30 Mile Mountain Trail Challenge.- Sat Sept 17th

Oww me legs. 30 miles of running around the Central Beacons is a seriously tough day out....but immensely enjoyable at the same time.

It was an event organised by the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team and cost £25 to enter. Some 600 people took part, mostly walkers, but a few other pockets of runners. There were a few looks of disdain and the odd comment muttered under the breath by some of the 'rambling walkers' at the start, as we queued up in our trail running kit. But nevertheless, it didnt put us off and the 'batRunners' set off at 7:20 am.

Some 6 hours and 52 minutes later, we were plodding into the finish with very weary limbs. This was the furthest I'd ever ran - I estimate we ran some 85% of the total distance and walked the rest. It was practically impossible to run certain steep uphill sections and boggy moorlands.

The route was great - plenty of different terrain - rocky mountains, waterlogged moors, misty forests, serene canal towpaths.

A few grainy photos to follow in the next post.

Coooooooooooold.

Boxing day turned out to be the coldest day of the year in my locality - minus 12 when I got in the car at 6am for a prearranged tramp with Chopper and Nicholls through the snows of the beacons. As cold as that sounds, it was perfect weather. There was a slight breeze and cloud forecast for later on but the early part of the walk was forecast to be clear. We missed sunrise from the top of Corn Du due to kindly giving a hitcher a lift from Newport to Cwmbran after his car broke down. Still, some good photo opportunities arose.



Fan Fawr looking appealing in the morning light



We started out at 8am and got to the top of Corn Du after about 40 minutes.

The views were great. White as far as the eye could see.

I don't have a portable thermometer but it felt very cold on the summits. Probably not as low as the minus 12 when I set off, but the wind chill made up for that...and some. The only piece of gear I didn't have with me was a buff or a scarf and at one point, I thought my nose was going to drop off (that wouldn't be a bad thing in some respects!) so a spare beanie hat and a penknife were employed to make a DIY buff. Chopper had brought some freebie hand warmer things that were quite impressive. You get about 30 minutes of heat and one stuffed inside each glove was great.

We stopped in the saddle between PenYfan and Cribyn for a snack and noticed two Ravens coming quite close on the scrounge for food. This seemed to prove how bleak the past few weeks must have been up there as I've never know them to come near before. They enjoyed the peanuts and crisps we gave them. Big buggers!

At the top of Cribyn we decided, instead of retacing our steps exactly, to go down the north ridge and along the goat track. Good choice, out of the wind and good fun. Plus, Nicholls £4 hat blew off his head on the summit, straight over the north face. So he wanted to go and look for it....



Me




Chopper - Cribyn North Ridge

Guess what...no hat in sight!

Over on the north face of PenYfan, 4 brave (crazy?) souls were starting an ice climb. My zoom 'aint the best...

The wind was starting to whip snow about a lot, it almost seemed like it was snowing.

Nicholls in spindrift...whatever that is!

I took a few small videos with the compact and added a bit of (sarcastic) music with moviemaker. Let's try an upload...

Blinking Black Mountains Blisters

Last Saturday I did a 10 mile Classic Horseshoe in the black Mountains - a route I hadn't done for about 19 years! I was out on my Jack Jones again due to the unavailability of walking buddies, so I opted for an early start. I found somewhere to park the car north of Llanbedr and I was walking by 7:15am just as it was getting light. By 7:30 am I noticed some rubbing on my right heel. It didn't feel too bad at first but I should have known it would turn into a full blown blister! A scholl blister plaster was deployed from my pack but I'd forgotten my trusty jar of Vaseline (A Welshman always carries vaseiline in the hills!!)

2 miles later, the other heel started showing the same symptoms. I don't know what it is with my Scarpa SLs (pre M3 model) that I've had for around 7 or 8 years. They've only given me blister trouble now and again, and on other walks have been okay. I think I'll try a pair of superfeet insoles to lift the heel slightly and hold it better. The last 5 miles of this 10 mile round were pretty painful, and I've been unable to go jogging in the 8 days since. Knew I should've worn my Invo8s.

