Windy in the Black Mountains.

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Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
I'm just back from a single overnighter, and whilst my knees are busy seizing up on me I thought I should use the time productively and write a trip report. Apologies for the picture quality on some shots as I relied on my phone, not wanting to risk the camera on a mountain trip with poor weather forecast.

The orignal plan was for a two night trip with Davidpingu and Lloydus of this forum plus another that I had not met. However, my plans got changed to a single night when work switched me onto a 22.30 shift finish on the friday night :cussing: so Dave and Lloyd went ahead anyway and I arranged to meet the other chap, Mansun, and go up on the Saturday. Dave had never been in the mountains before, and neither had Mansun, but Lloyd was experienced even if not with this particular area, so I thought they would be fine, although I gave Dave some pointers on where to camp the first night.

In the event, Dave and Lloyd had an adventurous first day, nearly missing each other completely, and doing too much walking, ending up at the expected second day campsite at the end of day 1, tired and a bit battered, as the wind was fierce. Dave was somewhat dehydrated, and doing the Daniel Boone challenge (which he stuck to gamely) and suffered some cold overnight, whilst Lloyd suffered a rodent attack in his tent which resulted in a throrough dusting of flour over all his kit.

Still they were all set up and ready when Mansun and I strolled up on Saturday, having taken the easy way in. Here is the campsite: a ridge above a quarry at the far end of Grwyne Fawr reservoir. It has been camped frequently so there is little wood, and the fire pit was already there. It looks quite peaceful until you notice the horizontal smoke. The wind slowly got worse through the weekend.

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All those green boughs are because apparently Dave selected a downed tree as a firewood source, but it wasn't as dead as he thought (this became an ongoing way to bait him) so the green branches that turned out to be part of it became the intended bedding for the Daniel Boone bit. Nothing wasted. It did mean that our firewood source was greeen though, so a lot of smoke was inhaled over the course of the weekend.

Set-ups. Dave and Mansun were camping together as Mansun hasn't done this before and so had no tent or tarp. As it was Dave's birthday at the start of the trip, this pitch became known as 'The Boudoir'. Comments like "Get a room you two! Oh wait, you have..." were common. To be fair, this was the most exposed pitch, but it survived well.

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Lloyd, being practical, brought a tent, which proved weather proof, if not rodent proof.

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Having been here before, I pitched closer to the quarry edge, to get some shelter from one of the terraces. The downside to this is that my pitch was on a slab of solid rock, which made it impossible to get a tent peg in. It had to just make do as best I could, hence this slightly less than perfect bit of tarpology. The headroom wasn't a lot to shout about either, on account of my walking poles jamming so I could not extend them as much as I wanted (I had intended to try the Adirondack windshelter), but it stayed up and kept me dry, so it was ok.

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Here are the protagonists. Lloyd is on the left, already feeling the cold. Mansun in centre shot is carving a spoon after some guidance from me, and Dave is making hard work of carving a pot holder.

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The view from the quarry when a patch of sunlight got through.

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Dave wanted to try some herbal tea with foraged ingredients, so I wandered off and foraaged a load of bilberries, cowberries, bell heather tips, cross leaved heath, and a bit of wild thyme, plus the least bitter rowan berries that I could find. Dave juiced up some of the berries and steeped the herbs, and the result s was... unpleasant. At least according to Mansun, who managed just a mouthful or so. Dave manfully drank his (it having been his idea) and made a half hearted attempt to convince us that it wasn't so bad. Lloyd and I declined to partake.

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So we settled into a round of eating, sheltering from the wind, fighting to keep the fire alive whilst getting no heat from it at all and inhaling swirling smoke. As darkness fell a bottle of whiskey appeared (Dave's present) and in a brief period of clear sky we watched satellites and a few spectacular Perseid meteorites, before retiring to bed. It was too windy for anyone to sleep really well, but it wasn't too bad. In the night it came on to rain as well.

This was the view in the morning.

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We all had a hot brew, and packed up with minimal delay, and headed home. The weather could have been better, but I for one really enjoyed myself. It was over a year since i was last up in the high hills and I have missed it. I was mentally relaxed and just felt comfortable the whole time, although this may be because I knew what conditions to expect and so came prepared. Dave completed his Boone challenge, and under the circumstances did really well for a first mountain expereince with the wrong kit in less than ideal weather. My thanks to all three of the lads. I will not be leaving it so long before going back next time.
 
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Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Interesting trip. I day hike up to there quite a lot. Good to see it from another's perspective. Thanks.

There is a bothy at the N end of the reservoir if you go again and the weather's poor.

Some good hiking to be had in the Black Mountains...

Thanks. Yes, I know about the bothy. We had to walk right past it to get where we were going, and we did check it out, but the weather wasn't that bad really and and it would have felt like wussing out (which, incidentally, I'm not averse to doing if the situation merits it).

I love the Black Mountains. They are my destination of choice for walking.
 

davidpingu

Forager
Nov 3, 2012
132
1
Cwmbran
Great write up Mike. I took no pictures of my Boone challenge but I did take some footage so in about 6 months time when I've finally edited it all and put it on YouTube I'll post the link to prove I did it!
I really enjoyed it but I've always thought traditional bushcraft should take place in woodland. It just feels far more homely and a bit less hostile Even so i'll definitely be visiting the black mountains again but I think mountain hiking and bushcraft are quite seperate things.
It seemed strange to me though that in all that featureless heathland, food seemed more readily available in all those different berries than some of the woodlands I've been to. Learned a lot about berries this weekend thanks to you coming along Mike!

Atb, Dave
 

quietone

Full Member
May 29, 2011
820
93
Wales
Nice that, great spot to spend the night. I imagine its spectacular in better weather. Great photos too. That tea sounds delicious.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Really enjoyed that Mike, great report that kept me entertained. Pity about the weather but hey, would it be so memorable if it was "nice"? I find the weather is an important trip companion to keep things interesting. Your set up looked good, haven't tarped it in years, either a tent or nothing these days.
You'll have to work on the tea front though, but then even most shop bought "herbal" teas smell nice but taste pants. (We have a name for them I can't really give on a family forum, may PM it sometime).
Looking forward to you getting out to play again sometime very soon,
GB.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Great write up Mike. I took no pictures of my Boone challenge but I did take some footage so in about 6 months time when I've finally edited it all and put it on YouTube I'll post the link to prove I did it!
I really enjoyed it but I've always thought traditional bushcraft should take place in woodland. It just feels far more homely and a bit less hostile Even so i'll definitely be visiting the black mountains again but I think mountain hiking and bushcraft are quite seperate things.
It seemed strange to me though that in all that featureless heathland, food seemed more readily available in all those different berries than some of the woodlands I've been to. Learned a lot about berries this weekend thanks to you coming along Mike!

Atb, Dave

Hey Dave, I've just noticed that you did find some dead wood after all! It's just that you used the only decent firewood that you found all trip to prop up your tarp, and then gave us leafy green wood to use as fuel!

Next time we will start with some fundamental basics, like telling the difference between dead and alive! :deadhorse:
 

Juv2112

Tenderfoot
Jul 8, 2014
57
0
West Wales
Thanks for sharing I enjoyed reading that nice pics too. I've yet to do any trips to the eastern Beacons must make the effort.
 

daveO

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,453
513
South Wales
Nice, I love it up there. It's a real shame that more space around the reservoir couldn't be fenced off to keep the sheep out and planted up with trees.

Any sign of the peregrines this year?
 

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