Recent Walk 1

[Dan00001]

When most people think of Welsh mountains, they think either Snowden or the Brecon Beacons but whilst not quite as exotic, the Welsh Valleys has a lot to offer. So I've decided to explore more of my local area, the Welsh Valleys.

This has been spurred on by my right hand man, my best friend, my son who turned 4 in December, who's starting to walk further and further and who has a clear passion for the outdoors..

A couple of weeks ago we purchased an OS map for our local area to seek out local woodlands and mountains to walk, and for me to get back in to practice with my map reading skills. Last week we decided to walk a local mountain which started at Clydach Vale and which would take us to 480m on our planned route, the highest my son has hiked so far.

We actually visited this place twice, on the Sunday to scout the place out, and on the Monday to attempt the hike we had planned out. Clydach Vale is a beautiful countryside park with two lakes, plenty of walks and lot's of wildlife to see. During our Sunday scout, it rained heavy from about half way through the walk.







On the Monday, we decided to attempt the hike up to the top and we lucked out with dry, cold weather for the day. The round trip was a total of about 3.5 miles which took us 3 hours and 46 minutes which included a half hour stop for food and hot chocolate and a few stops to admire the views. We came back down the same way we went up. Unfortunately, I don't have as many photos of the hike up as I would have liked but the majority of it was fairly steep and rocky with occasional pine forests.

This rock is actually shown on the OS Explorer map, I love how detailed these maps are.



You're never too young to start learning to read a map, right?





Just about worn out at the end of the walk (we both slept well that night)

 

[Broch]

That's great, thanks for sharing. My father was born in Tonypandy

Don't get discouraged if your son falls out of favour with the outdoors for a while; they do that, then come back to it

 

[Dan00001]

That's great, thanks for sharing. My father was born in Tonypandy

Don't get discouraged if your son falls out of favour with the outdoors for a while; they do that, then come back to it

I know it will likely happen at some point, and I'm dreading it but hopefully that's another decade away yet.

The Rhondda valleys are beautiful, it's just a shame there isn't more investment in those areas. Some of the little towns and villages, especially as you head further into the Valleys, you can just feel the depression as you drive through them, derelict buildings, every shop closed down apart from perhaps a convenience store, a barbers and a pub. But the surrounding mountains are breathtakingly beautiful.

I'm actually considering moving further up the Valleys to be even closer to the outdoors, but I also don't fancy living in a run down town.

 

[Toddy]

That's a lovely post Thank you for sharing.

It brings back such memories. We walked so many miles, and hills, with our youngsters too. At first they were tied onto us in baby wraps, then they found their feet.

The memories are gold and you are giving both of you such strong healthy ones

I hope you have many more of such.

M

 

[oldtimer]

That's a lovely post Thank you for sharing.

It brings back such memories. We walked so many miles, and hills, with our youngsters too. At first they were tied onto us in baby wraps, then they found their feet.

The memories are gold and you are giving both of you such strong healthy ones

I hope you have many more of such.

M

What she said!

 

[Mesquite]

A great family outing, thanks for sharing