wait to get in there so I quickly head down the steep hilly slope, past a load of sheep just wanting me to do one and along a very level, very well made stone track. I'm not used to this type of hiking at all! I felt like a gravely red carpet had been laid out for me.
Once I was through the old wooden gate I was instantly plunged into the forest. The only light coming from the 1/10th of the sky above my head as the other 9/10ths were simply coniferous forest. It was deadly silent in here with the only sound being the wind whistling through the very tips of the trees. I say it was deadly silent but this was all of a sudden broken by the sound of a harrier on a training route that for about 30 minutes kept crossing my route. Either that or i'd stumbled on a secret military base and they were just trying to get their best shot at me. If that's the case, luckily they missed and I was once again in silence. Just the sound of my boots, my pack on my jacket and the streams and wind in the trees. Bliss. In here the trees looked pretty unscathed by the storm. Everything looked fine until I reached my first fallen tree across my path. The verge to the right was thick, sodden moss guaranteed to soak me so I simply, and not gracefully, climbed over it and continued on my way. Not the best camera angle, I do apologise but needs must.
With winter hiking time does get away from you and already 2 hours had passed. I reached higher ground and could see evidence the sun was beginning to set. With just an hour and a half left I needed to get moving and of course, the world then saw it prudent to throw a huge obstacle in my way. Two massive conifers had fallen right across my track, completely blocking it. I would've climbed over again but this time, there was a third about to fall that was leaning against these two. I needed a way around to keep myself the most out of danger. It was soggy mossy verge time! This you don't see in the video as I had to crawl into the dense forest. The branches were grabbing onto everything they could but I managed to get around and back down, thankfully dry. From the opposite side it looked just as threatening and I have no doubt the following morning the third tree would've joined the other two.
After all of that I began to feel a bit peckish and I stumbled upon some Lichen. It's a hybrid species of a fungus and an algae and is a wild food for you foragers out there. It doesn't taste particularly nice and it has the texture of an eraser but hey, in a pinch, it's food. I was very quickly stuffed from my one mouthful and continued on my way. The trail rose higher and twisted and turned until I was all of a sudden met by twin conifers stood immediately either side of the trail. They looked like the bouncers of the woods but luckily, I was allowed in as I had my I.D. on me. Around the following corner I was met by a huge gap in the forest where, looking left, I was met with an absolutely beautiful sight. A conifer pathway leading to a summit with the stunning sunset orange drenching everything it reached. I could've quite happily remained there for the evening just looking at that view but the strong north easterly wind was very present here and the trees made it a huge wind tunnel. Shame but still, so glad I got to witness that.
With winter hiking time does get away from you and already 2 hours had passed. I reached higher ground and could see evidence the sun was beginning to set. With just an hour and a half left I needed to get moving and of course, the world then saw it prudent to throw a huge obstacle in my way. Two massive conifers had fallen right across my track, completely blocking it. I would've climbed over again but this time, there was a third about to fall that was leaning against these two. I needed a way around to keep myself the most out of danger. It was soggy mossy verge time! This you don't see in the video as I had to crawl into the dense forest. The branches were grabbing onto everything they could but I managed to get around and back down, thankfully dry. From the opposite side it looked just as threatening and I have no doubt the following morning the third tree would've joined the other two.
After all of that I began to feel a bit peckish and I stumbled upon some Lichen. It's a hybrid species of a fungus and an algae and is a wild food for you foragers out there. It doesn't taste particularly nice and it has the texture of an eraser but hey, in a pinch, it's food. I was very quickly stuffed from my one mouthful and continued on my way. The trail rose higher and twisted and turned until I was all of a sudden met by twin conifers stood immediately either side of the trail. They looked like the bouncers of the woods but luckily, I was allowed in as I had my I.D. on me. Around the following corner I was met by a huge gap in the forest where, looking left, I was met with an absolutely beautiful sight. A conifer pathway leading to a summit with the stunning sunset orange drenching everything it reached. I could've quite happily remained there for the evening just looking at that view but the strong north easterly wind was very present here and the trees made it a huge wind tunnel. Shame but still, so glad I got to witness that.
