Cambrian Way: the Black Mountain

Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th August 2024

The rain that fell all through the night finally stopped in the morning and as I began to leave the campsite in Glyntawe I could see breaks in the clouds that promised better weather to come, though the rain had left everything wet and the ground saturated. I set off again on the Cambrian Way for the start of the eighth stage on a footpath that after crossing the River Tawe climbs up to the long ridge of Fan Hir. I have come down this ridge on several occasions, most recently in 2019, and it is much better done in that direction with views into the Swansea Valley before you, but on this occasion the clouds were still quite low so I didn’t have much to see, therefore I had little to relieve the tedium of a long ascent. My agony was prolonged for many hours as I plunged into the clouds while slowly making my way along the ridge with a steep escarpment to my right. I reflected that despite the lack of a view, walking in mist is an integral part of the mountain experience and I have lacked that this year. While passing over the unmarked highest point on Fan Hir I noticed that the sun was trying to break through the clouds with hints of blue sky overhead, but this disappeared while crossing Bwlch Giedd and during my ascent to the top of Fan Brycheiniog, the highest point on the Black Mountain. At the trig point the clouds began to break and soon after setting off down to Bwlch Blaen-Twrch the clouds suddenly cleared to reveal stunning views down the infant Afon Twrch and across the wide expanse of the Black Mountain.

On this mountain the best views are from the top of the northern edges and so as I slowly made my way along the path, passing over Picws Du, I stopped repeatedly to take many pictures in the stunning, sunny weather that had been suddenly revealed to me. Far below, Llyn y Fan Fach sat at the foot of the escarpment in a perfect bowl as I walked around the edge of Bannau Sir Gaer before slowly descending the broad, grassy slope off the mountain. It was great to be at the top of a mountain in bright sunshine so I was not happy to be coming back down so soon and especially with the knowledge that I would not be so high again for another week, but at least I was now heading north again after several days heading west while traversing the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. While on the mountain my way had been unimpeded by walls and fences but now I was at the bottom my way had become a lot more complicated with a complex network of footpaths that had to be negotiated with an early one being so overgrown with nettles I turned back and walked along the road instead, which led me into the village of Llanddeusant. As the location of a former youth hostel this is a place that I had been aware of for many years, but never been until now, so it was poignant to finally reach the village where I stopped for lunch and quietly contemplated my location while sitting beside the quaint, little church.

The Cambrian Way doesn’t go into Llanddeusant so after eating I retraced my steps along the road to an enclosed lane that led me to the edge of the open moorland where I slowly headed north while fatigue began to set in with the tedium. Before leaving the Bannau Brycheioniog I had to weave a course through a range of low, grassy hills, which summits on Mynydd Myddfai, where I had a last look behind me to the Black Mountain before finally descending onto a road that led me through the village of Myddfai and out of the National Park, which I had just traversed from south-east corner to north-west. I loved the opportunity to do so and was surprised to realise that this was the first time I had been in the area without my car. Ahead of me were the Cambrian Mountains and my next exciting adventure, but my onward progress was tedious and slow meandering along many different footpaths until eventually, after many hours, I finally crossed Waterloo Bridge and entered the town of Llandovery. The morning’s crossing of the Black Mountain had been sensational, especially after the clouds cleared, but the afternoon’s slow progress to Llandovery was exhausting and uninspiring. The following morning the weather was much worse with grey overcast skies and rain almost all day, which I was surprisingly not too bothered about as stage nine of the Cambrian Way is a relatively easy, level walk mostly along minor roads and tracks. With nothing to see through the misty conditions I just settled myself in for the day and enjoyed the easy walking. When I finally left the road, several hours later, the rain had eased and a wood-lined path brought me to the River Towy where an interesting path followed the river to bring me to a campsite near the village of Rhandirmwyn.

After the enjoyable walk beside the river, I stopped to have my lunch before continuing on the other side of the river along a tricky, undulating path until it finally brought me back onto a road and the best part of the day was over as the rain returned. All reports claim that the scenery in this valley is spectacular but I was not able to see that or appreciate it in the heavy rain. After passing the last farm in the valley I came off the road to follow a narrow path that delved deeper into the valley of the Afon Doethie and as I battled through dense bracken my only compensation was the purple flowers of heather that lined the path and seemed so bright against the grey background. This was a very tough and challenging walk where navigation was sometimes very difficult with one moment when I completely lost the path and had to wade through bogs and bracken to exhaustingly find the faint path again, while slowly through the afternoon I got soaked to the skin. Finally, mercifully, I came to a heavily eroded track that led me to Ty’n Cornell, one of the Elenydd Wilderness Hostels, where I received a warm welcome that included a cup of tea and a blazing fire. The biggest tragedy of this walk was not my getting saturated, but my not being able to see the stunning scenery that I had passed through, so I definitely want to come back next year and see the Doethie Valley at its best.