A day of showers. Five in total. My Met Office app had said that it wouldn't rain today, so I ended up a bit disappointed with the weather. The sun never really got much of a look in until the latter part of the walk.
But first a brief resume of yesterday's 'rest day'. After popping into WH Smith to see if there was anything in the local papers about the fight in the campsite last Saturday (there wasn't - old news by now) we drove to Carreg Cennen Castle, which is actually on my route very close to the end, but I didn't think I'd really want to drag my rucksack around it during a walking day. When I spoke at my Dad's funeral a few months back I said that when I was younger we went to pretty much every castle in Wales. This is indeed true, but the few we didn't go to were in this neck of the woods and further west, including Carreg Cennen. It is a ruin in a very imposing position and was well worth visiting.
We then drove to a red kite feeding centre, which is basically a bird hide looking out onto a fenced off patch of grass in a field. At 3pm a man appeared and chucked some raw meat around. Almost immediately the kites appeared, but it was a long time before they eventually came down in earnest, waiting first for the rooks and magpies to show that it was safe. When they did come it was a quite stunning sight. Most swooped down and grabbed the meat as they flew past, but two just landed on the grass and had a good munch. We were impressed!
So this morning Jen dropped me off by the burger van and I was off again. Within 30 minutes I had the waterproofs on, and they stayed on for most of the day. The path was initially parallel to the main road, but as the path climbed the road dropped, so it was soon far below. The path soon veered away and I then had a six hour walk that consisted of little more than very boggy paths on uninteresting hills. So the walk itself was as disappointing as the weather. A dull day does tend to happen on most long distance walks, after all the scenery is unlikely to be relentlessly wonderful. But despite the total ascent being quite modest it was pretty tough walking. I was continually hopping from tussock to tussock to keep my feet dry, which becomes tiring quite quickly.
So the highlights? I stopped for a short break in one of the valleys and headed for the only seat, a log bench, where Sean had kindly left me a message saying exactly what he'd done to Stephanie on that precise spot. I decided that the rain had probably washed away the evidence by now and was grateful for a sit down.
The other highlight was Craig y nos country park, at the end of the walk. A landscaped park previously owned by a famous opera singer who I'd never heard of and have now forgotten the name of, apparently she was big the the 60s (that's the 1860s). I had stocked up with quite a bit of food in Brecon because facilities are scarce in these parts, but the country park had a lovely cafe so I was able to increase my chances of survival with some Victoria sponge and lots of coffee. There was a large family group there already so I sat nearby to eavesdrop, hoping for an amusing anecdote, but today it just wasn't to be.
The campsite is part of the National Showcaves of Wales, recently awarded a prize for being the best natural wonder in Britain. It is also home to unusual animals and plastic dinosaurs. And an exhibition of rocks. The campsite seems pretty good, but compared to my previous efforts it could hardly fail to be. The field next door is home to several emus, which is nice. I hope they don't have any early morning cockerel-like habits.
Well it makes a change from sheep.
The Showcaves also has a cafe which serves breakfast and I am currently in the Gwyn Arms over the road having an evening meal, so maybe it's not quite as remote as I originally thought! But there is one notable difference: for the first time on the entire walk I'm in a pub full of walkers and climbers, including two blokes (Roger and James) also doing the Beacons Way. They started a day after me but caught me up when I had the day off yesterday, and appear to have enjoyed today about as much as me. The landlord here is quite a character, with a very dry sense of humour, and he has recommended a detour tomorrow which I might follow, as it stays higher and was also mentioned on the National Park website. He also does a mighty fine rice pudding, and I felt I had earned one today.
Which just leaves shower number two. It was, as something earlier in the walk was that I've forgotten, Biblical. I was approaching the summit of Fan Llia (at 632m) and noticed that the distant scenery had turned into a grey blur. Gradually, nearer hills did the same until a curtain of grey was just in front of me, with nothing else visible. I was right on top of the mountain and went into Delia Smith mode, standing there yelling, "Come on then, let's be having you." Maybe I should have gone into Charlton Heston mode instead and tried to part it on either side of me, because when it hit it hit hard, and my world was turned entirely grey. All I could do was stand there in the deluge and wait, and after about five minutes I could start to make out a few features through the murk. And shortly after it had passed. Now everything behind me had disappeared, but that was no longer my problem.
-- Posted from Kev's iPhone
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