Three books

I was looking for Tom Hutton’s new book and found these three books on the Halsgrove site. Haven’t read them, so this is just for your info really.

 

 

A Boot Up The Brecon Beacons

A Boot up the Brecon Beacons is a collection of ten easy to moderate walks in and around the glorious Brecon Beacons National Park. They are especially written with families and groups of friends in mind looking for an active and interesting day out. Local expert,Tom Hutton, takes you from the tops of the highest mountains to the floors of the most spectacular valleys, highlighting plenty of fascinating points of interest along the way.

Enjoying the Brecon Beacons

The marketing slogan chosen for the Welsh National Parks of “Britain’s breathing spaces” was never more appropriate than in the Brecon Beacons. The vast majority of the seven million annual visitors to the National Park come from the valleys of South Wales, for whom it has been a vital lung and escape route for generations.

Since before the rapid growth and later decline of the coal mining industry, the Beacons had beckoned the people of the Rhondda and the other South Wales valleys by the striking contrast provided by their clean, fresh air and wonderful vistas to their grim everyday working conditions.

It was the proximity to the populations of these dark, industrial landscapes which was one of the major reasons for the designation of the National Park. Even today only 32,000 people actually live within the National Park, but its catchment area for potential day visitors runs into millions.

This practical visitor guide, published in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park authority to mark the Park’s 50th anniversary, gives you everything you need for an enjoyable visit to the Brecon Beacons. After a regional breakdown in geographical areas, the guide looks at the Park’s history, human and natural, and lists things to do and places to visit, ending with a useful gazetteer of towns and villages.

Portrait of the Brecon Beacons

From the majesty of the Beacons themselves to the intimate detail of remote mountain llyns, cwms and the elusive wildlife and flora of the area, Tom Hutton’s portrait of the area is unlike anything seen before. It will become a must on the bookshelves of Beacon lovers everywhere.

Vote for your favourite walk

Times Travel are asking you to vote for your favourite walk in the UK. Mine isn’t there, but some of the walks that are in the list are pretty damned good!

Brecon Beacons Horseshoe, Snowdon summit, Oxwich Bay anyone?

http://twtpoll.com/ievkij

Waun Fach – Black Mountains and motorcycles

We took a trip over to the Black Mountains last weekend, the first for months, to explore an area we haven’t walked in before.

We parked up in a village just below Talgarth called Pengenffordd, dropped the landlord of The Castle Inn a pound for all day parking and promised we’d be back for a pint later in the day.

A well signposted but evil little climb across fields to the remains of a Norman castle (most of it now seems to make up the dry stone walls on surrounding farm land) led us to a spectacular ridge walk along the ‘Dragons Back’ to the summit of Y Grib (SO193310).

Dragons Back from the remains of the castle

Sadly, there was plenty of evidence of motorcycle erosion everywhere. The National Park is suffering badly – the damage these bastards are doing makes me want to weep. We saw a group of around six on the climb up to Waun Fach. They had stopped, but as we approached, they sped off, ripping up the paths, wheels spinning, with no respect for the mountain or other mountain users. You could see they ruts they had made for miles.

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority seem to be struggling with the situation.

I walked with the Ramblers a couple of years ago and we encountered a large group of bikes around Talybont, ripping Torpantau to shreds. The Ramblers were pretty confrontational, taking photographs and blocking paths – it all got a bit dangerous as the bikes started to buzz us – and I am talking mere inches at 20 or 30 mph. I don’t know what the answer is – but it has to stop. I have never seen evidence of motorbikes in the Lakes or the Peak District - has anyone else? Is it a problem where you walk?. They are ruining the Brecon Beacons and tourism will suffer. When they are all dressed up like something out of the X-Games and hurtling past you at speed, they are pretty intimidating. The BBNPA started to fight back last May, so hopefully, they will continue fighting these idiots.

Looking west from Waun Fach

The climb up to Waun Fach (SO215299) (the highest point of the Black Mountains) gave fantastic views west and although the sun was bright, the temperature dropped considerably and the Montane Featherlite smocks went on for the descent. The area below the summit skirts a stunning valley that is crisscrossed with superb bridle paths for riding and mountain biking. The route could easily be extended along the valley side to the summit of Pen Twyn Glas and on to Pen Allt-mawr (SO206243).

We dropped down into the greenest of valleys (Wales in springtime – it’s so oversaturated, soooooo green!) and through ancient green lanes and farm tracks back to the car and a perfect pint of Reverend James.

Dropping down from the summit – the highest point in the Black Mountains at around 2650 feet

The Caste Inn has a bunkhouse and camping if you fancy exploring this region of the Beacons. It is beautiful and empty, even in the height of summer.

If you would like to report an incident involving illegal off-roading in the National Park, contact Dyfed Powys Police on 0845 330 2000.

 

Grab the Memory Map .MMO file here. Here is the .GPX for Martin! Not sure about the quality as it was an automatic conversion.

Welsh Space Invaders

One for all you 40 something's out there. If you are Welsh, or know and love Wales… even better.

Have fun! Welsh Space Invaders.

How Welsh are you?

Happy St David’s Day

To celebrate the feast day of our very own St David, my company have devised a ‘How Welsh are you?’ test for our good friends over at www.wales.com.

Even if you are born and bred in Caerphilly, it may still hold a few surprises for you. You don’t need to be Welsh to have a go and you even get a certificate celebrating your honorary Welshness at the end of it.

Brechfa [take two]

I took the drive up to Brechfa again this weekend after Tim emailed me to say the trails were clear and dry.

I rode the blue and green Derwen trails twice – best fun I have had on a bike since I was a kid jumping over lines of my mates. You can grab the trail maps here.

I was enjoying too much to take photos, but check out this handy site to get a flavour, maps and gpx’s.

Going back real soon to ride the red Gorlech.

