Beacons and bothies

With the holiday makers safely returned we crossed to Talybont on Usk where the excellent new facilities at the village camp site ensured a comfortable few days despite the early and noisy departures of a couple of DoE groups. On the Tuesday we cycled along the tow path to Crickhowell passing the muddy remains of the Green Man festival's partying and enjoyed a pint in sunny Crickhowell. Wednesday saw a foray up to a bothy in the Black Mountains passing the dam wall I and a mate had perhaps foolishly free climbed twenty plus years ago. The bothy was in good order and provided shelter for lunch on a blustery day - soon after a particularly vicious hail storm saw us seeking cover beneath my storm shelter on our return down the valley. A good meal and catch up at Jan and Ian's with Amber dozing quietly by the wood burner preceded us dropping in to Brecon for my regular badminton session. A walk on the Beacons in fine weather earned us the right to a slap up meal in the Star before we followed the quiet valley up to inspiring Llanthony Abbey and out on to the lofty commons at the top of the Gospel Pass with good views west along the Beacons' escarpments.
Hay on Wye's charms entertained us before Penny headed to Shropshire and I crossed mid Wales to reach the bothy above Dolgellau. Here a few of us regulars were joined by 3 lads from Dudley who set to with enthusiasm on Saturday morning. Large quantities of timber, sheeting and fixings were soon used to enclose the stairwell as part of a fire safety review and the usual banter enhanced excellent catering by our tame chef of Aberstan fame.
With most of the planned work completed I set off on a glorious Sunday to complete the 40km Coed Y Brenin Beast in training for its Brecon namesake in two weeks time. Half way round the sharp rocks of the 'Morticia' section ripped apart my tyre so a temporary repair was effected using part of the old tube to enable me return via forest tracks to the van and replace the tyre and tube. Setting off again I enjoyed almost four hours of fire road and single track with spirits soaring on some of the superbly designed sections as the bike took to the air - mostly with me still attached. A second puncture was soon dealt with and I returned to the van after 6 hours in the saddle and sat very still for the rest of the evening.
After cleaning out the bothy gutters and devouring a bacon sarnie I have now headed across to Shropshire to catch up with my brother and his family before heading to Bristol for the HU  (details here) meet via Brecon.
An amusing diversion whilst doing this post arrived in the shape of a breakdown truck that offloaded a vehicle alongside me only to end up with a flat battery himself - trusty power pack to the ready and all was sorted - good to return the favours granted to me many years ago when my aircooled Type 2 was regularly relayed from Scotland in the early hours.
Location here courtesy of SPOT and piccies here as ever - names of those involved in the various activities removed to protect the seriously guilty!
Slides randomly look back at adventures in NZ - it is almost 3 years now since we packed the van off in Southampton!