After a further 300 meters I reached the point i'd been hiking to. I'd worked out it was 2.9km to this point from the initial wooden gate at the beginning of the forest. I had been using my pacing beads for the first time and reached this point just 15 paces out after all that way. I was so pleased with that. It was nice to navigate without a map or GPS and just simply count my way to this location. The next challenge will be to see how I fare in the mountains using this method. So now it was crunch time. I needed to get out of the forest, out in the open and up to this high point on the map i'd been randomly walking towards. I head up the track and ended up in what would be a turning circle for the logging trucks. Beyond that the track disappeared and became a vague pathway of bog, moss and heather. It soon became apparent I wasn't breaking through this way and I ended up very close to the previous track again when I saw a lovely slice between the trees leading to the location. Sure, it was now a steep, boggy, mossy, heathery mess BUT the target zone was now in sight... and once I reached the perimeter I was very much rewarded.
To my right was my first glimpse of the summit. A grassy, unassuming spot with a single large conifer growing out of the top of it and to my left, just a beautiful, rich sunset with conifers lining the left of my vision and rolling hills to the right. I was a little speechless at this point as I wasn't expecting anything from this hike. It was a cobbled together idea at the very last minute and it's turned out to be a great little adventure! I began my final ascent to the summit and my god this was a slog. It was very apparent this summit was not visited all that often as there's no evidence of tracks. The heather and mossy bog took me straight back to The Rhinogs back in October. Waist deep, unseen holes into the middle of the earth and one hell of a battle to get through... but the sun was setting so I had to fight on. On-route to, and just shy of the summit I found a great camping spot. It was like a perfect U shape with a 180-degree view of the sunset and great shelter from the wind. This will do nicely but first I need to reach the peak. Within 2 minutes the ground levelled off and the view all around was just stunning. The expanse of the Cambrian mountains soon became evident and what a great little playground it looks to be! I could even see Pumlumon Fawr to the north, the summit I should've been on and oh so close by. I'll get that another day. Right now, this place was absolute perfection and after touching the only feature on this summit to confirm i'd done it, a very bare, very young sapling, I head back down to the pitch, set up the tent and began to get settled... at least, I would've loved for that to be the story.
To my right was my first glimpse of the summit. A grassy, unassuming spot with a single large conifer growing out of the top of it and to my left, just a beautiful, rich sunset with conifers lining the left of my vision and rolling hills to the right. I was a little speechless at this point as I wasn't expecting anything from this hike. It was a cobbled together idea at the very last minute and it's turned out to be a great little adventure! I began my final ascent to the summit and my god this was a slog. It was very apparent this summit was not visited all that often as there's no evidence of tracks. The heather and mossy bog took me straight back to The Rhinogs back in October. Waist deep, unseen holes into the middle of the earth and one hell of a battle to get through... but the sun was setting so I had to fight on. On-route to, and just shy of the summit I found a great camping spot. It was like a perfect U shape with a 180-degree view of the sunset and great shelter from the wind. This will do nicely but first I need to reach the peak. Within 2 minutes the ground levelled off and the view all around was just stunning. The expanse of the Cambrian mountains soon became evident and what a great little playground it looks to be! I could even see Pumlumon Fawr to the north, the summit I should've been on and oh so close by. I'll get that another day. Right now, this place was absolute perfection and after touching the only feature on this summit to confirm i'd done it, a very bare, very young sapling, I head back down to the pitch, set up the tent and began to get settled... at least, I would've loved for that to be the story.
Within 5 minutes of having the tent pitched and changing into thicker layers I was recording the last of the sunset when all of a sudden I hear at least 2 dogs barking very close by. I instantly stop filming, drop the tent to the floor and began looking for the dogs. I kept out of sight by staying in a ditch and looking up to see where they were. I'm useless with dog types but they were large black dogs diving about nearby the summit and then out of view again. The concerning thing for me was I hadn't seen anyone all day and the sun had now set. I couldn't see the owner at all though and I just remember I kept repeatedly thinking "where are they?". The only plus I could draw from this was I had pitched where I was. If the conditions were better I would've been on the summit and would've been spotted. Also the wind was blowing my scent in the opposite direction so luckily, the dogs couldn't track me and thankfully, they left after just shy of an hour and I wasn't found. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me, there was probably no harm to it but still, not a pleasant experience. I'm very good at writing things like that off and getting on with my day so after a coffee, two beautiful steaks and some tasty snacks I was plunged into absolute darkness.
