free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Every year in late September there is a gathering in the hills near Hay on Wye. Much alcohol and merriment is involved, but that thirst has to be earned by tramping over the hills.
Over the years we had been up and down the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons from all directions, so this year we decided to go slightly off the beaten track.
Mynydd Troed and its slightly lower neighbour lies just to the west of the Black Mountains, looming over the small town of Llangorse and its lake. Mynydd Troed is a matter of inches short of 2,000ft, so just fails to be a Hewitt by the smallest of margins.
You may be able to tell that this was a bit of a ‘Ramblers’ route as it started and finished at a pub that sells decent real ale!
The first few miles are along a well-made and long established bridleway that runs along the valley following the stream. This is infinitely better than walking along the road which is positively dangerous being busy, bendy and having no path. It is a long walk in, and perhaps not the route I would have chosen, but at least there are a few bizarre sights along the way.
Eventually the route takes to the road for a few hundred yards before taking to the fields at the start of the climb. Earlier or later in the year it may be possible to climb straight up the steep slopes of Llangorse mountain, but late in the summer these slopes are covered in an impenetrable forest of head-high bracken intermingled with brambles. However, heading along another a bridleway that leads south and gently upwards to the point of a faint ridge. Here there is a steep path that winds upwards through the dense, wet and very tall bracken.
Eventually the slope eases, the bracken ends and we were confronted by a typical Black Mountains moorland plateau. The walking is quick and easy over firm ground covered in short grass, and there is even a clear path to follow.
The final stretch to the top follows a low dike that leads almost directly to the shiny white painted and beautifully maintained trig point.
We sheltered just below the top out of the wind clad in top to toe Goretex, and tucked in to our picnic as a shower of rain blew in. How very British!
From the trig point, the route goes up to the true summit, a small pile of stones near a pond on the flat top of this hill. The way improves from here, following a well-defined ridge with rocky outcrops down and down to the col.
The pass is so low that the fields of the farms on either side almost meet, there is just a ribbon of rough ground separating them.
The weather perked up again by the time we reached the pass and off came the coats. The enforced stop gave us the opportunity to size up the way ahead, and is a long steep climb of almost a 1,000 feet the goes near enough straight up a ridge to the summit.
Although this is a ‘Head down, trudge up’ type climb, the views do open up quite nicely, so it is worth taking the odd Strategic Photographic Break to have a good look around.
The ridge finally tops out and the summit Trig point is only a matter of a few yards away. Mynydd Troed is 1998 and a bit feet high, so if you jump onto the trig point you will definitely reach Hewitt height!
It was a bit murky, so perhaps we didn’t get the best of views, but on a clear day you can see for miles in all directions, with the Black Mountains to the East and the Brecon Beacons to the west.
Personally I would have chosen a route that went south east along the back of Mynydd Troed and then descend to hit the road somewhere around Waun Fach Forge. However, being a team player (for once!), it was a straight dash down the well-defined North ridge past some decent rocky outcrops and then into the pub near a few hundred yards down from Pengenfford.
All in all, not a bad day at all!
