Читать книгу Hillwalking in Wales - Vol 2 онлайн

17 страница из 85

Austerity does have another side – remember, even deserts have their admirers! Fforest Fawr still manages to lay claim to the hearts of those who derive pleasure from striding wild open places with only the wind, the challenge of far horizons and the munching sheep for company. There is but one inviolable rule: choose a fine day. Fforest Fawr has few landmarks and is a hard taskmaster in mist when route-finding ability of a high order is required. What would be the point anyway? Pick a clear bracing day in winter, or a sun-dappled day with the clouds scurrying overhead, and you have a day to remember!

Fforest Fawr is considerate to hillwalkers. Gradients are easy, many of the walks start fairly high and the prevailing terrain is firm, short-cropped grass and heather with little bog and few tussocks to slow you down. Miles flow easily, giving ample opportunity to admire the views. The best of these are N and S; N to the Usk Valley with the bleak uplands of Mynydd Eppynt and the hills of mid-Wales rising hazily beyond; S to the boundless moors and foothills that gradually decline to the coast and Swansea Bay. The Beacons are all but obscured by Corn Du, and it is the silhouette of the Black Mountain that claims pride of place among the major hills to the W.