Fri 31 October 2014
Another weekend of hillwalking in Wales, but we are not at The Goat. Having found a weekend that suited all, we then found that our usual hostelry was fully booked! Vince researched some alternatives and we settled on The Bluebell Inn in Llangurig in mid-Wales. First impressions are that its a friendly place, and it also offers a couple of real ales – Brain’s The Rev. James and Wye Valley Brewery’s Butty Bach.
We arrived late afternoon, so once settled in our room we headed to the bar for an 
evening meal and to try out the ale on offer (not Jack of course, he drank lemonade and lime!). Unfortunately the Butty Bach barrel run out as the landlord was pulling our second pints, so we had to switch to The Rev. James. After some tasty food we settled down to look at maps and guide books to decide on the routes for the weekend. The obvious choice for Saturday would be to do the five summits on nearby Pumlumon, but as this is quite a long route, we decided to leave this for the longer days of summer. We opted to travel a bit further over towards Cadair Idris and do the two summits of the Tarren Hills near Abergynolwen. The weather forecast did not look too bad, though it looked like there may be a wet period in the early afternoon. For Sunday’s route we had more-or-less decided in advance that we would do the single peak of Pen y Garn near Devil’s Bridge.
evening meal and to try out the ale on offer (not Jack of course, he drank lemonade and lime!). Unfortunately the Butty Bach barrel run out as the landlord was pulling our second pints, so we had to switch to The Rev. James. After some tasty food we settled down to look at maps and guide books to decide on the routes for the weekend. The obvious choice for Saturday would be to do the five summits on nearby Pumlumon, but as this is quite a long route, we decided to leave this for the longer days of summer. We opted to travel a bit further over towards Cadair Idris and do the two summits of the Tarren Hills near Abergynolwen. The weather forecast did not look too bad, though it looked like there may be a wet period in the early afternoon. For Sunday’s route we had more-or-less decided in advance that we would do the single peak of Pen y Garn near Devil’s Bridge.Sat 1 November 2014
The day’s walk began in the car park in the village of Abergynolwen, an hour’s drive from The Blubell Inn. After sorting out all our kit and booting-up we set off at 9:55. The first 150m climbed steeply on a metalled road, then turned off onto a footpath signposted to Nant Gwernol station. The path continued in the trees beside the Nant Gwernol as it tumbled down in a picturesque series of small waterfalls. A footbridge took us over the stream to the station and then upwards past the restored drum-house of the former slate quarry, continuing to ascend with the stream now below on our left. We could hear plenty of bird life in the woodland. Coal tit, nuthatch, blue tit, long-tailed tit, chaffinch, wren, robin and goldcrest were all calling or singing.
The path turned right to follow the Nant Moelfre for 300m, then swung almost 180° to ascend in a short distance to a forest road skirting around the small,
wooded hill of Foel Fawr. An easy walk of 2km on this track brought us to the base of the the cliffs of our first objective, Tarrenhendre. A couple of parties of Adventure Scouts met on this track were the only people we encountered all day. A steep, grassy pull-up of 90m brought us onto the north-west ridge of Tarrenhendre and a welcome stop for a banana break.
wooded hill of Foel Fawr. An easy walk of 2km on this track brought us to the base of the the cliffs of our first objective, Tarrenhendre. A couple of parties of Adventure Scouts met on this track were the only people we encountered all day. A steep, grassy pull-up of 90m brought us onto the north-west ridge of Tarrenhendre and a welcome stop for a banana break.
It was now a simple matter of following the fence south-east to the summit, though this did involve 200m of ascent, so it was a bit of a slog, and the increasing wind was beginning to make it feel quite cold. At the top we had to cross the fence to attain the small cairn that marked the summit.
A further 200m of walking across the small summit plateau brought us to another cairn at a fence corner. The route then followed another fence down the grassy east ridge of Tarrenhendre, continuing on another ridge over Pant Gwyn to Foel y Geifr. Here our route crossed into the trees, though there was an evident track continuing beside the wood. We opted to follow the track through the forest. At first it was easy enough to follow, but it soon became overgrown and progress became more difficult. We fought our way through until we came to an area clear of trees. It began to rain, and as it threatened to become quite heavy, we stopped to put on waterproofs. A couple more minutes and we arrived at the forest corner where another fence lead uphill towards the summit. Time for a chocolate biscuit break before commencing the ascent.
