An unplanned walk but the opportunity presented itself, so we quickly gathered our gear and headed for Torpantau forestry car park. Our mission was to 'bag' a Marilyn - Waun Rydd (769 m / 2,523 ft). We walked the same route which we had taken when visiting Fan y Big. Although it was intermittently raining, the immediate climb up Craig y Fan Ddu and subsequent ridge walk seemed easier going. This was not the recommended starting point in our guidebook, which, we felt, would be pleasant on a warm dry day. However, with an afternoon of heavy rain showers forecast, we were slightly concerned that the final ascent at the end of the Blaen y Glyn valley would be a slippery, boggy and thankless struggle. We were glad that we repeated the previous route along the Craig Fan Las ridge. This time the Blaen Caerfanell waterfall was in full flood, something that we had not seen during our summer walk when it was a mere trickle. We paid a quick visit to the cairn at the summit of Bwlch y Ddwyallt (754 m / 2474 ft - a Nuttall) and continued round the head of the Blaen y Glyn valley, trying not to be blown over by incredibly strong gusts of wind. Pen y Fan and Corn Du were in cloud but Cribyn occasionally peeked out to see what we were up to. The summit cairn of Waun Rydd is small and not visible from the well-maintained path which runs through the peat haggs. The path, however, does not lead to the summit, so we left it and headed across the boggy grass to the highest point. We eventually met a small track and spied the small cairn. At this point, the wind speed increased considerably. Despite the low cloud, we could see familiar landmarks in the Usk Valley - Llangorse Lake, Tor y Foel and also the tall cairn at the farther end of this long flat summit. We decided that we didn't have time to visit Allt Lwyd, but would descend via Allt Forgan. After a false start (thinking the well-maintained path was the one we needed), we found a muddy track, which took us to a war memorial for the crew of a Wellington bomber, which had crashed on the mountain during a training mission. There were two surprises. Firstly, we had not expected the wreckage to still be in situ and secondly, we were not expecting both memorial and wreckage to be decorated with poppy wreaths and other remembrance items. It was quite moving to discover that, in spite of the remoteness and inaccessibility of the memorial, they are not forgotten. A poignant and timely reminder of the sacrifices our ancestors made in the name of freedom. Uh-oh...a fork in the path...and neither seemed to match the description in our guidebook. We made a best guess but the path soon became more of a stony sheep-track. With low cloud, rain and an hour's light remaining, we opted to return along the clear ridge path to the car park. There was no disappointment or regret. We knew this was the right decision. So...heads down, tramp, splash, slip, slide and squelch... we arrived back at the car park at sunset. After removing our weather gear, we sat in the car and finally ate lunch, which we had neglected due to the elements and lack of cover. Better late than never! Learned and Affirmed
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AuthorWe are Lynne and Andrew from Single Steps Learning. Our love of learning and exploring has inspired us to take up 'hill-walking'. We hope to progress from novice to expert! This is our journey. Archives
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