A circuit of the hills of the upper Wye Valley between the Pumlumon range and the Elan Valley, taking in a total of nine new 500m tops.
On the south west side of the Wye Valley, a line of hills stretches from Moelfryn near Rhayader to Llechwedd Llwyd above the confluence of the Wye and the Afon Tarrenig. The south-eastern end was covered in our Elan Valley #4 backpack, this trip traverses the rest of the chain and crosses to the north eastern side of the Wye to visit the two hills bordering the Hafren Forest. The outward leg follows line of the Wye Valley Walk as it traverses the hill country south of Llangurig to Dernol and the return uses forest trails and the path along the Afon Bidno valley.
The route planning technique of linking new little known tops has been satisfying, often producing fine walking in solitude and a few real gems, but it must be said that this route was less successful. Every backpack is enjoyable and it’s always great to be in the hills walking and pitching the tent, but in this case the rewards were pretty thin relative to the effort required and occasional cursing involved. There are good general views from the high ground over this part of Wales but no intrinsically memorable highlights among these summits, although a few of them will linger in the mind for their oddity value if nothing else. I was quite nonplussed by the area on the east side of Pumlumon near the source of the Wye, little did I suspect such land usage in these hills from our previous walks among the high tops further north.
8 Comments
I just love the line ‘The valley terrain around this western arm of the forest is simply vile’, not often used in those glossy guidebooks! I have had a few simular backpacks in the past where sometimes the seeking of solitude means that it all turns out into a bit of a disapointing ordeal. Did you pop your head into the bothy you passed, its a good one, spooky at night with the turbines whooshing overhead!
James,
It really was vile but only for a short distance. I don’t recall a bothy on the route, then again I tend to ignore the odd building I encounter (unless they are in a really wild or mountainous location like the one on Foel Grach).
Quite a mixed bag there Geoff. Though you managed to get photos of a few attractive looking areas.
Phil,
You never know what to expect in these virtually untrodden areas, this route fell too much under the forestry influence I think. Some attractive stuff though.
I was only looking at this area today at work for a potential trip.
Thanks Geoff.
Looks OK for a quick get away, no?
I always enjoy wandering about new areas, especially ones that are little visited by other folk (not that I’m anti-social at all)
Terry,
Yes it’s fine, a good walk but those forested summits are not worthwhile unless you want to bag them. I really like the little frequented areas, they are often a lot more attractive in summer than the usual suspects for that very reason.
Hello - as a fellow mountain walker and wannabe photographer I love following your blog. I am taking a lot of landscape photos this year - but they never come out anywhere as nearly as good as yours. I have decided to invest in a good wide angle lens to try and improve my photos and I wondered which lens do you use? And do you have any suggestions? Thanks Deb
Deborah,
Many thanks for your kind comments on the site. Nothing new for a while now due to one thing and another, but we should be out soon.
We have only one lens, permanently attached to our Canon EOS350D DSLR camera, it’s a Canon 17-40L. The zoom range is fairly small and it’s not very wide at the low end, but its quality is first class and suits us well. We also often use an excellent B+W circular polarizing filter to bring out the best in a sunlit shot.
We are not dedicated photographers by a long chalk, still essentially point-and-shoot but with a bit more knowledge and experience to do it better. Much of it is down to the conditions at the time rather than any great skill!.
It also helped a lot to learn how to use Photoshop more effectively for post-processing of our photos, which are always taken in RAW mode in the camera. Sometimes even a dull lifeless scene can be made presentable. The trick is to avoid making them look unnatural and over-processed.
I just had a very quick look at your blog:a great variety of walks and pictures there, I’ll have a closer look shortly.