I got this walk from the Wild Walks section of the TGO magazine which I have been subscribed to, but it’s taken me until now to actually do one of the walks from the magazine. This one is number ten from the Autumn 2011 issue and starts in the village of Bwlch which as the name suggests lies on a pass. Starting from there I climbed onto the moorland north of the village and soon I was plunging into clouds. Despite the miserable weather this was an enjoyable walk along a clear track beside a wall, with heather and bracken on the ground, and cairns and burial mounds dotted around the hillside, which added interest to the walk. After a while I left the path and tried to look for the trig point, but I had no idea where I was going in the misty conditions. The path to the summit does leave the track I had been on, but it is a clear path that cannot be missed. In my impatience I took the first narrow sheep-trod I could see and ended up way too far south. Eventually I found the right path and reached the trig point on Mynydd Llangorse.
Descending north from the top brought me down to a terrific ridge dropping below the clouds to views left towards Llangors Lake and right down Cwm Sorgwm, but also to very strong winds. At the bottom of the pass the wind wasn't so bad but from there I had to climb the steep unrelenting slopes of Mynydd Troed. Over the last ten or more years I have been all over the Black Mountains, except for these two hills on the western edge. My first mountain walks were in this area, but these two hills got left out, and there was no reason for it. Mynydd Troed is just like all the rest with steep sides and a broad moorland ridge on top. One rarely meets another soul in the Black Mountains as one strides along the broad ridges and that is just the way I like it. After an age that never seemed to end I eventually reached the trig point at the top of Mynydd Troed and there I had my lunch. Setting off from the summit along the south-western ridge I followed a faint path to near the end of the ridge and then I went it alone as I tried to find a way down the southern slopes.
The description of this walk in TGO magazine wasn’t clear on the route at this point but a closer look at the attached map reveals that it doesn’t take the same route that I took. The ridge of Mynydd Troed narrows quite markedly at its south-western tip and the route on the map follows this down until the ridge broadens again. If the weather had been better I would have probably taken this route but while still in the clouds I dropped down the steep southern slopes west of this terminating ridge. This was a tricky descent on a very steep slope that only led me to more trouble in a very boggy gathering ground of waters. My map indicates that a bridlepath starts at this point but aside from a dilapidated stile there was no sign of the path. The enclosed lane that the path once followed was completely overgrown so I ended up descending the water-logged field alongside. Eventually I reached the road at the bottom of Cwm Sorgwm and then I had to find a way across the valley.
Once again the path seemed to be overgrown so I walked up a steep road, past Blaenau-draw farm, onto the hillside above where I climbed a well-graded path that led me back onto the hilltop near Pen Tir. I didn't bother going to the top of Pen Tir but settled with visiting a cairn near the col before venturing back towards Mynydd Llangorse until I picked up my outward path, which I followed all the way back down to Bwlch. This was a pleasant descent with the clouds now having lifted slightly to afford me with views that I hadn’t been able to see during my ascent as I followed the track back to Bwlch. Despite the grotty weather this was a nice walk in an area of the Black Mountains that I hadn't been in before. Mynydd Troed felt as if it had been tagged onto the middle of the walk, but the southern slopes of Mynydd Llangorse more than made up for any problems that I encountered elsewhere in the walk; it was a pleasure to walk those slopes in both ascent and descent.
Once again the path seemed to be overgrown so I walked up a steep road, past Blaenau-draw farm, onto the hillside above where I climbed a well-graded path that led me back onto the hilltop near Pen Tir. I didn't bother going to the top of Pen Tir but settled with visiting a cairn near the col before venturing back towards Mynydd Llangorse until I picked up my outward path, which I followed all the way back down to Bwlch. This was a pleasant descent with the clouds now having lifted slightly to afford me with views that I hadn’t been able to see during my ascent as I followed the track back to Bwlch. Despite the grotty weather this was a nice walk in an area of the Black Mountains that I hadn't been in before. Mynydd Troed felt as if it had been tagged onto the middle of the walk, but the southern slopes of Mynydd Llangorse more than made up for any problems that I encountered elsewhere in the walk; it was a pleasure to walk those slopes in both ascent and descent.
No comments:
Post a Comment