A Stroll in the Hills
It’s not all about the highest peaks and the most difficult terrain, sometimes it’s nice just to get out for a stroll in the hills as well. Especially when recovering from a major bout of lurgy. So, that’s what I did on Tuesday this week as it looked like the nicest day of the week.
After a short drive to Pantperthog, just north of Machynlleth I parked up in the Dyfi Bike Park car park and set off along the wide, muddy forest tracks up towards the Tarren range of hills. I passed a busy mill where wood was being processed and Heartwood Sauna’s were being produced. I’m not really allowed into a sauna these days but they did look nice and I’m sure one would look lovely at the bottom of the garden. I think they are a little out of our price range though!
I continued on along the fire roads with the trails of the Dyfi Bike Parked criss-crossing to ether side of me. Some of the structures built for these trails are pretty impressive. I eventually emerged out of the trees towards the top of the bike trails where the snow-peppered hills of the Tarren range could be seen.
Leaving the bike park behind I started my way up to the highest point of the day, the summit of Tarren y Gesail. This is the highest point in the Tarren Range at 667 m and is classed as a Marilyn. Marilyns are mountains or hills with 150 meters or more of prominence located in Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. This one is part of the Cadair Idris group and is one of 159 such Marilyns in Wales (I feel a challenge coming on!) The path was easy to follow as it zig-zagged it’s way to the top. There was snow on the ground so I was crunching through it with no other side other than that of my footsteps. Towards the top the clouds closed in. I made my way to the trig point at the summit and then retraced my steps back down.
Back out of the clouds I descended to a saddle and then started another climb, this time through the forest to a ridge on the far side. As I emerged out of the forest I was greeted with nice views down the Dyfi Valley to Both and Ynyslas. I was too far away to actually make out our house, but I could see where it was.
It was a lovely day out of the clouds, chilly but with just a light breeze and some nice warming sunshine. It was still quite early and I was in no rush as I strolled along the ridge to the small summit of Foel y Geifr. It was barely noticeable as a summit so I didn’t stop. Instead, I just carried on along the ridge in the sunshine making my way down into a dip and then up the steep climb to the summit of Mynydd Rhyd-galed East Top.
This was more noticeable as a summit and there were once again lovely views of the Dyfi Valley. I had planned to stop here for lunch, but it was still quite early so I descended once again and found a nice sunny spot below a boulder on a nearby hillside. Here I fired up the stove, made a nice coffee and ate my lunch. As I was about to pack up a fellow walker came along and had a little chat. He too was making the most of the nicest day of the week and was bagging a few Marilyns in his attempt to get them all.
I soon continued on my way, this time along what was barely a track around the top of some forestry and into the next valley. Next was some difficult navigation through the trees and the maze of paths and trails in the forest. I found the exact paths I was looking for though and gradually descended back towards the main road. There wasn’t much of note along here. It was all quite wet underfoot, there were a few stream crossings and some huge puddles to negotiate on the Green Lane and then I emerged out onto the main road and made my way back to the van.
Another good day in the hills without too much driving and not too much effort.
