Day Two - Rudry to Upper Cwmbran, 11.2 miles.

Total ascent 924 metres (yesterday was 309m).

Things I knew before I set off today:
It was raining (not a problem)
It was going be bryter layter (good news)
It was going to be over 20 degrees (a problem)
It was going to be windy (possibly a problem)

Rain is fine for not too long periods and when it is cool or cooler. It rained today from 10 till 1:30, and I was in it for three hours. In November I would have been quite happy but today it was hot. Really hot. Still, I'm glad the weather was not the other way round, because at least things are dry again now. And the wind didn't turn up. My only real problem was rain sneaking into the rucksack cover and forming a puddle at the bottom, which seeped into bottom of my pack. Thankfully the only porous thing down there was my medical kit, so no damage done.

I had a decent breakfast before setting out at 10:30. Today was all about three hills, two before lunch and one after. The first was forested and an absolute nightmare to navigate, because there was nothing to see except trees. Old dipstick here had forgotten a map cover, and for this section printed the relevant OS 1:25000 map sections using Getamap, on an inkjet printer. So it only took a single drop of rain for an entire square kilometre of map to disappear in a blur of wet ink. I found a clear food bag in the end which ultimately saved the day. I needed to use a compass several times in the forest, as the paths didn't tally with my (blurred) map. One hill down and I reached the village of Machen. I hid in a bus stop to bail out the rucksack cover and carried straight on. The second hill was a long, tough climb, but there was no forest to get lost in. The view from the top was staggering. To the east I could see three spruce trees, just, which were about 50 feet away. To the south there was some bracken and a bit of gorse. To the west I could see absolutely nothing and to the north, in the gloom, was the Eiffel Tower. Or maybe a radio mast, size can be deceptive in fog.

I made a hasty descent to Risca, a quite gruesome town in the valleys, but I was hungry, and it became much more beautiful once I found a cafe. I was the only person there apart from a lad of about 20. He appeared to be revising. After a few minutes a woman came in and started to interview him! He seemed to be after funding for his theatre company, called Starstruck. She kept calling it 'Star Trek' and then apologising, which was quite funny. I hope I didn't put him off too much when I emptied the entire contents of my rucksack all over the floor. It was a strange situation and I left before the interview finished (after about 45 minutes) to be greeted by glorious sunshine, which set the tone for the second half of the day. It was another long ascent up the final hill but fantastic at the hill fort on top, where I could now see for miles, including the previous hill that I couldn't really see when I was standing on it.

An intriguing memorial in a remote place.

There followed an excellent four mile high level ridge walk which took me straight to the farm I am camping at, with NO SHOWER OR TOILET. The toilet is not a problem, or at least not a boy problem, but no shower after a day like today is not nice.

I eyed up the landlady's lawn when I arrived, but she ushered me instead towards a god-forsaken patch of grass inhabited by slugs, sheep, the remains of a fire, some rusty farm implements, a pile of gravel and a derelict building. I'm not sure it's worth the £3 she's charging me. And the tent pegs won't go in the ground properly. The last thing she said was "Have a good night", then she walked off laughing!

Gelligravog Farm campsite, sort of.

I used the rest of my water to wipe some sheep poo off my leg, applied some deodorant and set off for the Queen Inn in Upper Cwmbran, which is quite some way from the campsite ("It's only quarter of a mile, my dear", said the lovely landlady. I was a bit dubious as there was no sign of another building within a mile.). Had a good lasagne and great beer (Shepherd Neame HPA), and watched the England v Italy friendly match next to a noisy, grey parrot. Cwmbran is a dump as well.

-- Posted from Kev's iPhone