Day 29: Hunter’s Moon Inn to Black Mountains (14.9 miles)

I finally left the Inn at 9:30. I couldn’t have asked for a pleasanter stay with an excellent breakfast, and a bacon and marmalade butty wrapped in foil to enjoy at lunch! The sound of house sparrows chirruping cheerily as I laced my boots outside made me think of home and the garden with a little home sickness. But I was ready and looking forward to today’s challenge now!

As I left I noticed the millstone grit appearance of the drystone walls which reminded me of Derbyshire and the Peak District. Strange to think I’d be there in a couple of weeks now. The walk continued across undulating but generally rising farmland with gorgeous Welsh ponies and a rather cute if dopey donkey as I descended into one valley.

I stopped just after 11 for a break and some calorie input before the pull up onto the ridge of the black mountains. The pleasant, rich pastureland had continued with some fairly lively young heifers just below me … on the other side of an electric fence! And if you’re curious the snack comprised salted almonds, soft eating apricots and the re-solidified chocolate drop “lump”! 

Whilst I was snacking 3 lovely gentlemen with “10 trek” tee shirts stopped for a chat. They had walked 10 treks together since 2012 and this time were following ODT to Knighton, tonight dropping down to Longtown with a climb back up tomorrow. We laughed about who would envy who by the morning! One of them had lost his mother earlier this year to dementia - like my mother also 93 - and apparently had been in hospital unaware of her state. As they were about to leave, one of them (Peter) stepped forward and confided that in fact he had a brain injury, having fallen from a ladder a few years back so now carries a brain injury ID card. He was anxious that I took care of myself and make the most of every day. To me, they came across as the most considerate, modest and gentle people you could meet. I let them go on ahead and set off a little later at 11:45; a rather longer elevenses today but my time is my own today with wild camping on the tops on the agenda. A nice feeling.

I elected to follow the Beacons Way for a bit rather than drop down only to come back up to a fort as the ODT did. The beauty of now feeling much more flexible about making up the route as I go along rather than rigidly following one particular trail. There were beautiful views across the Brecon Beacons.

I met the 3 men having a siesta at the first trig point where took a photo for me. For one last time they passed me by me while I was having my lunch, admiring the view and taking my time, 1:30-2:15pm. Suddenly, there was a convergence of people - a point where you could descend either to Longtown or the beautiful valley of Llantony and its priory. There was a  group of DofErs and a group of adults walking down to Llanthony - the latter group impressed by what I was doing and promising to donate.

I met the DofE youngsters a little later at the next trig point (536m) - they were doing gold, came from Buxton and were on Day 1 of 4. They were a nice bunch who were keen to look up the blog. They agreed getting away from it all is really valuable to them and shared they a pretty close group. The camaraderie showed.

The views continued to open up and I found myself looking across the scenic Llanthony valley to Wayne Fach (811m) - part of the wider Black Mountain range. I was impressed by the number of deep parallel valleys running south to north with what looked like a stunning road going over to Hay on Wye to my west.

I started hesitating from 16:30 when I saw potential camping spots below the ridge but decided it was too soon to stop and aimed to look again at 17:00. A pair of wheatears flew in front of me for awhile. A number of stagnant ponds were occurring but wouldn’t have been sensible as a water source for my filter. I was being careful how much I was drinking, having 2 litres for the 2 days. I thought I could see marsh glass bubbling up but then realised it was full of frog spawn with tadpoles emerging.

As I continued to keep an eye out for camp spots I was reminded of a similar time when walking the Dales Highway on moorland overlooking the Howgills. As I approached the 703m summit instead of rather lumpy moorland grass and heather, the ground suddenly became covered with stones - this wouldn’t work at all! But by this time I’d got second wind and continued over the summit stopping at 18:00 when I spotted some reasonably level ground just below the ridge.

Time to pitch up and hopefully be out of the wind - there were spots of rain which had me worried for a minute but that soon stopped and I was able to pitch with leisure and get everything sorted inside. Dusk starting to fall at 20:20 as it’s now overcast and the temperature is dropping so I’ll now huddle into my sleeping bag for the night.