Darkness actually isn't the word, pitch black is correct. Close your eyes in a dark room and that is what it was like. Due to the thick cloud cover and no nearby cities there was no light into the area and in the video I show you just exactly what I mean. I attempted to adjust the image settings to see if the camera managed to pick anything up at all and there was nothing. I think that goes down as my darkest night as well! So after a few beers, some music and yes, more snacks I decide to call it a night. During the night the wind began playing tricks on me as all I could hear was whispers and murmuring, at least I hope it was the wind. I was that tired though I couldn't care less and slept pretty soundly all night.
Darkness actually isn't the word, pitch black is correct. Close your eyes in a dark room and that is what it was like. Due to the thick cloud cover and no nearby cities there was no light into the area and in the video I show you just exactly what I mean. I attempted to adjust the image settings to see if the camera managed to pick anything up at all and there was nothing. I think that goes down as my darkest night as well! So after a few beers, some music and yes, more snacks I decide to call it a night. During the night the wind began playing tricks on me as all I could hear was whispers and murmuring, at least I hope it was the wind. I was that tired though I couldn't care less and slept pretty soundly all night.
07:00 and the sun began to rise. While it wasn't frosty it was incredibly nippy. My anemometer read 1 degree but in the wind you're easily looking at -3. After breakfast and a good cuppa I pack my gear away and head up to the summit one final time. Other than the dogs, this was such a special little spot and one I was sad to leave behind. I gave the young sapling one final tap and then began my ascent down, heading north east towards a different track. I found that 2km away was a trail that reascended 130 meters up to a radio tower. In my head this was going to be an old World War 2 building so I was incredibly excited to go and see a bit of history. I paced my way through yet more dense, stunning conifer forest, passing babbling streams and wild animals until I reach the turning point.
Over a stile I head through farmers’ fields and reach a rather dodgy stile. It was sinking, angled, slippy and falling apart. As I climbed over it I didn't realise my jacket had become caught by barbed wire and I ended up tearing it slightly. Why have barbed wire next to a stile? It's just dangerous and the question marks continue to follow as I reached the top of the hill. A gate marked as part of the Wye Valley Walk was padlocked. No reason for it, the farmer had simply closed it off. I double checked where I actually was on GPS to make sure I hadn't gone wrong but as I say, it was marked as the route. No harm, I just climbed over it and continue on my way to this historical monument... except it really wasn't. I feared all it would be was a mobile mast and as I headed towards the outskirts of the farm there it was, an uninspiring, grey, very VERY boring mobile phone mast. Trust me to do that! All I could do was shake my head and laugh about it. It was still worth the ascent to see the valleys from that elevation. What is a little dodgy is the sheer number of cars this farmer has lying around. They all looked in various states of disrepair but there’s Land Rovers, Tractors, various Fords, Toyota pickups, Volkswagen Golf's, Peugeot 206's, old Citroen's plus so many others. A car dealer has as many cars, just theirs would work unlike these. There was a dodgy feeling walking through anyway so I didn't hang around long. I just followed the roads down towards the river where I started and headed back into the car park at Llangurig. What a great little adventure! I've not been to the Cambrian Mountains before but this area definitely needs some further exploring...
just less rogue dogs next time please Wales!
Thank you.
Over a stile I head through farmers’ fields and reach a rather dodgy stile. It was sinking, angled, slippy and falling apart. As I climbed over it I didn't realise my jacket had become caught by barbed wire and I ended up tearing it slightly. Why have barbed wire next to a stile? It's just dangerous and the question marks continue to follow as I reached the top of the hill. A gate marked as part of the Wye Valley Walk was padlocked. No reason for it, the farmer had simply closed it off. I double checked where I actually was on GPS to make sure I hadn't gone wrong but as I say, it was marked as the route. No harm, I just climbed over it and continue on my way to this historical monument... except it really wasn't. I feared all it would be was a mobile mast and as I headed towards the outskirts of the farm there it was, an uninspiring, grey, very VERY boring mobile phone mast. Trust me to do that! All I could do was shake my head and laugh about it. It was still worth the ascent to see the valleys from that elevation. What is a little dodgy is the sheer number of cars this farmer has lying around. They all looked in various states of disrepair but there’s Land Rovers, Tractors, various Fords, Toyota pickups, Volkswagen Golf's, Peugeot 206's, old Citroen's plus so many others. A car dealer has as many cars, just theirs would work unlike these. There was a dodgy feeling walking through anyway so I didn't hang around long. I just followed the roads down towards the river where I started and headed back into the car park at Llangurig. What a great little adventure! I've not been to the Cambrian Mountains before but this area definitely needs some further exploring...
just less rogue dogs next time please Wales!
Thank you.