Tried my new (2nd hand) Ergon grips – these babies are MADE for the forty-something mountain biker. So comfy, I forgot I had hands.

Thanks to my next door neighbour, Steve, for recommending them :)

A perfect day

Sarah and I dropped the boys off at their (wonderful) Gramps and we headed into the Beacons to climb Corn Du in the snow. Fabulous weather, fabulous snow and first class entertainment thanks to the big yellow helicopter that was on exercise.

We did the hike in trail shoes (I had some scree gaiters to keep out the snow). I don’t think I’ll be wearing my Scarpa’s again in a hurry :)

Java break before the summit.

These icicles were 20 feet plus.

“Just the two of us…”

Never needed the SARF, but it’s nice to know they are there.

In a rush to get a pint in the Penycae Inn.

Bye bye

After some strange goings on with planning permission in the BBNP, the CE is off to pursue a new career...

Statement on Departure of CEO

Press release on the departure of Christopher Gledhill from the Authority

Chairman Mrs Mary Taylor confirmed that with effect from today, 2 December 2008, the former Chief Executive Mr Christopher Gledhill has left the employment of the National Park Authority to pursue a new career.

In the interim period, Mr John Cook will continue as Acting Chief Executive until a permanent replacement is appointed.

Two wheels

I’ve been getting back into mountain biking recently after a few years spending my hill time on my feet.

I bought my first MTB back in 1988 – a beautiful black Cannondale SM700 (but with an upgraded Deore XT groupset). That bike cost me a whole terms grant. I still have it and it’s now set up as my touring/commuting bike.

The pages from the original catalogue I drooled over as a student

Back then, I did a bit of racing. The sport was so young, I was lining up against the likes of Paul Hinton, David Baker and Tim Gould, the elite racers of the time (Tim is actually in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado). No suspension, no disc brakes, no Camelbaks and normally no helmets.

My current bike (a 1999 Marin B17) is full bounce, 6” rear and 4” front, and I’ve had some good times belting around the woods or riding the purpose built trail centres around Wales. But I’m a bit more concerned about busting a collar bone or ending up impaled on a pine stump these days (family to feed and all that).

1999 Marin B17

So I am going back to my cross country (XC) roots – basically enjoying a good walk but on two wheels. The Beacons are criss-crossed with bridleways and the park positively encourages MTBers.

Back in the 80’s, it was a very different story – probably because MTB’s were brand new, just over from Cali’ and cyclists were taking to the hills for the first time, so riders didn’t know that a lovely twisting singletrack footpath wasn’t fair game and that it was bad sport to use a snoozing sheep as a ramp. Walkers were pissed off with lunatics flying past them at 30mph, ripping up paths and the sheep weren’t ecstatic either. It really was a battleground out there.

These day, the sport is mature, XC riders know and respect the hills as much as any walker and the kamikaze ‘downhiller’ fringe have pretty much confined themselves the FC trail centres.

I managed to find a great little book on riding in the Peak District for when I am staying with  my folks and another set of MTB routes in the Beacons. These books, combined with Memory Map and my Road Angel, are going to give me a whole new way to get out into the hills.

My B17 isn’t much good at this XC stuff, the geometry is all wrong, it doesn’t climb well, the bounce is too bouncy and it’s starting to creak a bit. So the hunt is on for a replacement.

I am lucky to have the acquaintance of Guy Kesteven, the gear guru from ‘What Mountain Bike’ and ‘MBUK’ magazine – we work with him on the MBWales website my company developed for Visit Wales. I have been firing off “What about this one Guy?” emails knowing that he has ridden and wrecked more bikes that most.

I have almost made up my mind.

Out west – Day 1

I had a few days free a couple of weeks ago, so I packed up and went to west Wales to do some proper camping and exploring.

Cardigan was just a few miles away, so I popped into Howies.

Howies is a very smooth brand turning out some rather special clothing – their marketing is world renowned and I always look forward to their catalogues, emails or any other ‘little something’ they may send to amuse me into purchasing. Timberland acquired a chunk of them last year, but all the fears of what damage a nasty megabrand could do to them dissolved into nothing. They are still the same, but with a few more quid behind them, which is good for all involved I suppose.

I left quite a few £’s lighter with an Epic cotton waterproof jacket and a shirt I like so much I might frame it.

BTW, my favourite ever tee shirt is a ‘Howies’ and I am going to wear it until it falls to bits.

On to Boncath

I stayed at Rhydhowell Farm campsite, just outside the small village of Boncath (pronounced 'Bonkers' with a lisp) for my three nights in Pembs. I found it via the Campfires Burning website and when I emailed the chap who owns the farm and asked him if it was OK to cook on an open fire, he replied with “How else would you cook when camping!” I booked immediately.

The farm is run by John Quinn, and Englishman farming in the heart of rural Wales and a true gentleman. He has a beautiful property, dating back to the 1790’s, but he has been resident for the past 35 years. The farm is over seventy acres with a large percentage of it a stunning semi ancient wooded valley that would have the bushcraft boys sharpening their Mora’s in anticipation (don’t worry, he has plans for you!) John has set a path through the woods that makes it accessible to most who can handle a gentle stroll – he gave me a guided tour with his sheepdog Sally at his side.

The campsite is very basic, with a loo that I couldn’t use (I’m an arachnophobe) and an old static caravan that contains a sink for washing up, a decent WC and a hot shower. He has piped water into the various fields that he has set aside for campers and has fire pans dotted around for his campers to use.

I stayed in one of his ‘hideaway’ pitches – small enclosures set aside for a more private camping experience. The pitch had a fine group of Douglas Firs at one end and enough room for several tents. Sadly, the firs were just too far apart for me to hang my Clarke Jungle Hammock – a night in that will have to wait just a bit longer.

