thepackmon

[thepackmon]

The Detour

Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th June 2018

After our first plans of off-roading this weekend came to a halt with Max’s car developing ‘a noise’ we decided instead to head out on a overnight camping adventure. We decided to head for a bothy towards the Elan Valley but another late change of plans, due to Max’s hangover and him not wishing to join us, saw us heading for a slightly closer location.

So me and Tpain (not the actual one) headed for Glasbury, with our final destination a bothy on the edge of the Grwyne Fawr reservoir. A simple 8 mile walk through some lovely welsh countryside. Setting out from the bus stop in Glasbury at around 6pm heading first for Felindre village, our first forage into walking for an overnight stay. The first field was waist high in corn, so we decided a path around the edge would be best, only a slight deviation on distance and time. The second field a tad more interesting, while trying to find a position that was comfortable with my new backpack and multitasking the phone with OS maps and a bag of sweet and salty popcorn, the heard of 30 cows decided they liked us enough to follow us at a brisk pace. We both decided a slight increase in pace was best as being rescued by the farmer after 1/2 a mile of walking was not something we wanted.

After passing the pub (little did we know it would be our god send on the way back down) in the village and a small group of houses, we take a left off the road to our first bridleway and first signs of a steady uphill. Staying on this route for a few miles passing through Hay Forest we come back out briefly onto a farm track signed for the ‘Essex boys and girls school’ . A very odd sign to see when your deep in beacons territory.

A few more styles, a bit of a lost path moment in a wood of dense fir trees, a stream to cross and a steep grassy bank past some old barns, we are back on a single track road heading uphill towards Rhos Fawr Common. It is here in the glorious afternoon sun we see sight of other people, a couple and a dog sat basking in the rays and a young lad on a pitbike giving it the beans across the fields. We decided here is a good place to stop for 5, get some more fruity sweets tucked in the pockets for energy boost for the next part, walking up and over the steep path of Rhiw Cwnstab. Now you can see this path from the main A road going past the Hay on Wye turning, its a rather steep looking path directly on the side of the valley. With the temperature still around 18 degrees it was also a very warm climb, but not as fearsome as once thought and we were up and over in no time. 

The final walk to the bothy were downhill so made the last part so much easier and the bothy’s access is on very steep sided banks, that lead down onto the river. But the hard part was over, it was 9:30pm, we were hungry and in need of some beer and a sleep (did i mention i was up at 6am to drive my brother in law to brum airport?). The rest of the night was pretty tame, food was cooked and beer drank, we got the log burner fired up just to take the chill out the place and hit the hay. I’m a light sleeper and not having my proper sleeping mat mixed with the toad that i found downstairs behind the fireplace making noise, i reckon i got about 3-4 hours sleep in. Which is usual for me at home anyway. Tom snored his way into sleepy land all night.

Sat’s Stats : 8.2 Miles - 3 Hours - 1988ft Elevation Gain

SUNDAY 

Standard morning stuff happens. Cook beans for breakfast without burning them like the previous nights dinner, have a good top wash in the weir which to my surprise wasn't as cold as i was expecting. 

Now I’m not sure if its custom to leave things for other guests, but we really didn't want to carry the other beers we didn't drink round with us all day, so i constructed a dam in the corner of the weir and left the two cans in there to chill. Hopefully somebody finds them before there’s a load of rain and they float away. 

We also have a guest, a fella on his mountain bike passing by came down to have a look in the bothy and ask us if we had stayed the night and what it was like. Pretty sure he will be back soon to try for himself.

Anyway we get going at around 11am, with the intention of walking the length of the reservoir then taking a left up onto the ridge and back towards the car. However i dont have a map of this part of the Brecons and my phone OS maps wouldn't load due to no signal, so with only half a map to work with we set off in the hope that it would be well signed for another path up to the top of the ridge...6 miles later and knowing we are still going in the wrong direction, we decide to cut through the woods and up a fireroad. Climbing up a fair distance then back down, then up again. Passing all the little houses and car parks on the opposite side this time. We also got asked for directions to the top, which was hard not to laugh at with our route planning skills.

A few more ups and downs, and then one final fence hop we stopped for a quick sarnie and a breather about 50 metres from the ridge line. Temperatures now creeping above 20 degrees, the next few hours along the ridge are very hot and rather tiring. We take in Blacksmiths Anvil, Twyn Talycefn, Rhos Dirion, Rhiw y Fan and Rhiw Wen. The views from up here are something else, just peaks and valleys for as far as you can see.

But this time i could feel my feet had had enough and tom was feeling much the same. With the OS maps working again it looked like another 3 miles lay out in front of us, trying to plot a simple direct route was our first option but this was skewed slightly with the inclusion of heading to the pub we passed yesterday afternoon. Running out of water about a mile from the pub only made this diversion more worthy. 2 pints, 2 water bottles filled with very small ice cubes and a lottery ball picked out of a bag i was finished. Forgetting the short mile and a half walk back to the car. This was dealt with a swiftly as my feet would allow and my brain reminding me of the pack of custard creams waiting for me in the boot. It was a long old day, the furthest distance I’ve walked in a day so far. So the only logical thing to do now is to walk further. I do love my need to push myself further and further some times. Other times not so much.

Sunday Stats : 19.3 Miles - 6:30 Hours - 1932ft Elevation Gain

Tom with that hill and that path in the distance.

Sat looking back at the dam, just below the ridge.

A rather naff photo of my latest backpack.

The ripper of a stove in the bothy.