Craig y Nos to Cribarth

The plan today was to walk from the Dan yr Ogof show caves to Henrhyd Falls. I downloaded a new app, Viewranger, picked a track and was ready to go exploring. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out, though there were still plenty of fantastic views to enjoy. 

We, being my mother and I, started off from Dan yr Ogof, having stayed in the campsite overnight. I was back in my old tent I've had since I was a teenager, filled with a super comfy air mattress that the electric hook-up, via my parent's camper van, made a lot easier to inflate. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of spending hours using the old foot pump - even with a beer in hand, not fun!

We started out at Dan yr Ogof reception, having a look through their leaflets for any interesting walks and maps. I've not been to Dan yr Ogof for years, and though we didn't go into the show caves I did get a kick out of seeing the dinosaurs... I love me a good dinosaur.

From the dino park I fired up Viewfinder and tried to figure out where to start the trail. It seemed to start opposite a lay-by outside Craig y Nos castle, and so we headed that way, which was a pleasant walk in it's own right. Forests, lakes, rivers, and an easy walk. 

It was when we found the trail that things went downhill. The path was marked as moderate on the app, and according to the map there was an offshoot from the main path that wasn't so steep. If there was an offshoot I didn't see it, and so we wound up climbing up to the top of Cribarth via very steep stairs and an even steeper slope. I didn't have too much trouble, but my mother struggled, and any enthusiasm for walking to Henrhyd was swiftly lost. I was a bit disappointed, I'll have to keep an eye out for one of my groups doing the walk in the future - it seems to come around fairly often. 

Nevertheless, the views of the mountains were stunning, and I was impressed with Viewfinder's ability to scan a landscape and name the mountains. I can't really comment on the app's trail abilities, since we wound up abandoning it. I think it would have worked fine, but I'll have to give it a test run in the future if I find someone willing to explore. 

I hate having my photo taken, so this is a rare photo of me looking down over the valley towards Craig y Nos. 

There were a couple of unpleasant animal encounters, a run in with an aggressive sheep being unnecessarily overprotective of a lamb. We gave them plenty of space but she was definitely priming to go on the attack, so we decided to abandon the path and give them both a very wide berth. Then, having finally got back down towards the road the path was cut off by farmgates, and there was no way around them. We spotted the farmer's wife and asked if we were okay to walk through (bearing in mind it was public right of way), and got a very shirty affirmative. There were two farm dogs chained up with chains so long they were difficult to get past, and they were not friendly, growling and snarling. I'm not generally scared of dogs, but I was practically pinned to the wall, and the farmer's wife was useless, doing nothing until it became obvious I wasn't going to move unless she called the dog off. Very unpleasant. So anyone doing this walk do everything you can to avoid the farm, there is a route a little earlier that comes out near some stables which is definitely the better option.