Rhydhowell is one of those sites that when you find it, you want to keep it a secret. But that wouldn’t be fair to John, who is trying his best to make a simple but beautiful campsite for those that would rather have a more natural camping experience.

Just don’t tell anyone else.

I set up the Bison Lavvu, got comfy (and I mean comfy – lots of luxuries come with me when car camping – a real bed, a fridge, rugs, chair and a gas cooker with a grill) and settled down to cook ratatouille over the fire and slug a bottle of wine while watching the flames flickering.

It was a very cold night due to the crystal clear skies and my RayWay quilt struggled to keep me warm, but l also bought my down backpacking quilt just in case. Had a damned good nights sleep.

Out west – Day 2

Today was Preseli Hills day.

As I was on my own (you need two cars) and I wasn’t sure if the local hiker’s bus was running, I decided not to walk the full 8 mile end to end route. I parked up in Crymych and quickly stomped up Foel Drygarn and then onto Carn Sian and back down to the van creating a short circular route.

Although not particularly high, the Preseli Hills have a character all of their own and the really do feel ancient and mystical. A quick bit of research will tell you that the stones from Stonehenge came from here and all sorts prehistoric remains have been found – the place is riddled with sacred sites.

I then drove to the western end of the range and climbed up to the highest point, Foel Cwmcerwyn at 536 metres past decimated forestry and a few very boggy sections. The view from the top was stupendous – I could even see the Gower peninsular. It was also obvious that this route could be extended, staying fairly high, pretty much all the way to the sea. Lots more exploring to be done another time.

I got chatting to a ‘local’ walker on the top who told me that on a clear winter’s day, you could see Snowdon and the Beacons from this summit. We stayed chatting and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours discussing everything from a love of wine to pickling chillies on the walk back down to the cars. Sorry, I never asked your name, but your old black lab’ was called Jasper I think.

Driving in this part of Wales is amusing to say the least. I saw at least two cars with no number plates or tax – one of these came screaming around a corner towards me and the driver had a large dog on his lap. He waved as he passed.

Back to camp and a fantastic meal of vegetable and paneer kebabs marinated in lemon, basil and olive oil. You can’t cook like that when you are backpacking. I phoned Sarah who was in Paris with the kids and my in-laws paying homage to Mickey Mouse and I think I was a little too pissed to hold a totally coherent conversion. I can’t remember.

Out west – Day 3

         

The day started with a stunning sunrise, a solid cooked breakfast and lots of proper coffee to shake off a minor hangover.

       

I drove out to Strumble Head to walk a section of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path that my mate Tim had recommended. The weather was perfect, blue skies, turquoise seas, hot sun and tourist free roads. It was immediately obvious that something was going on. Groups of people peered over the top of huge cliffs down into shady bays – ‘twitchers’ I thought, until I heard the crazed honking of dozens of fluffy white seal pups. This was a first for me.

I walked out to Trwyn Llwyd and back and on every inaccessible beach were groups of pups with the parents lazily sloshing around in the shallows seemingly enjoying the attention of the onlookers.

I was sitting on a hot rock in blazing sun eating my lunch when a glistening white ferry left Fishguard harbour and disappeared into St Georges Channel. It reminded me of months spent on the Greek Islands when I left college. I had to remind myself that it was almost October and this was the end of one of the worst summers I could remember.

I stopped at the amazing Pwll Deri Youth Hostel perched on the cliffs under Garn Fawr and filled up my water bottle. (When I got home, it turned out that my next door neighbour’s sister-in-law was warden there for years. What a perfect place to live).

I got back to the van tired, dehydrated and footsore. Looks like my trusty Salomon’s have finally had enough with around 400 miles of rough terrain under their belts. (Just bought some new ones, with a GTX lining for the winter – no way I’m going back to boots).

Back at base was another perfect evening cooking on embers, drinking organic cider from Hereford (nearly Welsh) and listening to all manner of creatures 'doing stuff’ in the trees over my head.

The wild west

I spent a few glorious days in west Wales last week. I'm in love.

More soon.

Top Gear

Spotted this on a campsite in the Beacons recently.

I'm in love.

Pencelli Castle

I took advantage of the finest weekend of this miserable Welsh summer and took Aaron (6) for a quick Saturday night camp in the Brecon Beacons. It was really a reccy to check out a 'proper' campsite that we could use for family camping weekends.

Pencelli Castle is a family owned site at the foot of Pen-y-fan, on the road between Brecon and Talybont on Usk. It's the site of a real castle, built around 1080 A.D. although no evidence of remains apart from the moat.

The site has three areas - The 'Orchard' and the 'Oaks' are set up for caravans and those campers that need electricity and furthest from the facilities (more about those in a minute) is the magnificent 'Meadow'.

The Meadow is reserved solely for tents and is a very large gently sloping and perfectly manicured field surrounded by trees and broken up by conservation areas of un-mown grass, trees and shrubs. At the bottom of the field runs the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal.

I'm not one to get excited by campsite facilities, I'm happy with a clean stream and a place to dig a cathole, but when you have a family in tow, good toilets and showers make for a much nicer experience. The accolades these guys have collected are pretty impressive, they are Visit Wales 5 Star rated, have won every 'Loo of the Year' award since the 12th century, have won several Campsite of the Year awards and a few Wales in Bloom awards for the attractive landscaping and floral touches (all the waste and water areas have a trellis surround with climbing roses hiding the plastic bins).

We set up camp in a quiet but very soggy area of the Meadow. Although the weekend was hot and sunny, the ground was very waterlogged and some areas of the closely cut lawns looked more like Ypres than South Wales. Quite a few people were getting stuck, making the ruts and mud even worse, but we had big tyres and 4WD and this combo didn't make the slightest impression on the ground.

