Bagging Nuttalls in the Sunshine
With the settled weather due to break at the weekend, I decided to make the most of it and head into the hills to bag a few more Nuttalls. Most of the local ones are already ticked off now, so it meant a longer drive, but the Black Mountains and Bannau Brycheiniog still had plenty left on my list. I’ve done one or two there by accident whilst running 1000 miles around Wales, as a couple are on the Offa’s Dyke Trail, but the rest were still waiting to be bagged. So, I headed south on Friday morning.
Into the Hills
I drove to a car park on the mountain road between Llangadog and Brynamman, so I did quite a bit of climbing in the car and started my walk at around 480 m in elevation. From there, I headed off under cloudy skies, up through some old quarry spoil tips towards the summit of Garreg Lwyd (616 m), which was my first Nuttall of the trip.
I had all day, as it wouldn’t get dark until close to 10 pm, so I was taking things easy. I stopped briefly at the trig point for a photo before continuing across easy ground to Foel Fraith (602 m).
Foel Fraith doesn’t count as a Nuttall, but it is still a summit, and it was on my route, so I stopped at the little pile of stones marking the top and took some photos of the cotton grass dancing in the wind.
There was no one around — just me and the hills. The road was out of sight and all was quiet as a buzzard soared overhead. I didn’t stop long, but there were now occasional breaks in the cloud and the sun was beginning to make its presence felt, so on went the hat and sunglasses too.
From here, there was a short descent over rockier ground and across a shallow depression which would usually be wet and boggy, but today consisted of somewhat crispy mosses. I then climbed up over a rocky rise and turned left, where a faint path took me along a limestone ridge to the summit of Garreg Las (634 m), where two large stone piles marked the top. This one was a Nuttall.
The sun was strong now, so I rolled my sleeves down to stop myself getting burnt.
My original plan had been to head towards Waun Lefrith next and the main ridge above Llyn y Fan Fach, before returning via the summit of Carreg Yr Ogof the following day. However, from here it looked too tempting to ignore, so I decided to head straight there instead.
It didn’t take long to stride through the bilberry bushes to the prominent white trig point at the summit of Carreg Yr Ogof (586 m). I passed a herd of wild ponies on the way, many of them with foals.
That was summit four of the day, and it was turning into a lovely afternoon. The summit here is surrounded by limestone ledges and grassy patches with views out over the fields of Mid Wales below — the perfect spot to stop for lunch.
So, out came my new camp chair and my pasty, and I settled down for a while in the sunshine. Not a bad spot for lunch: hidden from view, but with scenery that was hard to beat.
Onto Bannau Brycheiniog
After relaxing in the sun, I was back on my feet, descending to a saddle and heading east. So far, there had been no sign of water, which is fairly typical on these limestone tops. Rather than flowing in streams and rivers, much of it percolates through the rock into caves and underground systems, so reliable water sources can be hard to find.
With the day heating up, a long way still to go, and only around 500 ml left, I decided to divert towards what was marked as a stream on the map. Sure enough, there was a perfect little stream flowing nicely and glistening in the sunshine.
I stopped to filter some water, only to discover that my filter had dried out a little and wasn’t flowing properly. I managed to top up my bottle though, and left some water sloshing around inside the filter in the hope that it would rehydrate and improve later on.
From there, I began a steady climb along an easy path towards the summit of Waun Lefrith (676 m), the third Nuttall of the day. I was climbing higher now and properly entering Bannau Brycheiniog. As I reached the top, the stunning ridge above Llyn y Fan Fach opened out ahead of me.
The next part of the route would follow the edge of that ridge, picking off summits as I went before eventually dropping back down towards the lake.
I had a tentative plan to camp by the lakeside, though I suspected it might be busier than I’d like. From up here, it already looked that way. There were parties strung out along the ridge, several groups climbing up from the lake, and plenty of people gathered along the shoreline below.
After taking a few photos, I continued on.
Along the Ridge
The ridge walk took me up and down along the escarpment with constant views down to the lake below. The next summit, and another Nuttall, was Bannau Sir Gaer – Picws Du (749 m).
From there, the ridge dipped and climbed again towards Fan Foel (781 m). This one doesn’t count as a Nuttall either, but it was still a prominent point on the route. Beyond it came a longer descent followed by a steeper climb to Fan Brycheiniog – Twr y Fan Foel (803 m), the highest point of the trip and Nuttall number five which afforded views back towards the lake.