Another steep pull up lead to the eastern end of of Tarren y Gesail’s summit ridge (180m of ascent in 600m). The threatened rain thankfully did not amount to much, but the wind was getting quite severe. On the exposed summit it was probably blowing at about Force 6, so settling down on the top to eat our sandwiches was out of the question. Just a quick pause to take the obligatory summit photos.
We headed west to the forest edge (much of which had been clear-felled), which we then followed down hill to pick up the path near Pont Llaeron. Here we removed our waterproofs and ate (a very late) lunch.
The next kilometre or so was horrendous. The track and surrounding field had been churned up by cows, and the ground was thoroughly sodden from the small streams running down through it. Solid ground was difficult to find, and often we would sink calf-deep into oozing mud. A thoroughly miserable 20 minutes spent trying to pick our way through.
It was a relief to gain the more solid track at the disused Bryn-Eglwys quarry, from where it was an easy twenty-minute walk back to the car. Arrived back at around 16:10, six and a quarter hours after setting off.
A pleasant evening in the pub, with good food and a new barrel of Butty Bach.
Summit | Height (M) | Status | |
| Tarrenhendre |
634
|
Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall
| |
| Tarren y Gesail |
667
|
Hewitt, Nuttall
|
Sun 2 November 2014
After breakfast at 7:30 we settled our bill, loaded all our gear into the car and set off on the short 30 minute journey to the start of today’s walk at the car park by The Arch in the Ystwyth Forest. 
The first 4km or so were on a gently ascending forest track. As there were limited views through the trees it was an opportunity to look out for birds instead. Our list consisted of nuthatch, blue tit, coal tit, blackbird, robin, wren, chaffinch, goldcrest, bullfinch, starling and mistle thrush. As we got higher up the trees became more open, with a splendid view across the Nant Rhuddnant valley. Once we reached the edge of the forest we stopped for our coffee/banana break, and added a jay to our list of birds.
The first 4km or so were on a gently ascending forest track. As there were limited views through the trees it was an opportunity to look out for birds instead. Our list consisted of nuthatch, blue tit, coal tit, blackbird, robin, wren, chaffinch, goldcrest, bullfinch, starling and mistle thrush. As we got higher up the trees became more open, with a splendid view across the Nant Rhuddnant valley. Once we reached the edge of the forest we stopped for our coffee/banana break, and added a jay to our list of birds.
We were now only 400m distant from the summit of Pen y Garn, but as we could not see it, and for some navigation practice, Jack took a bearing for us to follow. We set off uphill, heading for a large fence post on the horizon which indicated the direction according to the bearing. Although we were on access land there were numerous fences without stiles to negotiate, so some tricky
clambering over (and under) barbed wire ensued. The summit was now in view and easily attained after one last fence crossing next to it. We made use of the substantial and well made summit shelter for a twenty-minute coffee and food break.
clambering over (and under) barbed wire ensued. The summit was now in view and easily attained after one last fence crossing next to it. We made use of the substantial and well made summit shelter for a twenty-minute coffee and food break.
In the vicinity of the top a few more more birds were added to our list - red kite, buzzard, raven and meadow pipit. As we were preparing to leave the summit a small flock of twittering birds flew over. We did not recognise the call, and we did not actually see them. Crossbill possibly?
Our descent route followed an easy track twisting its way back down to the forest. A couple of snipe flushed and zig-zagged away as we neared the trees again. We continued on the track through the woods for a three-quarters of a kilometre before turning off onto a path that led through the trees to another track that took us past Gelmast farm. Greenfinch, carrion crow, woodpigeon and magpie were added to our day’s bag of birds here. From here we were soon back at the car and getting all sorted out for the drive back home.Summit | Height (M) | Status | |
Pen y Garn
|
610
|
Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttal
|