At around lunchtime, Aaron said he couldn't eat his lunch because his loose front tooth had turned around and was facing the wrong way. After a few minutes, he plucked up the courage and let me pull it out - he must have been pretty hungry!

We cooked on the Grilliput and our Cadac Safari Chef combo and slept comfortably on a big fat airbed. As the meadow was 'the scene of many a bloody battle', we expected a disturbed night, but it was pretty uneventful apart from Aaron managing to wriggle out of his sleeping bag and waking in the early hours shivering.

Next morning, we checked out the facilities and showered to piped classical music. They also have family bathrooms, the usual washing up and food prep areas, laundry, drying room and an information room full of stuff to help you make the most of your time there. There is a funky little play area and a red deer enclosure for the kids. Everything is immaculate, even the bike and boot wash areas.

All of this loveliness comes at a price though - some quick mental arithmetic  - £35.00 a night for Sarah, myself and the three boys. That is pretty steep for a campsite IMHO (It looks like that is pretty average after all - see comments). But it can't be cheap maintaining Pencelli Castle to such high standards and I didn't see an Aston Martin parked in the owners driveway.

We packed up after lunch and went for a stroll along the canal to Talybont on Usk (good pubs and food) and then drove the long way home up through the mountains via Talybont Reservoir, Taf Fechan and Pontsticill. We stopped for a Miss Whippy (ice cream ;) and watched the Brecon Mountain Railway steam engine puff through the hills.

One last stop off to walk across the 92 foot high Pontsarn viaduct just north of Merthyr Tydfil and it was onto the Heads of the Valleys road and back to sunny Swansea to dry out the dew soaked tent.

Wonderful weekend :)

Brecon Beacons - the movie

Ben Fogle has teamed up with Iolo Williams for a new DVD produced by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.

  

The DVD apparently looks at everything from wildlife to hang gliding. The DVD has a 'bonus feature' - a 26 minute film celebrating 50 years of the Park.

“When you travel around the Park you get to see its breathtaking beauty and diversity – and that’s what we’ve tried to capture in the DVD,” says Iolo. “As well as being one of Britain’s ‘breathing spaces’, this National Park really does have hidden depths – miles of caves and tunnels, created by underground rivers over millions of years!”

Next time I am in Libanus, I'll pick up a copy for review.

You can check out a trailer and buy it for £9.99 here.

Aaron's mountain

A couple more shots from Aaron's first big hill day, taken by Dave Griffin, a good friend and superb photographer working out of Swansea. Check out his work here and his Flickr stuff here.

Aaron and me, just about to cross from Corn Du to Pen y Fan.

 

River crossing below Corn Du. The first wet foot of the day for kiddo!

Aaron's first big Welsh one

Aaron, my eldest (6), had his first big mountain experience today. Well, big for South Wales anyway!

We met up with Alan and Dave this morning at about 8.00am, and dashed up to Storey Arms and climbed Corn Du and Pen y Fan via Y Gyrn. It was only a 5 mile jaunt, but we topped out at about 2900 feet.

Aaron even saw his first Red Kite - it flew straight over our heads and then off down towards the Swansea Valley.

We had a great morning and it was good to catch up with Al and Dai, but the day belonged to Aaron and he had a fab time :)

It was a bit of a double whammy for Aaron - he learnt to ride a bike yesterday too.

Out at last

A few weeks ago, we finally managed to get so hill time, exploring an area we don't visit too often.

We went back to Capel-y-ffin (Last visited February 2007) to walk a 13 mile circular route taking in a boring bit of Offa's Dyke Path, the fantastic views from Hay Bluff and the serious stomp up Lord Hereford's Knob (or 'Twmpa', but that isn't half as much fun).

From Twmpa, it was a pretty gentle stroll along the ridge of Tarren yr Esgob to the Blacksmiths Anvil, (which is disappointingly just a waymark stone that doesn't even look remotely like an anvil). Rain started picking and by the time we reached the steep drop down the Tarren yr Esgob cliffs, it was pouring heavily and we were immersed in a full blown thunder storm. The forecast had predicted it, so we were prepared, but they got the timing wrong.

We didn't bother with waterproofs as we were soaked anyway and it was a warm day, so soggily,  it was straight to The Skirrid Inn, the oldest pub in Wales in which more than 100 people were hanged in the stairwell. It's a favourite with ghosthunters and has been visited by Yvette Feilding and her team. As it was a Bank Holiday weekend, the place was teeming with people scaring the shite out of each other. Apparently, there was a group coming later that evening and they would spend the whole night sitting in the bar, drinking strong coffee and tweaking the dials on there monitoring equipment.

Anyway, a spookily good (but uneventful) meal and a pint or two later and we were aquaplaning back down the valley to Swansea, still a little moist but with that happy 'fresh air 'n' a pint' glow about us.

Rinog Fach Wildcamp 2

Another test post - Alan about to filter from Llyn Hywel.

Rhinog Fach Wildcamp

Picasa test post - posting to Blogger directly from Picasa

The highest man in south Wales

Saturday saw me taking the tourist path to Pen-y-fan (pronounced 'pennavan' not penny fan!). I have never been up this way - up Y Gyrn to Corn Du, across to PyF and then straight back down to the Storey Arms car park. I was trying it out to see if my eldest son (5 yrs) could manage it.

Tourist paths are everything that is bad about letting twats onto mountains - beer cans, fag packets, urine soaked tissues tucked under stones, toddlers in tee shirts and plimsolls (in bloody October!). Out comes the sun, up go the twats.

Thing is, it's a beautiful mountain with stunning views of the whole park. Sit on the edge looking over towards Cribyn, put your fingers in your ears to block out the delighted exclamations of the masses... "Thassa view'n'arf, innit...f'kin lush that", and you have a world class mountain experience.



An hour up, a quick stand on the summit cairn (886m) and 30 mins back down.