Just beyond it sat the Fan Brycheiniog trig point (802 m), which is classed as another summit in its own right.
This stretch of the walk was noticeably busier. I overtook several groups and had wide views down towards Llyn y Fan Fawr. Most people seemed to be completing a loop from the lake below, but I still had one final summit to reach.
Fan Hir (760 m) sat a little way beyond the main turning down to the lake, so before long I found myself alone again as I headed out towards it. That was the sixth and final Nuttall of the trip, and from here it was simply a case of making my way back.
Around the Lakes
My original plan had been to retrace my steps before dropping down to Llyn y Fan Fach somewhere between Fan Foel and Bannau Sir Gaer. I’d spotted the path earlier and it looked straightforward enough.
From Fan Hir though, there was also an obvious route down to Llyn y Fan Fawr and then around towards Llyn y Fan Fach. It would turn the outing into more of a loop and save some retracing, so that’s the option I chose.
The descent was steep at first, but before long I reached the lakeside, passing several people I’d already overtaken earlier in the day. There were groups scattered around the grassy shores, some already waiting with tents ready for the evening. Others had clearly decided not to wait and were already pitching beside the lake.
I wandered around the shoreline before contouring around the steep spur descending from Fan Foel. The path here hugged the hillside and made for easy walking.
Once around the spur, the full length of the ridge opened out ahead of me once again, while the waters of Llyn y Fan Fach appeared in the distance. Things had quietened down here too, and I made my way along narrow tracks and grassy paths towards a small rill feeding into the reservoir.
Oddly, for a while it genuinely looked as though I was walking uphill towards the lake, despite the water flowing in the same direction as me. Some sort of strange optical illusion was definitely at work.
At the lake itself, I stopped for a short while and confirmed what I’d already suspected — there were simply too many people around for my liking.
I’d already started leaning towards another plan anyway. Rather than camp by the water, deal with midges, and face a steep climb first thing in the morning, I decided to head back up onto the ridge instead.
The idea was to revisit the water source from earlier so I could top up for the evening and breakfast, then camp somewhere near Carreg Yr Ogof, where I’d stopped for lunch earlier in the day. There were plenty of good pitches there, the breeze would help keep the midges away, and it wasn’t too far to carry 3–4 kg of water. It would also leave me with a short walk back to the car in the morning.
That’s exactly what I did.
Water Collecting and a Campsite
Once I started climbing again, I didn’t see another person. I cut across country slightly to contour around the hill towards the stream, avoiding a re-ascent of Waun Lefrith and saving a little climbing in the process.
While filtering water, I noticed a tiny pinhole leak in the filter bladder, though thankfully the flow was much better this time. Soon enough, I found a perfect little spot to camp and had the tent pitched in time to relax in my new chair beside it.
It was an excellent place to spend the night — tucked out of sight as the evening sun faded and dinner settled.
I’d only brought a lightweight sleeping bag with me. Overnight temperatures dropped more than expected, and the night also served as a reminder of why I switched to using a quilt. I just never seem to sleep particularly well in sleeping bags.
Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. Sunrise was around 5 am, so it was already getting light by 4:30 am, and I was up and moving as dawn broke.
After some porridge and coffee, I packed up and was back on the move by 5:30 am.
From camp, it was only a couple of minutes up to the summit of Carreg Yr Ogof again, where the views down towards the farmland below were just as impressive as they had been the previous day.
From there, I retraced my steps over the rocks and bilberry bushes to the twin stone piles at Garreg Las, then back down the limestone escarpment before turning right towards Foel Fraith.
This time, rather than re-climbing the summit, I skirted around its northern flank instead. The contouring path passed several caves before eventually emerging into the impressive Black Mountain Quarries.
I spent a little while exploring the quarries before finally popping back out into the car park where the car was waiting.
A lovely day and a bit in the hills:
- 10 summits
- 6 Nuttalls added to my list
- a decent camp
- my new chair got a thumbs up
- sleeping bags got a thumbs down
All that remained was the 2 hour 15 minute drive home. I was back by 10 am, leaving the rest of the day free to potter in the garden, inspect the bees, and carry out another split.
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I do worry about you
1 why ?
2 all alone
It was just a little walk, so why not?!
Crazy boy!
What about the answer to number 2 ?
Are you offering?