Berwyn: "Pistyll packing"

Members present: Dave Bone, Laura Collier, Sandy Gregson, Jim Gregson, Koy Oi Ding, Bob Kelly, Dave Shotton.

 

Saturday in the Berwyn was marked by several rainy downpours, but Sunday brought a hard frost and brilliant sunshine with just a small banner of cloud to disperse. The group of connoisseurs listed above strode into Cwm Pennant from Llangynog, serenaded raucously by flocks of pheasants as height was gained. Eventually the underfoot Llwybr Choeddus gave way to Llwybr Disappearus in deep tangled heather hiding water-filled holes. Thankfully this character-building stuff only lasted until the Milltir Garreg road was reached.

Back into the Sunshine

From here the going along the main Berwyn crest improved, partially over sleepers, so the pace quickened. The extensive views, from Plumlimon in the south, over all of Snowdonia and out past Clwyd into the Irish Sea then over the Cheshire plain and Shropshire were sparklingly clear. At Cadair Berwyn there was a brisk north-westerly breeze, so after just a short stop the party legged it towards Pistyll Rhaeadr, threading downhill among more people now. A tea stop was shivered through at Tan-y-pistyll below the waterfall, for this valley head was now in deep shade. The waterfall discharging Saturday's rain looked very fine.

The KMC pushed onwards to reascend back into warming sunshine to go over the ridge into the Tanat Valley, where flocks of fieldfares showed more intelligence than the pheasants. We reached Llangynog with plenty of daylight to spare, although all seemed to agree that there had been some tough going during a rewarding walk.

Jim Gregson