There are much, much better ways of climbing PyF - the classic horseshoe from the Upper Neuadd Reservoir being my favourite. But I don't think my boy is ready for that yet. I want to take him up as there is a certain delight in saying "I'm the highest person in south Wales right at this moment" that he will love.

As usual, fungi is everywhere at the moment. I forgot my guide so I left everything where it was and tried out the macro button on my Canon. Can anyone help identify these?

Bushcraft fun

We had a day in the woods on Saturday with Dryad Bushcraft run by a fella called Andrew Price, here on Gower Peninsula.

They run several courses and we opted for the one day starter course, set in private woodland about 10 mins from home.

Alan, myself and Alans son, Robert, together with three other folk, were taught to light fires by friction (Al was the super hero at this - said his carpenters skills helped), make fire using a piece of flint, campfire cookery including some fantastic beer bread (flour and beer in a Dutch Oven), tarp'n'hammock set up and then a foraging expedition.

It was a slow paced, relaxing day with two instructors who lived for the outdoors and had an answer to every question. We got chatting to one of the guys who told us that when he has to go to London, he uses his hammock in Kew Gardens!

We had a great day - it was like being a boy scout again - we got to play with knives, fire and axes. We got to eat berries that you would have thought would give you the trots for a week and learned a lot about the green stuff all around us. I know it will add a new level of enjoyment to our walking and backpacking.

If you love spending time in the outdoors, find your local bushcraft course provider - you'll love it!

Something for the weekend...

BBC1, Sunday night at 9.00pm. Climbing mountains with Griff Rhys Jones

OK, he does starts in Scotland... but give it a chance, he'll soon be in Wales.

Lots to do

Lots to do on the blog now we have finished our trip. Missing days to write, photos to upload, gaps to fill in.

I'll get round to updating over the next week or two.

This photo sums up the last week. I am standing on a footpath!

Almost ready for the last leg

On Saturday morning, we'll be travelling back up to Porthmadog to finish the final leg of our Cambrian Way. Starting from Maentwrog, over the Moelwyns, up and over Cnicht into Beddgelert, then over Snowdon to the PYG hotel. Up onto the Glyders and a night in Idwal Cottage then onto the Carneddau for a couple of days and drop down into Conwy to the Quay Hotel to rest our weary limbs in shameful luxury.

This week has been all about getting work sorted out, cleaning, replacing and repairing kit and getting the food ready - all over again!

We are in pretty good shape now and will be killing Pete on the uphills! (he will be joining us again for this last week) . My feet are a bit tender and looking up the syptoms on the web, it looks like they are suffering from being damp for too long. I have invested in some Sealkins merino inner socks so I can wear my Sealskins more next week if its damp.

Last week, while the rest of the country was suffering with horrendous weather, we were very lucky. Hopefully, we'll have good fortune this week too as it's the best terrain of the walk.

I read the Rhinogs bit of the 'official guide book' when we got back and learnt a couple of things...
1. The reason the Cambrian Way didn't get national trail status was because the Rhinogs are too dangerous and mountain rescue crews did not relish the increased numbers in the range.

2. The way we came off Rhinog Fach is NOT recommended - come down the same way you went up!

Lessons learned? RTFM before you go!

Off again...

Another week walking up Wales.

Saturday: 6.45am train to Machynlleth - then a day to Cadair Idris, couple of days on Cadair Idris, over to Barmouth, couple of days crossing Rhinogs then into the Vale of Ffestiniog and back to Porthmadog to catch a train back to Swansea.

Weather may not be as good as last week, but I can't wait to get back out there!

Minus bloody two

It'll soon be June, we are leaving in a few days, my sleeping bag is rated zero (pretty safe for June you would think) and they are forecasting minus two tomorrow night.

June looked so good statistically!

C2C Days 4 & 5 - the first wild camp

Last weekend, we completed the first overnighter of our Welsh C2C trip. Saturday was a nine mile stretch (2300 feet of ascent) from Glanaman to a wild camp on Foel Fraith then an 8 mile haul (another 1100 feet upwards) to Llanddeusant (and a bit further to the pub).

It was the first time we had used all of the new kit in anger. Alan cheated and didn't bring everything he is going to take on the main trip and then boasted about how light his pack was. Bad man.

Saturday's walk was blustery with a few short showers around lunchtime, then the wind dropped developing into a beautiful still evening with clear skies (read cold). We found a great camp site big enough to hold 50 Akto's, let alone our three on the terraces of an old limestone quarry - the sort with immaculately manicured bowling green grass thanks to the local sheep population. The forecast had predicted a 3 degree night and by 9.00pm it was rapidly approaching 6 degrees, so after very succesful FBC meals (Fish Risotto - thanks Stef - aka BG!) and a Platypus of red wine, we snuck into our tents ready for a chilly evening.

My home-made Golite quilt was very warm if I could keep my ass under cover. As a sleeping bag, it was rated at 0 degrees and it coped very well with the temperatures as a quilt, but I am a fidgety sleeper and every time I turned over, I got a cold bum. I have two options - abandon the quilt and use my Mountain Hardwear Phantom bag, or persevere with the quilt and hope it gets warmer (this weekend was freak weather, nights are back to 10 degrees now).

During the night, the cloud dropped and saturated everything (Pete got up for a pee at 4.30am and experienced the zero visibility), but when we emerged at 6.30am for a brew, the sun was burning the dew from the flysheets. Obviously, the Akto's suffered badly with condensation and a lot of mopping was required before we packed the tents up. Does anyone have a method of dealing with the Akto's evident condensation problem? We would all love to hear about it!

Once we had had breakfast and pulled some more water from a rather dubious water source (full of newts and therefore newt crap), we fiddled with the kit for a bit - fashioning a washing line from walking poles and spectra - packed up and were walking by about 10.30am... straight into a half hour climb along a spiky, rocky ridge (Garreg Glas - complete with limestone pavement and nosey red kites), that would not have looked out of place in Snowdonia.

