Another wild and solitary trek in the wilderness of the Elan Valley in mid Wales, using some fragments of our previous routes and some new seldom trodden territory in the heart of the region around the remote Llyn Gynon. Most of the route is on good tracks and paths, but the western arc around Llyn Gynon has short sections of very rough and rather wet pathless terrain.
After weeks of unseasonally wet and stormy weather in May, we seized this 3-day slot of breezy but very warm sunny conditions, ideal for backpacking the vast spacious grasslands of the Elenydd where the song of the skylark fills the air almost constantly and red kites soar overhead and glide effortlessly into the distance.
15 Comments
Geoff, it is quite awhile (10 years or more) since I have been in the Elan Valley, but it is very peaceful and a pleasant place to walk.
Mark
Looks like a backpacking paradise, Geoff.
I always enjoy coming to your site to wallow in the Great Outdoors.
Thanks again
Alan
Mark - extremely peaceful, we saw just one couple above Pont ar Alan, that was all for the whole three days.
Alan - backpacking is the only way to properly appreciate the Elenydd really, it’s so vast it lends itself well to multiday routes.
To think the whole area could’ve been a national park, too. Wonderful pics as always, mate
Terry - that would be an idea, before they get any notions for spoiling it. Mid Wales is already littered with wind farms not very far away. It’s hard to capture the spaciousness in pictures but they give a good idea.
Well, it was meant to be included in such an area for protection in the 1950’s if memory serves me right. But yeah - the windfarm menace to our lovely landscapes is a concern in Wales. Plynlimon is one example. My mate is part of the protests kicking off about wind turbines up or near that hill.
I know we could argue til the cows come home and beyond about windfarms - my gripe is really about the landscape. Areas of natural beauty. Why there? What are they thinking? If the government can chuck money at the utility companies to build wind farms, then look elsewhere. Be it at sea or perhaps closer to home. Small ones on rooftops, for example.
However, I’m afraid it boils down to profits and greed
Wow the hills are looking very green there Geoff. I have never visited the area in summer so usually many shades of brown. I did notice a few turbines sticking into the frame of one of your photos, possibly cefn croes?, a monstrosity if ever there was one. Anyway a cracking backpack, I think next time I fancy a visit I will simply ‘borrow’ the route you have already planned for me!
As ever Geoff, great write up and you really capture the essence of what it is to get out there and enjoy the outdoors. You even managed to do it in relative dryness….in mid Wales no less!
Great photos too……I’ve got a hankering to go a visiting
James,
Now you mention it, the rich green grass does stand out. Our last trip was in March a couple of years ago and the vast grasslands were straw coloured, it does make quite a difference. The same applies to our Galloway trips, we go early in the year before the midges start and the landscape looks bleached.
I can’t remember the orientation of the tent now but that wind farm in the picture might well be Cefn Croes, or it just might be the one we passed on Elan Valley #3 when climbing Garreg Lwyd at SN9374.
Dave,
Thanks very much. There was only a little boggy ground on this trek really, it certainly can be much wetter in parts of mid Wales. It’s a wonderful region for an occasional change of landscape from the rocky mountains.
Boggy wonderful backpacking terrain. Reading that makes me want to go back there. Glad you got out in the hills Geoff after all the poor weather of late.
Martin,
The Elan Valley always has a great allure and I’m sure we’ll often return to it. Quite a contrast in weather from your TGOC!.
Wondeful pathless wilderness. Great report and pictures as always. Perhaps I can squeeze in another break this summer…
Charlie,
Plenty of pathless walking in this vast tract of wild land that’s for sure. These days we try to keep the really rough stuff to a minimum and stick to the beaten tracks for most of the distance, but it’s all great walking.
Speaking of summer, it’s the solstice next week already, where does the time go?.
Hi Geoff
Just come across your blog for the first time. I’ve just been on a walk to the lonely hills to the south of the Elan Valley:
http://surfnslide.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/cwmdeuddwr-hills-a-walk-on-the-wild-side/
so I really enjoyed this post (although it was a few months back!). Some great photos here and ideas for some overnights and days walks both here and in your extensive back catalogue, in particular I’ve been looking for some ideas for a simple wild camp I can my young son on for his first wild camp. I only live about an hour from the Elan Valley so it’s an easy place to explore.
Great site and looking forward to working my way through your posts
Cheers
Andy
Andy,
Thanks a lot, I think we’ve just about exhausted the possibilities for easy multiday routes in this area. There is a lot more new territory but most of it is pretty rough, more arduous than we care to tackle these days.
It should be a fantastic location for a first wild camp with your son, almost certainly in peace and solitude.