Hay Day
Today was another 10 mile hike with possibly a similar degree of ascent. We get a bus to the start of our trek and each day descend a lot more than we ascend. Which is tough on the old knees. Today's hike took us up an escarpment called Twmpa then up a bluff overlooking the Hay River valley. We ended the day in Hay on Wye, a lovely little Welsh town famous for its book festival. Unfortunately, the other hiking group finished before us so we had no time to explore the town, we just piled onto the bus to return to Brecon. Possibly just as well because my legs were giving out during the final three miles.
We encountered these guys at the beginning of today's hike.
After going through the field at shown above, we went through a gate and I took this photo:
The reason I took the photo is the hardly visible sign that says Public Footpath. Rambling is a popular British past time because there are easements through private land all over Great Britain. I think it's amazing that I can tramp through farmers' fields without fear of, I don't know, being shot? I commented on this to a few people, each of who pointed out that this right was fought for by ramblers. The paths and trails date back 100s of years and walkers fought to retain access to the paths as the commons were enclosed. i.e. as private ownership of land was documented and formalised.
Our first peak today was called Lord Hereford's Knob, also Twmpa.
I saw herds of ponies on multiple days.
Skylarks singing again today. The below is called Gospel Valley. I didn't ask why.
Our second peak was Hay Bluff, off which parasailors were launching themselves.
There were five of them. One made me a bit nervous by sailing very very high, 'like Icarus ascending, on beautiful, foolish arms.' Thousands of feet. We discussed what the temperature would be and whether oxygen would be depleted.
I took my witch hat off and Toni, a fellow hiker from Surrey, took this as we headed down from the bluff toward Wye.
One of the fields we went through abouve Hay on Wye had a group of ponies and a red kite wheeling down close to the ground and then up again. I hadn't seen one this close--I loved the colouring of the wings. Another field was full of orchids. I ran out of battery so no photos.
This was my last of five hikes. Priory woods and the hill fort; waterfall country; the section of the Beacons where three rivers have their source; Pen Y Fan/Corn Du; and the mountains above Hay on Wye. Almost uniformly gorgeous weather. Stunning scenery. Very good company--so helpful during the last miles when you want to think about something other than your feet or knees. And lots of lovely valleys. Lots and lots of oak forests. Oaks make me feel the same way wind turbines do (we saw several wind farms). Hopeful. Oaks support all manner of insects and birds and are an important part of any ecosystem. And turbines allow for decarbonisation, which make them another important part of ecosystem survival.
July 1