The day's route took us across unpathed land, free styling through heather, bog and bilberry to the rim of Bannau Sir Gaer - one of the best views in south Wales (IMHO) and one of my most favourite places on earth. We dropped down to the bothy and then took the track past a fish farm and then a long tedious lane slog past Llandeusant YH to the Cross Inn for a couple of excellent pints before Jackie (Al's better half) picked us up.

I learnt a few lessons and quite a bit about the gear...

The Z55 was awesome with about 30lbs in it. The caldera cone stove boiled a pint of water, in wind, in 4 minutes with 12ml of fuel. The OMM chest pack was worth it's weight in gold and will come with me on the trip. We took too much food, at least the lunches were too big. The new inflatable Insulmats were worth the extra grams. I am going to take earplugs to keep the sheep's nocturnal activities at bay. The Road Angel was perfect for checking our position. I bought a new Canon Ixus 850 as I was jealous of Alan's tiny camera. Don't forget to put on sunscreen - very burnt nose. Dr Bronners is fine for washing your teeth. Take more baby wipes (Pampers unscented) for washing when you can't face an icy wash in newt crap. Pacer poles rock. Merino does stink. The Black Mountain is wild, beautiful and very moist underfoot - but the Salomon shoes and Smartwool socks combo drained and dried very quickly. Newt crap blocks water filters very quickly. My Montane windshirt is the most versatile garment I have ever owned. Both Al and Pete were very jealous of my Knirps X1 during showers, despite taking the pee.

Did I mention that Alan cheated? I'm not bitter ;)

This weekend, we are doing a dayhike from Llanddeusant to Llandovery, then we are on the trail for a week and I can't wait!

C2C days 4-5

We are going to spend and wet'n'windy weekend on the Black Mountain this weekend, knocking off two more days of the coast to coast. It's really a shake down of the kit (and us!).

Just checking the forecast and after weeks of balmy evenings, Saturday night is going to be 3 degrees, so our zero degree sleeping systems will be tested to the limits. A litre Platy full of a half decent red wine should solve that problem.

Wales 1000 Things update

The Wales 1000 Things website has almost hit 1000 entries!

If you haven't been over there yet, imagine a YouTube/Flickr just for the outdoors in Wales. There is some brilliant content to browse through.

If you have some photos or videos of you good times in Wales, get them up as there are 1000 Blacks vouchers being given away with no limit to the amount of vouchers you can snaffle.

C2C is underway!

Dipping our feet in










Rhossili Bay

We started our section hike a couple of weeks ago. We'll be travelling from our home in Gower in south Wales to Conwy in north Wales, using the Cambrian Way from the Beacons.

We dipped our feet in at Worms head and then spent 3 days walking the Gower Way up to the edge of the Brecon Beacons. Pete joined us for day 2 and 3 and he will also be joining us for the last (and best) week. Next weekend we do our first overnighter, then one last day hike before we start the first of three weeks on the trail.

The gear is all sorted, the food is nearly all dried and all trains, hotels, hostels and camp sites booked. The only thing I am waiting for is some TNF underwear after they came top in a TGO test.

My base weight is around 22lb. Here are the major items I'm taking:

• Gregory Z55
• Akto
• Caldera Cone stove
  
• Vargo 1.3 ltr ti' pot
• Homemade GoLite quilt
• Insulmat Ether 6
• Montane Sportwool base layer
• Terra Converts
• Berghaus Infinity smock
• Berghaus Paclite smock
• Montane Atomic trousers
• Knirps X1 umbrella
• Salomon XA Comp 3's (Green Superfeet)
• Smartwool running light socks
• Pacerpoles
• e-lite
• MSR water filter
• Road Angel 7000
• Blackberry (in case I blog en-route)
• Loads of Granite Gear Air space/pockets/bags

Al and Pete's kit is pretty much the same except they are using Atmos's, sleeping bags rather than quilts and cooking on gas.

As I'm a veggie, I'll be cooking 100% FBC style as I can make some great food, dry it and have no washing up! The prep for the food has been an enormous task, but more about that next post.










Day 2 in Parc le Breos










Day 3 and the end of the Gower Way

It's been a while

Sorry!

It's been a while since I lasted posted. We have been busy organising our Welsh C2C section hike which starts this week with the first 2/3 of the Gower Way. It's an early start on Saturday morning (we are off to see Simon Yates speaking on Saturday evening) and then another early start on Sunday.

Popped into Cotswolds Cardiff on the way back from London today to pick up some Smartwool running socks as my 'light hikers' were a bit warm last weekend when Al and I did about 13 miles around Fforest Fawr. We also tried out the Road Angel 7000, but more about that soon.

Bye for now,
Chris

C2C Route Planning

We have just about finalised our Welsh coast to coast route. I have painstakingly plotted the whole 25 days into Memory Map. We (Alan and I) plan to take it really easy with an average of 10 miles per day - more of a relaxed bimble rather than record breaking march.

We are section hiking the route a week at a time, with a week back in work in between each week. We start at Rhossili, right on the end of Gower and finish at Conwy Castle, taking in every major hill range on the way.

Stats: 242 miles, 387,200 steps, 56,019 feet of ascent and 56,204 of descent, about 18lb-20lb base weight.

The bulk of the walking will be done throughout June, finishing in North Wales with several pints on the 7th July.

BIG THANKS to Sarah and Jackie for letting us go - yes, we do know it's going to cost us dearly!

