White clouds in the Black Mountains
We drove through thick fog for an hour before turning onto the mountain road. Was this it? Would the weather spoil our view?
As I steered the car through the gloom, my eyes were fixed on the narrow lane – but Tom was looking skywards, excited. He’d spotted a patch of blue. To our surprise, by the time we reached the parking place at the start of the walk, we were above the cloud and in the most beautiful of winter days.
The world had turned upside down. Below us, everything was white. Above us, sharp sunlight picked out the rich browns and greens of the bluff. Our plan was to walk a short loop of around 10km, which would take us to both Hay Bluff and its neighbour across Gospel Pass, Twmpa, but ensure we weren’t back too late for family responsibilities. We set off, keen to see if the view got better as we went up.
It did. By the time we’d walked the short, steep route to the trig point on top of Hay Bluff we could see that the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons beyond were the only islands of high ground protruding from a tide of cloud. Having picked the day for this walk at random the week before, we’d chanced upon the most spectacular walking weather of the year.