Plynlimon - An Autumn Mid-Wales Wild Camp

The last weekend of September saw Rich bugger off to the annual Whiskey Show on Saturday so I seized the opportunity and drove three hours up into the sticks of mid-Wales for an overnight wild camp on a hill.
I love doing these things and with at least Saturday looking pretty good weather-wise I settled for a group of Welsh 2000s/Hewitts near Aberystwyth.

Since I had planned an overnighter, I didn't want to start too early and find myself back at the car instead of somewhere up the mountain at sunset. So I left the house at 9:15am, had a coffee break in Builth Wells stocking up on some munchies at the Co-op next to the main road and arrived at the car park of Eisteddfa Gurig quarter to 12. It's actually a farm and they charge £5 for all day parking. I found a lady to pay my fee but only found £6.50 in my wallet in cash... who carries cash around these days? I made a bit of a sad face, when she charged me £10 to leave the car overnight, but she accepted my £6.50 nevertheless. Phew.

So here is my route, start at the bottom, walking counterclockwise. The hills I aimed to climb are at the top left. Top right has the source of the river Severn. A bit further West is the source of the river Wye:

Off I went a short bit along the A44 but then skirting the hillside ever going upwards. A sign with dates for weekend races fortunately didn't have a date for this one on it, so I was good to go. Races, hm. Do they do mountain bike races here?

The backpack felt heavy with tent, food and all the stuff for overnight camping in there. Must have been around 16kgs in total including water.
As I came down the hillside to meet a gravel track I soon found out what kind of races they held here. I just climbed the other side of a river bed up to the path when I heard some screaming noise and sure enough a ralley car came hurtling down the track at full speed. I could only get out of the way as much as possible and turn around as to not get hit by all the gravel being thrown at me in its wake. Wow! Never been only 2 metres away from a racing car. It sped past me a few times as I walked down the road, but I was warned now and listened for its approach getting as far away as I could.

Here I walk again. Yay!

I don't think they're seeing many walkers up here.

Watching from a safe distance.

The gravel path just wouldn't end and kept on going as I entered Hafren Forest. The scenery had been a bit underwhelming so far. There was a lot of farming on the hills which didn't help. The forest even though a bit too well kept was a welcome change however. Had a quick break at a sunny spot next to the river Severn where there even was a bench and table. How convenient.

In Hafren Forest

Gravel...

My feet were quite sore by now, which I only realised as I took my boots off for a bit. I have had these boots for a couple of years now and have walked in Sweden with a similar weight on my back in them, but all the hard ground underfoot must have made the difference today. Ouch. And I was only a third into my walk! I hoped for more grassy paths very soon.

After a wee snack I put my boots back on and kept going. Found a much nicer path going roughly in the right direction. Anything to be off the gravel, meh.
Turned out to be very nice indeed with trees, the rustling river and the sun above. Good times!

That's more like it!

Not particular stunning, but I'm in nature and all alone. What more can you want?

Mushroom season.

Popped out on... yes, yet another gravel path. Joy! But only for a short bit until I turned off to climb to the source of the river Severn.
There is a pole and some water puddles and that was more than I actually expected. Well, been there done that. I didn't hang around for long and kept on walking, keen to finally get onto the Pumlumon ridge.

It says "strenuous". Haha, even with a heavy backpack and sore feet it was a walk in the park.

The source of the river Severn.

Pen Pumlumon Fawr (Plynlimon in English) is the biggest one of a number of hill tops. Three hill tops are on a very broad ridge with three more slightly off. It was quite blowy up here so I layered up, but the sun was still shining from a mostly blue sky. Views were a bit hazy, but I was sure I could see all the way to Cadair Idris in the distance. Not bad at all.
The recent fairly dry weather made walking very easy and there even was some sort of a faint path. I couldn't really go wrong anyway. Views were not spectacular, but pretty decent and I was really enjoying this. This was what I had come here for!

View from Pen Pumlumon Arwystli

The "ridge" ahead.

Pen Pumlumon Arwystli was the first hill to conquer. The over Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan. Ups and downs were gentle, but with hurting feet I simply had to keep going.
The final ascent to Pen Pumlumon Fawr was finally a bit steeper and views from the top were amazing. Especially, in the late afternoon sun towards the sea and to the Nant -y-moch reservoir. Wow.

Nant-y-moch reservoir

Pen Pumlumon Fawr!

But there was still Pen Pumlumon Fach to conquer which meant going steeply down, steeply up, then steeply down and steeply up again to come back to where I was now. I was knackered after 20k, but I was here and the weather was nice and I still had an hour and a half or so until sunset.
Made my way down to the foot of Mr. Fawr, dropped off my heavy sack, almost sprinted up the little brother Pumlumon Fach and came back down to pick up my sack again. Then I once more made the ascent to Pumlumon Fawr.

Pen Pumlumon Fawr, down and up again.

Now I finally had a minute for a summit selfie, before I headed down towards Y Garn. The weather tomorrow morning looked iffy, so I wanted to get a couple more kilometres in. As many as possible really.

The usual summit selfie.

Again the walking was easy but my legs were tired now and my shoulders aching, not to mention my feet. I made it to the turn off for Y Garn. A steady icy wind made a camp up on its top a no-go option, but down here it wasn't too bad actually. The sun was setting so I walked away from the path a bit only to find a soft but perfectly flat spot without sheep poo. Boom! Pitched the tent with the entrance facing away from the wind and started cooking some noodles and hot chocolate with a bit of a view.

Pitched once more in the middle of nowhere.

Finally some rest for my feet.

I had walked 22k with 800m elevation and basically only one 20min break. I was knackered! After food I read a bit, but couldn't keep my eyes open any longer than 8:30pm.

The night was windy and sure thing bang on 7am it started to rain. I peeked out of the tent in low cloud prevented any decent view. Good I had walked as far as I had. Despite the wind I had slept reasonably well. Unpitched, walked the 15mins up to Y Garn and then back down to the car by 9:15am. Not bad. The last bit was gravel path again with lots and lots of sheep poo.
Not a nice end to my walk, but I take it as it comes.

Look closely, the summit of Y Garn is ahead.

I really wasn't in the mood for my planned 10k trail run up Pen Y Garn nearby and instead stopped for a coffee in Devils Bridge. Apparently there are world famous waterfalls. I'll come back here, do my run and explore the waterfalls another time.

The drive back led me along the most stunning single track road through Elan Valley towards Rhayader. I did a bit of ralley racing myself with a good view of the road ahead. That was incredible fun!!! You just wouldn#t believe this is in Wales!

None of the photos do it justice! Again, I vowed to come back one day!

Back in Bristol just before 2pm I have had just another great weekend adventure. And despite a 3hour drive each way it felt like I had made the most of the time. I do like these little adventures and certainly like a wild camp. There is that freedom of not having to be somewhere at a certain time and just pitch my accommodation where and when I want.

Plynlimon is an interesting area. Actually, all of the area between Rhayader and Aberysthwyth is stunning in places and worth exploring. If you want to get away from the crowds and still have a great time outdoors, you might want to check it out.