Bal Mawr - 3rd February 2007

We took a drive over to the Black Mountains on Saturday, winding westward through the Beacons to Capel-y-ffin in the Vale of Ewyas, famous for the remains of Lanthony Priory. Alan was nursing a skiing injury, so we had planned a fairly easy 8 miles along the Bal Mawr ridge and then drop down to follow a path back to Capel-y ffin. The return leg traversed the hill, about half way between the ridge and the valley floor and gave a very different view of the surroundings.
It was my 40th a couple of days before, so I was trying out my birthday present, a new pair of Pacerpoles and giving the Z55 another outing.
It was a beautiful, sunny frosty morning and we set off out of Capel-y-ffin past a monastry and a half constructed chapel built by the rather eccentric Father Ignatius in the late 1800's. I found out later that Eric Gill, artist and type designer (famous for his typeface, Gill Sans) spent some time there in the 30's.
The path zig zagged up past a pony trekking centre then onto the hill proper. After a brief flat section (with acres of perfect wild camping spots), we crossed a stream and then slogged up to the ridge, arriving at the Blacksmiths Anvil stone.
The Pacerpoles were very impressive during the climbing, powering you upwards with noticably reduced effort. We tied the handles together and slung them over our shoulders straps when we were on the flat, drawing them like a pair of ninja swords for the descents. I read about this method of carrying the poles in the excellent instruction sheet from Pacer.
The views were amazing and I shot a panorama, swinging from East to West, out towards Hay Bluff and Lord Herefords Knob (how cool is it to have a mountain named after your old boy) and then West towards Pen Cerrig-calch. Sugar Loaf was also visible to the South, as you can see in the photo below.
We trundled along the ridge and stopped for a sandwich and brew-up, trying out our little alcohol stove. I don't take a flask in winter, but a brew-up is always a bit of fun if the conditions are favourable.
After lunch, we dropped back down into the valley, which was still in shadow and therefore still hard with frost - just as well as the path would have been pretty muddy.
We talked a lot about our coast to coast walk in June, planning routes across Snowdonia, discussing the food we will take and the gear that would be suitable for 200+ mile expedition. As I mentioned, I am 40 this year and Al hits the big half century, so we both have a lot to celebrate. Rather than having a typical mid life crisis involving Las Vegas and red sports cars, we decided to walk from Snowdonia to Gower over three weeks, sort of following the route I have mentioned in previous posts. Al and I don't see each other very often as we both have businesses and kids, so time is in short supply, so when we do get a chance to steal a Saturday or Sunday in the hills, it gives us a chance to discuss the details of the trip.
On the way back, we explored an old ruin of a farmhouse and found some regurgitated owl pellets containing fur, bones, claws and teeth - I have seen these in books but never broken one apart myself.
The poles and pack worked well, I still need to work out how I am going to carry water as the bladder/tube combo is pretty difficult to manage when backpacking. My Montane Sportwool experiment is still going well, lets just say that I am testing the limits of merino's anti odour properties (more next post).
We didn't have a chance to have a pint on the way back as Al had an evening out planned, which was a shame as we drove past the Skirrid Inn on the way home, which has featured in the TV show, Most Haunted. It's ancient and has a wonderful view of The Skirrid (Ysgyryd Fawr), or the Holy Mountain, one of the three decent hills that circle Abergavenny, the others being Blorenge and Sugar Loaf.

5 Star YHA Bunkhouse for the Beacons

The UK's first and only 5 Star YHA Bunkhouse (Visit Wales accreditation) has been opened. Wern Watkin is located in the Brecon Beacons National Park on Mynnedd Llangattock.
Wern Watkin is a stone built small holding and as member of the YHA Enterprise Scheme will operate as 'YHA Llangattock Mountain'. The bunkhouse sleeps up to 30 people in seven en-suite rooms.

"There is a massive dining room/seating area and a wonderful outdoor space opening out onto ancient woodlands. There is under-floor heating throughout, excellent drying facilities and ample hot water".

Check out the website here.

Fan y Big - 15 October 2006

Had a great day out yesterday in the Brecon Beacons.
The forecast gave hill fog and high winds, but hey, what’s new!

We planned a route from the pass between Pontsticill and Talybont up to the summit of Fan y Big, with the obligatory ‘Diving Board’ photograph, descending via a gentle bimble along the Roman Road and then walking the last section back to the van through the old abandoned railway tunnel.

I picked up my walking buddy, Alan, and his son Rob and after an hour in the van we set off, straight into a staircase climb to the top of Craig y Fan Ddu. No gentle walk in and warm up - not a nice way to start the day. Almost 800 feet in half a mile.

They were not joking about the 45 MPH gusts along the top, but I stayed comfortable with a long sleeved Montane Sportwool tee (from Bob) and an Montane Windsmock. I was amazed how warm this incredibly lightweight combo was. Al had a 100 weight microfleece under his windsmock and he said that it easily matched his heavier and bulkier Windstopper garments.

We got blown along the ridge to the summit of Fan y Big and stood on the Diving Board for the summit photo. Some imbecile has defaced the Diving Board stone and the surrounding rocks by spraying graffiti in bright yellow and orange paint. It was heartbreaking.

We waded through a huge group of puffing kids (must be from Storey Arms) and made the toe killing decent down the Roman Road that cuts through the pass between Fan y Big and Cribyn. The road has been terribly damaged by 4WD vehicles; it won’t be long before it is un-drivable – bloody good too. The road follows the Taff Trail down to the pass and back to the van, but we had one last adventure planned before we hit the pub.

There is an old railway tunnel that you can enter at SO 050 170. It‘s one of the highest railway tunnels ever built in Britain and linked Merthyr Tydfil to Brecon. I believe it’s been closed since the early sixties and at 666 yards long, it oozes spookiness. We walked through it a couple of years ago, with only the tiniest Maglite between us. The tunnel curves so there is no light or sound at all, just a gentle dripping. When we walked it last, the walk in was a little damp, but the tunnel is bone dry.

