Pumlumon and Drygarn Fawr – July 2016

Fri 15 Jul 2016

Early evening and we are sat in the bar of The Bluebell Inn, Llangurig planning a weekend’s hillwalking. There was light rain as we arrived in the late afternoon, and the forecast for tomorrow was more of the same. After a tasty meal we got out the maps and discussed Saturday’s walk. We had been coming to this part of Wales for a couple of years and the five 2,000ft peaks of Pumlumon had always been on our agenda, but we had been saving it for a nice, long summer’s day. Having now more or less completed all the local hills, we had little choice but to go for it tomorrow, despite the less than promising forecast. 

Sat 16 Jul 2016

As we breakfasted on Saturday morning the view from the dining room window was of grey cloud and drizzle. It did not let up as we made the half-hour drive to the start by the Nant-y-moch reservoir. We had no choice but to don full waterproofs before we started. So, in heavy drizzle we climbed up towards the first peak, Y Garn, initially following the Nant-y-moch stream on wet grass, and then after about a kilometre, turning south to ascend the north ridge. At this point we were already using compasses to check direction in the poor visibility. The stones of an ancient cairn marked the summit. These had been re-modelled into a shelter, but it did not offer us much protection from the wind and the rain, so we did not linger any longer than it took to have a quick banana/coffee break.

On a clear day we would have been able to see down to the reservoir and dam and on to our next objective of Pumlumon Fawr, but not today. Again we had to check compass bearings before setting off to make sure the fence we intended to follow was heading in the right direction. We headed east for roughly 800m, losing 140m of height by the time we reached the col, where another fence lead up to the next summit. The map indicated that the footpath was on the right of the fence, but on the ground the path was clearly on the left.

I had calculated 45 minutes to get from Y Garn to Pumlumon Fawr, but it took us over an hour in the poor conditions. The summit was strewn with boulders, some of which had been fashioned into an (ineffective) shelter. In my photographs the trig pillar seems to be leaning at an angle, but that could be because I was struggling to stand up straight in the wind!

 

Onward to Pumlumon Fach, and a navigational faux pas. The direction indicated by our compasses did not look right, so we headed down the north-west ridge in what seemed the sensible direction. We found ourselves above steep ground barring further progress. We were confused so checked our exact location on Vince’s GPS. Knowing our exact position, we realised we had descended too far to the east, so retracing a few steps, we were soon back on track and at the summit. To further confuse things there are two summits, but the first encountered although the highest, is not the true summit (as it only has 42ft of descent between it and Pumlumon Fawr). The second, lower top, is the Nuttall summit (as there is 64ft drop). The lesson from this, as pointed out by Vince, trust your compass.

We retraced the steps that we should have taken back towards Pumlumon Fawr and continued eastwards following another fence down to the col. By now I could feel water squelching in my boots with every step, and it was beginning to feel damp inside by waterproof jacket. From the col a gentle slope led up to the very dull, flat and grassy summit of Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan. I think it was near here that we stopped for our lunch, but I cannot remember for sure (it may have been at the next summit).

Another 2km of fence following to bring us to our final top of the day, Pumlumon Arwystli, marked by two large cairns. All three of us were now feeling pretty wet and miserable and wanted to get off the hill as quickly as possible. We abandoned the plan to continue north and descend to the Afon Hengwn and opted instead to retrace our route back towards the previous summit and descend to pick up the landrover track from Llyn Llygad Rheidol reservoir. So, two kilometres of gentle descent brought us to a fence junction we had passed on the way up. Here we turned north for a short distance until we met a slight bend in the fence marked by a stone. From here we paced 500m north-west along the fence, bringing us past a stream draining into the Llyn Llygad Rheidol. We turned west here to descend through long grass to the reservoir.

Meeting the reservoir we turned right to follow the shore line to the north end and the landrover track. But, the track was the other side of the outfall from the reservoir, which was two metres wide, in excess of half a metre deep, and flowing at about a hundred miles an hour! It was impossible to cross. We walked a little down stream to check if there were any possible crossing places. There were some narrower sections, but of course the flow was much faster at these points. It would have been madness to attempt to cross. We considered walking in the opposite direction around the reservoir, but there were two streams flowing into it and these could have been equally impossible to cross. So no option other than to continue downhill beside the outfall stream, through vegetation that was knee high, in the rain and wet through. What fun!

After the best part of a kilometre wading through the long grass we stumbled upon a feint track which made the going a little easier. We still had to cross the stream, and the path eventually led us to the ford. We all gratefully waded straight through it, even though the fast flowing water was calf deep. Our feet were so wet we were past caring. At last we were now on a decent track, but still a wearying two and half kilometre plod back to the car, much of it splashing through all the water running off the hillside.

Back at the pub our room was soon strewn with all our wet gear as we attempted to get it dry again for tomorrow. I did not have much hope for my boots! Never was a hot shower more welcome, and the first pint as we waited for our meals was like nectar.

	Summit	Height (m)	Status
	Y Garn	684	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Pumlumon Fawr	752	Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall
	Pumlumon Fach	664	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan	727	Hewitt, Nuttall
	Pen Pumlumon Arwystli	741	Hewitt, Nuttall

Sun 17 Jul 2016

The weather looked more promising for today, we could see the tops of the nearby hills at breakfast. We had decided to do Drygarn Fawr today, so having breakfasted and checked out of the pub we headed the few miles south through Elan Village and to the parking area at the southern end of the Caban-coch reservoir. Putting on my boots was not a pleasant experience – they were cold and still sopping wet inside. Thankfully, they soon warmed up and felt ok.

We headed south following the Nant Paradwys, ascending gently towards Bwlch y Ddau Fach. There were a few spots of very light rain, but this soon cleared away and the sky began to show patches of blue. We were looking for the path that leads west to Drygarn Fawr, but it was not obvious on the ground. To make sure we avoided any boggy ground we aimed higher up, and stopped for elevenses at the cairn at Carnau (537m).

We continued over Bryn Rhudd, avoiding boggy bits as best we could. We eventually stumbled upon a rough vehicle track that we followed to our objective. The summit ridge was marked by two huge cairns about 500m apart, the second marking the top. Here we stopped for a while to have some food and admire the views.

To descend we walked back along our ascent track, and continued to follow it as it by-passed Carreg yr Ast and then descended the north-east ridge of Waun. This led us back to the track we started on, joining it just above the Rhiwnant. From here an easy couple of kilometres back to the car.

	Summit	Height (m)	Status
	Drygarn Fawr	641	Hewitt, Marilyn, Nuttall