Black Mountain



Myddfai, United Kingdom
Myddfai is a really small place south of Llandovery, home to the 6 mile or so single lane track which is the only way into the Beautiful Black Mountain in the west area of the Brecon Beacons. Whereas every other 4 wheeled thing was a 4 x 4 jobbie I was stuck in my Corsa faced with the sort of road that makes the one to the Isle of Skye seem tame. Picture a 6 mile rollercoaster complete with dodgy track, hedges and sheep and you've pretty much got it. I didn't know what 'get out the bloody way' was in Welsh so spent 10 minutes waiting for a fluffy family of four to trundle along into the nearest Field.
As long as you're prepared to do plenty of reversing to let the various middle classes in their land rovers to pass and u turns when you realise you've ended up in someone's farm it's well worth making the journey. If you need a pee whilst travelling, go on one of the service stations before jnct 32 on the M4, or stop of in Llandovery (just make sure you've got 20p handy).
I've still got know idea which bit I climbed was Black mountain, there are 4 sort of peaks and I got to the one that looked the highest so I guess that was it. Unlike Snowdon which gave me fog at the top the views from the top of Black mountain are spectacular. Best view is across Llyn y fan fach which you circle on your way to the top. If you going on a warm day take 3 pairs of socks and 3 tops, 1 for the drive there, 1 for the climb and one for the drive back and don't forget to cool your feet off in the stream on the way back. This is also King Arthur territory so have a look for the lady in the lake while you're down there :)

Rossifer x