When we arrived at the entrance yesterday, the walk in was flooded with a couple of feet of water and the only way down would be to abseil. We didn’t have rope with us and after a quick scout around we had to give up and save the experience for drier times.

It seems moto-cross bikes have taken a liking to this area and we saw several bikes riding illegally on the hills. I was walking here during the summer with the Tawe Trekkers and we were buzzed by dozens of bikes who tore up Torpantau, shredding the grassy paths to bits. BBNPA – Please do something about this – it is becoming dangerous and either a walker or rider will be killed (impaled on a Leki by an irate rambler!).

We had a great pint in front a log fire in the Red Cow, in the village of Pontsticill. Very walker friendly and well worth a visit.

You can download a Memory Map route of the walk here.

Welsh Bagging Lists

I have just come a cross an excellent list of all of the Welsh Hewitts (Hills over 2000 feet with at least 30 metres drop on all sides) and Marilyns (Hills of any height with at least 150 metres drop on all sides). The list, compiled by Alan Dawson, can be found at http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/tables/wales/.

For those of you who fancy reading about these hills before you set off, I can recommend Graham Uney's superb 'The High Summits of Wales - A guide to walking the Welsh Hewitts'.

Grahams book is divided into two sections. The first section is a complete guide to the Welsh Hewitts, range by range, hill by hill. The second section is the story of Grahams successful bid to walk them all in one go in the summer of '98. It's a helluva story. You can find a link to the book at Amazon on the right of this page.

More free routes

Love it or hate it, Trail magazine publishes a decent selection of walking routes every month and their online library, trailroutes.com, has 30 free routes (8 in Wales) plus another 5 free routes for subscribers.

Most of the walks have GPS and Memory Map data (although the couple of GPS routes I have tried have been very poor quality - lots of unedited waypoints, looks like a converted 'track' file to me, poor show guys). They also give you detailed route description, a couple of photos, route card, gradient profile and OS mapping.

They have basically re-purposed all of the routes they have published over the years, so don't go expecting any new routes if you have a 4 foot pile of back issues in the attic.

The bad news is that they charge £2.00 for the routes that are not free, but subscribers get a 50% discount. As I mentioned, I have only tried a couple of the digital mapping files, not very representative, but if the files were tidied up and commented properly, I could stretch to a pound.

Anyway, get over there and snaffle the freebies and don't forget your 5 free credits if you are a subscriber. I would be interested in your comments on the GPS data ;)

Planning a Preseli weekend

Before the weather gets too miserable, I really fancy a weekend in the Preseli Hills - maybe start at one end, wildcamp at the other and then back again. I have never walked in this part of Wales and it's only an hour or so from Swansea. If anyone has suggestions for a route or camp spots, they would be gratefully received!

Backpacking with a 4 year old

A few weeks ago, I took my eldest son, Aaron (4) on his first backpacking trip. We only walked a couple of miles and spent the night on the shores of Llyn y Fan Fawr on the Black Mountain (Western Brecon Beacons).

It was my first backpacking trip for many years and all of the old kit was dusted off, most of it now twenty years old - my Vango Hurricane, Berghaus AB70GT pack and my trusty Trangia, now given a new lease of life with a gas conversion. Aaron carried his own sleeping bag, thermarest, comics and pyjamas and I carried the rest - 55lb's of it!

Aaron had a wonderful time. He has been car camping since he was one year old and is always being dragged up a hill or into the woods for some Ray Mears type adventure. The thing that really impressed him was that he was allowed to dig a hole to poop in. In fact, it impressed him so much we had about 5 false alarms, just so he could dig his cathole.

He helped with filtering the water and cooking his pasta and spent hours paddling in the shallow waters. I feel sorry for kiddies that will never experience the outdoors like this - children love the freedom, the mud, the cooking, the camping and the staying up late looking at the stars.

We had spooky stories and hot chocolate and retired on what was turning into a breezy night but we both slept warm and well.

After a huge breakfast, we packed up and walked back to the road and waited for our lift back to Swansea, whilst watching the mountain rescue teams training their dogs on the sunny mountainside.

I'm not quite sure what his teacher and classmates thought when they asked him what he did on the weekend.

I hope he mentioned the cathole.

Welsh mega-hike podcast

Outdoor podcasting superstar, Bob Cartwright, the man behind Backpackinglight.co.uk has just recorded an excellent interview with Darren Wooton, an Englishman who hiked from North to South Wales in this summer's glorious heatwave.
His story will make you green with envy - 203 miles of sunshine on some of the best hills in the world. The hike was based, I believe, on John Gillham's 'A Welsh Coast to Coast Walk', from Cicerone.
If you are Welsh or know Wales well, his pronunciations will bring a smile to your face, but Scotland gives me the same problems! Maybe a phonetic pronunciation guide to the hills of Wales (and Scotland) is called for - are there any out there?

You can get the podcast, plus loads of others by Bob from iTunes or directly from his website.

What do you mean you don't have an iPod? Apple have just released a micro iPod for around £50, ideal for lightweighters, take a look.

Howies 'Go Wales'

Had an interesting parcel this morning containing the new autumn 06 catalogue from Welsh uber cool clothing company, Howies. Always a treat to receive, this issue charts their journey around Wales in an old 'Cargo Wales' van with the letters 'Car' peeled off.
David Hieatt's company, based in Cardigan Bay, produce a range of clothing for young actives that contains a few gems for the outdoorsperson, including a good range of merino and some stylish and technical jackets using Scholler and Ventile fabrics. Their organic cotton tee shirts are always entertaining.
You can download the catalogue from here and save a bit of a tree. David would like that.

Free walking routes in Wales

Our lovely friends at Visit Wales have teamed up with www.walkingworld.com to give us a selection of free walking routes. Have a quick look at this microsite to download 27 routes from all over Wales in PDF format.