Blisters aside, it was a decent walk. Cold winds, but clear views. And, as is par for the course in the Black Mountains, I only saw two other walkers all morning.

Following recent rains, the summit area of Pen Y Gadair Fawr and Waun Fach were saturated to say the least. On Waun fach, in particular, I had to pick my way through a bog, walking 20 metres to the left or right, for every ten metres travelled forwards. Gaiters were left at home - a schoolboy error as it turned out.

Early Morning Views towards the rising Sun

Pen Y Gadair Fawr Summit Break

Descending From Waun fach with views to Pen Y Fan

Carn Pica

I'm liking evening walks at the moment. Friday night is usually 'dead' time so what better way to kill it than out on the mountains? Beats Big Brother hands down!


Friday just gone, Nicholls and I did Carn Pica from the Talybont reservoir dam. 5 miles up and back, with a really steep section to end before you reach this most impressive of cairns in the beacons. There was a pretty strong breeze blowing on the top and it was much cooler than down in the valley - pretty much as you'd expect really. Some excellent views of the Black Mountains were on offer...and all for free! Love it.

Sugarloaf sunset

Spur of the minute decision to take a short walk up the Sugarloaf (a local extinct volcano near Abergavenny (which means ''Town at the foot of the fire breathing behemoth' in Welsh)) yesterday evening to watch the sunset. It proved a good idea...the temps had dropped enough, the light was great, the hill was deserted, which meant I could arse about with the self timer at the summit, and generally just enjoy the experience.

Sunset over the Black Mountains


Wife pointed out that it was unsual to see me with an impressive erection between my legs...

A light jacket was needed later on as the breeze picked up...or maybe I'm just soft as sh*te..?

The sheep wouldn't keep still for the pic...

Sgyd yr Eira and other waterfalls

A blazing hot week, and a blazing hot sunday and Monday to follow, interspersed with a soggy, rain sodden Saturday. And which day had we picked to go yomping? You got it. Low hill fog in the Brecon Beacons plus 'persistent rain' persuaded us to alter our plans for a peaks walk to a low(ish) level Waterfall walk around a 9 mile circuit near Ystradfellte in the Southern Beacons.

It turned out to be a good choice as the tree cover that we had for most of the route sheltered us from the rain. I was christening my new (and first) pair of Invo8 Roclites and I love em! Very comfy, very light, good grip, blah blah.

The rivers (Afon Mellte and Afon Hepste) were very low following the recent dry period. There were lots of groups of people doing some kind of coasteering (ironically about 4o miles from the coast!) which looked fun...and cold.





Chopper and Nicholls think I'm obsessed with moss, so I humour them by taking photos of it. Honest, I don't really like moss.


Halfway stop was the entrance to the famous and impressive Porth Yr Ogof cave system. This is a timer shot on a one second exposure hence the blurry figures. Nicholls and I went for a wander into the first cavern with our headtorches, whislt Chopper sat on his a*se and ate Malt loaf and Welsh cakes.



The last fall of the day was the well known Sgyd Yr Eira which allows people to pass behind. It was very busy, but very picturesque, as ever. Chance to play with exposure length and gorillapod.




Dog

Last walk of the year

A New Years Eve walk in snow and ice! What better, invigorating end to the year?

We set out early this morning and headed towards the Beacons with a few routes in mind. What we hadn't planned on was the amount of snow on some of the side roads. The road from Pontsticill towards Taf Fechan Forest started off okay, but become more snow laden as we drove North. We eventually (after getting stuck temporarily in a small car park south of the Neuadd reservoirs) settled on parking at the north end of Pontsticill reservoir. We then decided to take a route up onto a hill that neither of us had been up before, Pant-y-Creigiau - not particularly high at 565m but it meant we were beneath the clouds and there were some great views.

On the map at least, it didn't look a particularly taxing route, but it turned out to be tough going due to the conditions, both underfoot and the relentless wind on the exposed sections.

As well as snow, everything was encrusted with ice - the trees, the grass, the trig point, my face! It really was quite picturesque. A real enjoyable walk to end the year with.

Now, please excuse me, I have an appointment with 15 bottles of cold Budweiser.