Trip Report: Waun Fach Circular

Waun Fach, Black mountains
Originally uploaded by Pete Roberts (rhayader_wanderer)

There are few ranges in Wales that I have seen in so many different conditions. Today was no exception.
For once the sun was out although three days of heavy rain made the first half of the walk hard going, but I get ahead of myself.

There are many start points for this route but the Nutall option is one I prefer assuming there is enough parking space. A 10m min walk on the roads leads to a forest path now nicely widened and smoothed for the farmer. Care is needed else you miss the footpath sign and end up in the yard of a second home (watch the field gate its support is rotten).

From here its follow the track to the ridge and keep walking . The first half is boggy in the extreme and capped by the wade acroos the the trig point base on Fach. Then its a steady change of geology and dryness as we move round onto the western loop.

Descending from the final trig is problematic. A direct line to the car is possible but tough on the knees and even worse on the ankles once the bracken is up. Instead head towards table mountain before cutting the final corner to reach the footpath back round the hillside. Keep on this until after the small copse where a permissive path crosses one road before dropping you out 20m from where you left the car.

Trip report: Ysgafell Wen

Across Llyn Coch to Cnicht, Moelwyns, North Wales
Originally uploaded by Pete Roberts (rhayader_wanderer)

The group of hills north of the Crimea Pass have always struck me as a bit of a Curates Egg. Easy walking between the tops but a messy boggy circular to get back to the start if you take the Nutall route.

So for a change I tried something a little different. The Crimea Pass layby was still closed but a bit of the old road forms a new parking place about 200m west of the crest at the start of the track leading towards Llyn Iwerddon. The initial incline is gentle and provides a nice warming up before the climb to the right of the stream up to the lake, pass over the dam and round the left side to gain the standard route across the tops to Ysgafell Wen.

The headwaters of the Ledr is the usual return but instead I retraced a couple of tops keeping away from the fence for a while thenturned Druman to the west and south and cut across the face of Allton the north side. Short on time I returned the way I cam at this point however a continuation of the redge is as possible and makes a nice and far less strength sapping figure of eight.