BLACK MOUNTAIN
Black Mountain in the hazy distance, taken from Twmpa
Of my 40 mountains I wanted to run up, the first I attempted was "Black Mountain", which shares its name with numerous other peaks throughout Wales. This particular Black Mountain is right on the border with England, in the Black Mountains themselves, close to the much better known Hay Bluff. I was hoping to run up three peaks - Black Mountain, Twmpa and Chwarel Y Fan, but gave myself the option of returning via the vale of Ewyas if conditions got a bit rough - which they did!
I set off from the centre of Capel Y Ffin, and after crossing the swollen river on a small footbridge I followed a surprisingly well marked path southwards before turning up towards the ridge of Offa's Dyke. The ascent was very steep and the torrential rain made it tough going. I took it slowly, but by the time I could see the top of the ridge I was getting light-headed and starting to hear the sheep around me speaking in recognisable sentences. The ridge brought relief to the oxygen starved lungs (and brain) but total exposure to the weather - John Ketley's warning on the radio that "it's not for the faint hearted out there today" was an understatement - gale force winds meant I had to lean heavily to the left as I ran just to stay upright, and the rain was like freezing bullets. Ugh!
The ridge was easy to follow, with a wide path (masquerading as a major river) and lots of peat and sand to sink into. In places the National Park have laid stone slabs to keep walkers out of the mire, and this also made navigation easy. The summit came and went pretty much unnoticed - Black Mountain is a long ridge (see pic above, taken from the valley) and you can't really tell when you are at the highest point. Approaching Hay Bluff you get the some of the best views in the area - a panorama of the Black Mountains, Wye Valley - shame it was too rough to stop and enjoy it - it was a case of keeping my head down and trying to stay on my feet. Conditions were worsening as I descended around the face of Hay Bluff, stopping to put on an extra thermal and drink from a waterfall, and I realised that the other two mountains weren't a realistic proposition (gale/storm force winds, low visibility, cold extremities, too rough to get the map out really, etc.....). I headed back down the valley happy to have bagged my first peak - one down, thirty nine to go. The silence and beauty of the valley was spellbinding - and such a relief after the storms up on the ridge - and the sky cleared briefly to allow a couple of photos in the gloom.
Looking south down the vale of Ewyas
I was having doubts about my decision to cut the run short when an ugly weather front swung in from thewest with more icy rain - yep, right decision!
Rainbow over Abergavenny