[17th February 2025]

The forecast everywhere is horrendous. In Wales it's 30mph+ and -5 degrees Celsius with a -12 degree wind chill and the further up the country I look it only gets worse. SO Wales it is and i've decided that now is the time to reattempt my summit of Pumlumon Fawr, a lovely yet very exposed peak which, being an educated man, I should be avoiding yet here I am, ever proving that a top university degree doesn't actually make a person smart. I've checked the route to Llangurig... all clear. More importantly is the A44 leading up to Eisteddfa Gurig open this time... it is! Now there's no excuses. It's fair to say i'm a little apprehensive as a forecast like this can result in things going terribly wrong but I have a brand new 4 season sleeping bag to try out, plenty of water for brews and worst case scenario, I will only be 3km away from the car should I need to abandon ship. Let's head south to the Cambrian Mountains.

I arrive at the farmers home at Eisteddfa Gurig at 11:00, pop a tenner in the honesty box and begin the yomp up to the summit. Even here the wind was gusting and bringing a harsh chill with it. All of a sudden a dog appeared and came straight for me. This is it, the end! The dogs of the Cambrian mountains had warned me in December but I didn't listen... luckily this dog, Callie, was actually a sweet, inquisitive little pup that just wanted me to play with her. The two gents walking her shouted after her but she was having too much fun with me to listen. Having stopped to speak to them we all went off on our way. This trail is very easy going as it's an old road up towards Plynlimon Lead Mine so would've been used by vehicles transporting the raw ore. What is amazing with this area is just how instantly you feel alone, just me and the wild, just how I like it. One thing I really like is when the cloud cover is so low you end up hiking into it. Always leaves you wondering what you'll find when you get to the top. After just shy of 40 minutes I reach the mine. There's remnants of buildings, a huge iron winding wheel along with gears, the spoil heaps and dam are still here which is fascinating to see however, there are reports of shafts still in existence but I couldn't find them. Dense fog probably isn't the best of conditions to go hunting them down anyway. Feeling i've explored as much as I can of the mine my attention turns towards Pumlumon Fawr. It looks pretty wild up there and here I am, putting one foot in front of the other heading straight towards the chaos.

The more I climb, the thicker the ice and snow becomes and the wind speeds start to become challenging to hike against. Then I see it, the only stile I need to cross before reaching the trig. What's fascinating is how the ice has built up on the wire fence. It's like thick slices of bread have been glued to the wire! I've never seen anything like that before. I gingerly cross over the stile and out of the fog appears the trig, impressively frozen just like the fence and stile. The rocks surrounding it are very slippy so I need to be careful here... team that with the winds beating me up, that should explain why my footage at the summit was a little wobbly! Sorry about that. Apologies aside, I get out of the brutal conditions and plan my next move. Just 20 meters down I found an area that was oddly out of the wind and very still... perfect for a wild camp spot.
 
It is early, it's only 14:30 but other than the two gents right at the start of the hike I haven't seen anyone so it's time to get setup. I love just how fast the Bandicoot can be pitched. If you leave the inner attached to the outer tent it's just a case of sticking the poles in and pegging it down. Shelter up and gear distributed I treat myself to a brew to warm up and watch the effects of the wind on the Fawr. The clag should've cleared a couple of hours ago and as time went on it was clear this would be in for the night... or would it?

It's now 18:00 and almost completely dark. With nothing to do I treated myself to my first beer but then, I briefly saw part of the sky clear so quickly get my boots on and return to the summit to hopefully capture the scenery. As I get close to the stile the winds were now 30mph+ and in them the temperature is a chilling -9 degrees. I stayed up here for about 10 minutes before I conclude there is going to be no view and now frozen stiff. I make the 20 meter descent back to the tent where I promptly put some cozy layers on and make another brew. Conditions like this will kill if unprepared. I've been in sticky situations in the past scrambling down a waterfall or ascending a scree-ridden near vertical mountain face but i've never experienced the raw effect of winter conditions. I usually do stay at home to avoid them but as I say, i'm prepared for this and was enjoying the new challenges this brought with it. Now warmed up I take some pictures of the area and sky (capturing all of 3 stars, better than nothing), enjoy the remainder of my beer and then get settled in my sleeping bag to be up early for sunrise. All I can hear around me is the roaring wind but here, only an occasional light breeze would stroke the tent walls... what an amazing pitch.

Morning. The temperatures had further fallen in the night down to -5 and in the wind, -12 degrees... definitely the coldest temperatures i've camped in but my new Vango Nightstar 450 sleeping bag is so toasty and comfortable I felt like I was at home in bed. Definitely found it tough to get up this morning BUT we have a job to do... capture this view! With breakfast and a coffee in the system I began packing the tent away when the sky and summit all suddenly came into view for a few seconds. I had a good feeling about this so quickly packed everything in the bergen, thanked my camping spot for a fantastic evening and reascended Pumlumon Fawr for the final time. At the stile I could see the trig, but would I get the view?

The view vaguely became visible before disappearing back into the clag where it had been for 20 hours. She was trying... "come on" I keep saying to myself. Behind me my camping spot cleared and I could see just how close to the summit I really was. It was more like 10 meters difference, not 20 but I couldn't dwell on that as the clear patch blew over the trig and out to the west... then wow... there's the view i'd been waiting for! For just 10 seconds I was gifted views of the Nant-Y-Moch Reservoir, summits Banc Llechwedd-Mawr and Drosgol among others and in the distance the beautiful Cambrian forest. Then as long as it took for you to read that sentence it was all gone back into the clag and never returned. YES!!!! I shout... That was well worth getting up for. If I hadn't the video would just have to have other people's pictures put on it which really wouldn't be the same. Thank you Pumlumon Fawr for granting me those 10 amazing seconds and for a beautiful night in the wild but now, it's time to head back to the car and to normality. I head south, leaving the trig to once again disappear into the cloud and reach the Dyll Faen forest. I follow it's bordering fence line until I reach a fantastic viewpoint of the Cambrian Mountains, take all of that in, and say one final goodbye before returning to the farm and the car. What a great 24 hours in the wild. This trip will be one I will remember for a very long time and has definitely got me eager to get out in the winter again. That said, the next time i'll be out is April where it should be considerably warmer. What will that adventure bring? I can't wait to find out. Here's to the next ruck!