Waun Fach Ridge - Second Attempt

So there we were. Back in Crickhowell to give the Waun Fach ridge another go. Two weeks had past after our last hike including a very sunny weekend. Again we were rather unlucky. The forecast for Saturday looked a bit better with lots of clouds but little rain, Sunday had heavy rain all day. Hm. We didn't care much.
Ross had just acquired a car so going to Crickhowell was easy. We parked at a school and set off for Table Mountain again. This time he had packed less and another backpack, I had packed more with some more food and the stove, testing if my small 33L backpack is sufficient for my two-week June hike. It is. :)
We approached the hill from the east side and had no problems navigating although it was hidden in clouds half of the time. Low hanging clouds. Arg. Not very convenient for a ridge walk. Ross was in good shape today. I wasn't and I didn't really know why. It was like the other way around this time. He walked up easily while I was falling behind struggling. The different weight certainly played a role, also that I hadn't had my usual eggs and bacon for breakfast.
Walked up to Pen Cerrig-calch where we had to turn around last time. That was the easy part. The absence of any view whatsoever didn't really bother us. There was only little wind and there was a strange silence all around despite the chirp of a bird here and there. We loved it!

There is a Table Mountain hidden on this picture

On Pen Cerrig-calch

Stayed on the broad path going up and down, bagging the hilltops on the way. This ridge walk is said to be absolutely stunning with views as far as way into England. We had none of this, were lucky to get a tiny glimpse at the valley to the west at one point and even the hill tops ahead could only be seen briefly before they vanished again in the clouds within seconds.
I was quite glad that I had just bought a new compass (the old one had the needle stuck all the time, don't buy a compass for a fiver). Soon hung it around my neck and used it quite frequently to check if we were heading into the right direction. We were and finally ascended the final long boggy approach of Waun Fach. In dense clouds with deeper getting lanes of black mud surrounded by dark red heather I suddenly realized that the birds had stopped singing. Ooohoooh. It almost felt like we were approaching the centre of an occult outdoor temple. Especially when the hilltop emerged: A large boulder in a round field of thick black mud. Woah! The boulder had a flat side almost like a slab at an angle. This looked so much like an altar! I looked for some old bloodstains, but found none, hahaha.

Something you won't expect to find on a hilltop

A brief moment of "view"

Waun Fach top with the slab barely seen in the distance

We walked down the other face of the hill and eventually the flora got greener and the birds were back again. Wow, what an experience! Found our way easy into the Gwryne Fawr valley with literally millions of frog eggs in the puddles on our path. Cool. Had never seen this. Met a few larger hiking groups which felt a bit weird since we had only met like a handful of other humans all day.
Reached the bothy near the damn at around 3pm. Since it was quite early we settled in, had some tea and food, took an afternoon walk to the dam and back. I introduced Ross to a game I loved in my youth "City, Country, River" (Stadt, Land, Fluss). Since there was only the floor to sleep on it was just enough for the two of us. Unfortunately another guy arrived late at night and we wouldn't shut him out since it had started to rain outside.
Somehow we squeezed all onto the floor. I could just stretch out, but Ross is a bit taller than me and had quite an uneasy night. Still it was better than staying outside in the tent and having to pack it wet and dripping next morning loading more weight.

Gwryne Fawr valley

Our shelter for the night