Black Mountains part 2

Saturday 19th February 2005 

 

I was staying at the Capel-y-Ffin Youth Hostel and decided that my walk for this day would start and finish from this hostel, which is something I'd never actually done before in all my previous visits to the Black Mountains. In fact I'd never stayed more than one day at a time there. So on a crisp Saturday morning I took the footpath that goes through the hostel, which I'd never taken before, passing the stables of the Black Mountains Holidays horse riding centre and rounded the hostel emerging onto the hillside. Turning left I headed up the hill to join the bridle path that skirts the side of Darren Lwyd. At the end of the hillside tongue I descended the slope past Pen-y-Maes onto the road through Capel-y-Ffin turning right off the road at the first farm and up the track to Y Fferm. I couldn’t see any footpath signs so I was afraid I might soon be hearing from an irate farmer; however my map indicates a path, even if it is now rather old. 

 

Once out onto open country I headed straight up the hillside turning slightly right when the hill steepened to climb up and join a bridle path. This is the path that I had taken the day before and with hindsight I wish I had used that path from its start at the Grange as this alternative route was muddier and steeper, but that's life! While climbing the hillside I realised that this day was going to be much colder than the previous as the mud underfoot was now mostly frozen solid. After passing over the top of the ridge I descended into the Grwyne Fawr valley and plunged into the Mynydd Du Forest. On reaching the valley road I crossed the river using a footbridge and climbed the hillside through the forest on the opposite side of the valley. Here I must admit I made a mistake (another one!). I wanted to walk up to Pen y Gadair Fawr and I intended on walking up the hill to the north of the forest, however, the best way would have been to have stayed in the forest and followed the tracks up the hillside, but I didn't do that. When I saw what I was doing I descended the steep hill again back down to the river and emerging from the forest began a long tedious climb up the hill. If I ever do this walk again please make sure I stay on the forest track. 

 

The summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr was very cold and windy, as the weather stayed for the whole day, but at least this was a proper summit unlike the top of Waun Fach, which was where I headed to next. Crossing the quagmire to Waun Fach was fun since it was still frozen, but it was already beginning to thaw so when I trod on the wrong bit of frozen mud my foot went straight through the thin ice. The summit of Waun Fach itself is also infamous for being a bit of a mud pit. The point on the plateau that most people take to be the summit is a big lump of rock surrounded by a huge pool of mud. The first time I was there was at Easter in 2002 when I was unable to reach the rock because of the mud. Later that year when I visited the summit again after a hot summer the mud was bone-dry so I was then able to reach the rock. This time I was also able to reach the rock but this time because the mud was frozen. Waun Fach is a rather depressing hill being less interesting than Pen y Gadair Fawr, but it does just happens to be the highest point in the Black Mountains. 

 

I descended along the northern ridge passing over Pen y Manllwyn traversing the col at the head of the Grwyne Fawr valley, climbing over a wire fence in the process. I was now on the northern extremities of the Black Mountains looking out over the wide Wye Valley. The views were stunning but the wind was also very strong and became stronger as the day progressed. While passing the trig point on Rhos Dirion I noticed that the ice encountered earlier in the day was now melting under the full heat of the sun. It had been convenient while it lasted during the crossing of the bog fields near Waun Fach but proved to be short-lived. Traversing the next wide col I ascended Lord Hereford's Knob or as I prefer to call it, Twmpa. I went to the top of this hill on my first day in the Black Mountains all those years ago  and enjoyed stunning views from the summit across the Wye Valley. I have returned many times since and each time my breath has been taken away by the views. I was now in very familiar territory in an area I have walked many times before.

Descending the path from Twmpa felt like being in such a perfect place; it was such a joy. The path is a little eroded in places but it still brought back memories of all those previous times that I have been in the Black Mountains. The col is known as the Gospel Pass and has a road passing through it with a car park that I have used many times in the past. Ahead of me was the rising bulk of Hay Bluff, a prominent feature that can be seen from a long way off. I had quite a battle to get to the top even though it's not steep, but the severity of the wind was making it very difficult. Eventually I reached the trig point and headed south towards the Offa's Dyke Path. Immediately the wind dropped as I moved away from the exposed edge of the escarpment. The rest of the walk was now simply a pleasure as I had a wonderful stroll along the Offa's Dyke Path on a section that I have walked many times before including on that first time in the Black Mountains. 

When I reached the crossing of paths where I'd joined the Offa's Dyke Path the day before I turned right and started descending the hillside on the same path I'd taken then. I was now walking down my favourite path back to Capel y Ffin in failing light as the day came to it's early February end. This path is always a pleasure and I don't know when I'll be walking on it again so I was feeling some regret when I finally reached Capel y Ffin and I had to say goodbye to the "End of the Rainbow". The ideal start and finish point for this walk would had been Capel y Ffin but instead I had started it from the hostel which was a couple of miles up the road so with aching limbs I struggled up the hill onto the bridle path and back to the hostel. 

 

I had a very pleasurable two days of walking in an area that contains a lot of memories for me. I spent one more day in the area but that was not spent walking, but in Hay-on-Wye, the Town of Books, somewhere I just have to visit at least once a year, if not twice. Even though I don't walk much in this area these days I still have to visit Hay-on-Wye, so maybe I will return to the Black Mountains again soon. I hope so.