Black Mountains in January Mist

End of January Rich and I went on another fairly spontaneous day-hike in South Wales. We had enjoyed our short notice venture to Pen-y-Fan in November so much, that we had kept a keen eye out on the next free Sunday with passable weather.

We picked another Sunday with the forecast gone from bright blue skies to overcast and misty, but we thought we'd still give it a go. At least there was no rain. Another (very!) early start for us, when most people were still tucked into their beds. But we didn't mind, excitement about another day out was our wake-up juice.

We had picked the Black Mountains as our playground, since they're usually less crowded, wilder and closer to home. Past Abergavenny we turned onto a not-quite-yet single track road to Llanthony which features a now-turned-hotel abbey ruin and two nice pubs. After that the road got ever narrower, as we kept on driving into the sticks with mountains towering left and right, threatening to squash us between them.

The track rose ever higher and eventually views opened up to reveal misty mountains and bleak hill sides in a murky atmosphere. Just before Gospel Pass (which is the highest road path in Wales apparently) we parked up, layered up and started our ascent onto the Western ridge towards our first peak of the day: Twmpa.

Nice, but misty views heading up towards Twmpa

We could see some of the flat fields beyond the pass to the North despite the mist. Must be stunning in clear visibility! The broad path was easy to follow and had a fairly friendly gradient. Before we knew it we stood at the top of our first hill for today.

Misty and breezy we didn't linger long. I took a bearing to make sure we took the right pass South on what was something between a broad ridge and a plateau. Despite very limited views, we enjoyed the walk a lot. The normally very boggy path was almost completely frozen which allowed us to walk in a straight line without having to circumvent the pits and puddles all the time. Result! Walking in winter is great!

So it is misty. No problem at all.

Bang on lunch time we arrived in Capel-y-ffyn after an at times steep descent back down into the valley. A small bridge with broad stone walls was perfect for our picnic. The place is nothing more than a church and a handful of houses and we had it all to ourselves and a couple of sheep who eyed us suspiciously.
Cheese, mixed nuts, kabanos and some leftover birthday cake make a great refreshment on a winter walk along with piping hot tea from the flask. Ah, good times!!!

Looking South as we headed up towards Offa's Dyke Path

Refreshed we headed up towards the opposite ridge line, following signs for Offa's Dyke Path. The lower slopes were steep and slippery in places and we longed for frozen ground again. Nearing the top after a somewhat relentless ascent we passed a few people who probably took a more popular circular route form Llanthony. As we turned North again having reached the ridge line and its luxurious path (stone slabs!) we were pretty much alone again all the way to Hay Bluff.






I happily hopped along left and right of the path playing the "I'm in England, I'm in Wales."-game since Offa's Dyke marks the border between both.

Right foot in England, left foot in Wales!!!

Walked over both tops of Black Mountain which gives the region its name, without passing a marker of any kind. How disappointing. Well, been there done that.
Hay Bluff marked the last hill top for today and the point where we turned South-West towards the car park. Views over the plain to the North opened up again as limited as before but nonetheless lovely.

On Offa's Dyke Path heading towards Black Mountain

On our way down to the car

Back at the car after a fairly relaxed just under five hours walk we changed foot wear and drove back down into the valley, passed Capel-y-ffyn again and stopped at the Half Moon Inn pub in Llanthony. It was my turn to have a pint as I was not driving and I enjoyed every drop of my San Miguel which went straight to my head to be honest, haha.

It was my third time in the Black Mountains and so far they never disappoint. Even with not ideal weather (which is pot luck anyway) we had enjoyed every bit of our walk. It was not too short and not too long and not having to share the path with countless people makes for a nice change thinking about the likes of Pen y Fan or Sugarloaf.
Llanthony seems a nice little place to start a walk from and we will keep it in mind for our next venture into the Black Mountains. The surrounding hills offer plenty of choice for walks and it has a fairly big free car park... as if we need any more convincing.

Anti-clockwise route from Gospel Pass (red and white dot top left)