Waymarked My A....

The drizzle had kept on pouring down all night and the firewood in the bothy was just too damp to have a nice fire going. We had dried a few small things like a shirt and gloves over the gas stove last night. We just wanted to get going to get warm so we packed our stuff and had our breakfast on the way. I put on full rain gear and even though it stayed dry for the moment I was happy for the extra warmth.

We walked along the river through some wood and stayed always close to the stream that became wider and wider. The path was very boggy in places and the going was a bit strenuous. Somehow we missed again the footpath leading to the West out of the woods and stayed on a tarmac road for quite a while until we hit the Beacons Way again which would lead us over two minor hills and to Table Mountain again. We would veer south earlier though, since we both didn't want to go near it again, haha.

Found the way marked trail around mid day and deemed ourselves almost back in Crickhowell. We lost it soon after as we took the wider path at a crossing and no sign pointed us into the right direction. I was doubting my navigation skills, but Ross was at a loss as well. Still with compass and map we found our way back and were soon led uphill. The weather worsened as we gained hight and soon we were up in the clouds again with a constant drizzle. What seemed like 2 miles on the map took us ages and when we finally reached the hill top we were drenched and miserable and just wanted to be back in Crickhowell.

Bring it on!!!

Followed the path down and eventually found us walking into the completely opposite direction. We were heading east instead of west. Arg! Neither of us had seen any sign of the Beacons Way so we had just followed the path. We had lost it again. This was getting very annoying. 

We decided to walk along some huge farms all the way to the west. There had to be a way down into the valley. We had a look at some gates here and there and indeed found a "Woodland Walk" sign on one. The gate was shut tight and didn't really look like the owner of the property wanted any walkers on his premises, but we didn't give a rat's arse and climbed over!

The path led straight down and we found ourselves finally down in the valley on a tarmac road again. I looked west and were delighted to see Table Mountain again! Yeah. Like a beacon it pointed us into the right direction. Another hour later we were back in Crickhowell.Totally knackered. Threw our stuff into the car's trunk, slipped into some dry clothes that we had hidden deep in our backpacks and went for food and a pint to a pub.

We really enjoyed our weekend again despite the shitty weather. The atmosphere in the clouds was really something quite different. I have to come back again when the weather is nice to really enjoy the ridge walk with those fantastic views. But I'd rather go somewhere else for a while to be honest, haha.