Pumlumon

Saturday 9th September 2006

I was off on holiday again and for the third time in the year I was heading into Wales to the familiar territory of the Brecon Beacons. But first I wanted to go up a hill in an area I'd never walked before: the Cambrian Mountains, Elenydd, and specifically its highest point: Pumlumon. I parked next to the dam for Nant-y-Moch Reservoir and walked along the tarmacked road to Maesnant and further along the track into the Hengwm valley. Now things became a little rough with a track that wasn't so much boggy as under three inches of water, so it was with considerable relief that I eventually arrived at the foot of Craig yr Eglwys and left the saturated path behind me.

Ahead of me were crags in abundance that afforded me with plenty of opportunity for easy scrambling routes, so by carefully picking routes that have plenty of handholds I made my way up the rocks. The scrambling was fun but sadly over far too quickly with the top revealed to be the dull moorland of Bryn Cras. After visiting a magnificent, tall cairn nearby I followed my GPS heading up the gentle slopes of Bryn Cras to a small lake beside a fence and a boundary stone marked "W.W.W. 1865". There I had my lunch before heading up the hill to the top of Pumlumon Arwystli.

Beyond Pen Pumlumon Arwystli I passed over a nameless top (727m) above the source of the River Wye and proceeded up the steep hill to Pen Pumlumon Fawr, the highest point on Pumlumon. After a while spent admiring the view and taking pictures of the summit I continued south beside the fence to the edge of a wood where I turned right and climbed to the top of Y Garn. With the last top completed I began the long descent back to my car walking across pathless, grassy slopes of Drum Peithnant coming down near the Nant-y-moch stream to a road not far from the dam. This wasn't a bad walk as it had quite a bit of variety, but after my recent epic walks it seemed a little short, but that wasn't such a bad thing as I had driven there from home in the morning and then I had a long drive to Brecon at the end of the walk.