Tuesday hike

I am writing this a few days on and can't recall the name of this hike. It was probably in Welsh, which is impenetrable, so the name doesn't really matter.

Ha, just found it. Fan Brycheniog. About 8-9 miles. 1,500 feet climb. None of my photos will do justice to the Welsh valleys, partly due to the softness of the air--a moisture that removes the particulars of the landscape. From the top, we could see the headwaters for the Wye, Usk and Tawe Rivers. Valleys in all directions.

What I remember about the hike partly was the song of the skylarks, which accompanied us much of the way, and the wheeling of the red kites, who danced above us. Also the odd wheatear would pop up above the bracken, flashing its white cottony belly.

I am a sucker for patchwork hills, which spread for miles in every direction. Again, the photos do a poor job of capturing their loveliness. I'm enjoyiing getting to know my companions, who hail from Scarborough, Doncaster, Devon, Cambridge, Bolton, Kent, London, Surrey, Litchfield, Norfolk, Aberystwith, Nottingham, Birmingham, and more I'm not recalling. We have a botanist, a bird fancier, and a geologist, so all questions can be answered.

This house reminds me of my old house in Chester Springs. We had a very long, very steep descent on this hike, at the end of which the knees were feeling weak and the feet sore. So we took our shoes off and put them in a river near this house. Then went to a pub for a drink. We had to wait an hour for the other hiking group to meet us, after which the bus took us back to Brecon. It was a demanding hike and I got too much sun, the downside of beautiful weather. But a good day all the same.

June 29