We're on a week's walking holiday in the Brecon Beacons, staying in a cottage by the Mon & Brec Canal just outside Llanfoist.
Today, we did our first hilly walk of the week. Our cottage is at the foot of the Blorenge - the only significant peak south of the Heads of the Valleys road (otherwise known as the A465) - so we had to climb it. The route also included a high circuit of the hill and an extremely tough ending!
Setting off up the steep gorge from the cottage:
We came out of the trees to join a path which we followed to the far side of Blorenge before heading up to the summit. In the distance is Skirrid, which we hope to do directly from the cottage later in the week:
Looking back towards the lovely pond in the Punchbowl:
Arriving on the summit plateau we passed lots of shake holes - small craters where the ground below has collapsed:
The summit trig point at a modest 561m:
We met lots of wild, but very docile, horses:
The views towards the distant mountains and the towns and valleys below were amazing:
There were less than two miles to go when we chose a 'path' that turned out to be a nightmare! Although it was marked clearly on the map it quickly fizzled out and it took us nearly two hours to go one mile! We battled through endless bracken entwined with brambles on steep, rocky terrain. At one point, while trying to get past a rotting, fallen tree, I fell and ended up on my back in nettles and brambles - my leg is still throbbing! Ah, the joys of walking...
But all's well that ends well and we made it back eventually! Tomorrow we hope to do the Brecon Beacons Horseshoe, which includes Cribyn, Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du...