Located not far south of Pen y Fan Peak at 886m above sea level, this is the highest peak in the area Brecon Beacons (or Benau Brecheniog as they now know), I Written in Mayis a series of peaks that are not well known to the outside world.
this mount regos A cliff forming on the north side of an area in Wales known simply as valleya string densely populated parallel rift valleys Traveling north to south through the high terrain north of Cardiff. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the valley remained a center of coal mining and a breeding ground for radical politics. Labor politician Aneurin Bevan is from the area and is considered the architect of the NHS. People my age grew up watching the video printers in the BBC stands every Saturday afternoon, looking at maps and recognizing many of the town names from the rugby scores: Neath, Maastegue, Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil, Ebbwville, Abertillery, Pontypool. The region has produced as many international rugby players as left-wing politicians.
The Rhigos Hills stand at the top of the mountain range Rhondda Valleyfamous for mining disasters and communism. name Regos of Welsh origin Grugosmeaning “heather”. While those moors were covered in heather, the hills are now even more forested, not to mention wind farms that can be seen from afar.
Their highest point, 600m Craig LinIts name translates as “Cliff of the Lake” and shares the same distinction as the better-known Pen y Fan: both are county toppers. Pen y Fan is the highest point in the old Welsh county of Brecknock and Craig y Llyn is The highest point in Glamorgan.
Edita and I have grown Won first place in the county in the past few years. In the UK this means filming A piece of granite on the roadsidebut in Wales it allowed us to visit some interesting mountainous areas that we probably wouldn't have explored otherwise (such as the yomp across the huge peat plateau of Great Ross) earlier this year).
Last month Edita came back from Haiti for a few days to rest, so we decided to head across the border to South Wales, Climb to the highest point in Glamorgan.
Craig y Llyn is located head of valley roadThis 4-lane highway running through the mountains was finally completed this year after 23 years. The road cost approximately £2 billion to build. Nearly a quarter of a century of road construction has led locals to dub it “Hell's Road” (besides “Not even Chris Ray would come here”) a joke said). I'm sure those who didn't die of old age during the build will think it was worth every penny. For now, it's certainly fun to drive until it gets clogged with traffic like all these express routes eventually do.
Leaving the Heads of the Valleys Road in the town of Hirwaun, we drove to the Rhigos Viewpoint car park on the edge of the cliff. In order to climb up the cliff, the trail took some kind of steep hairpin bend Attracting cyclists like flies attract cattle.
It was an unforgettable road trip, but our attention was quickly drawn to More exciting transportation routes.
As we walked west along the cliff top we could see a group of power cable descend from a protruding tower On top of the cliff. The cable passes over a lake (Llyn Fawr, from which Craig y Llyn is named) to another tower in the forest below.
From somewhere in this direction we heard some shouting. I didn't think much of it, but Edita pay more attention to.
'Wow, look at that,” she shouted.
“What, I can't see anything?”
“There's someone on the cable!”
'What do you mean? '
'This is a zipper. That tower on top of the cliff – people jumped from there. “
I can now see where I thought the towers and cables were something more substantial. I know zip lines are becoming more and more popular in some mountainous areas. Their construction is sometimes controversial because it is thought to damage the natural environment (which it does, just like cars, roads, and houses). I had no idea that the mountain I chose to climb was also home to such a tourist attraction. We headed straight there and within five minutes we decided that although it meant we had to climb the mountain twice, if it wasn't too expensive we would Try a zip line.
A good path leads through meadows filled with pine trees. The tower was about 100m off course but by the time we got there it was completely deserted. A locked wooden cage stood at the end of a short metal walkway. There is no evidence that this is a managed tourist attraction. If Edita didn't see those thrill seekers flying down, then for all we know, this could be the Welsh version wicker manready for the next victim.
If I had been more careful, I would have noticed a feature some distance below the base of the cliff, marked on the Ordnance Survey map as zipper world. I might be wondering why there's a trouser-button supermarket marked on the leisure map. Later that night I googled and found out that Craig y Llyn is Phoenixwhich is advertised as The world's fastest seated zip line. It turns out you have to book the tour in advance and meet the guide at the bottom, where you'll get a briefing and some useful equipment before taking a minibus up the mountain.
Disappointed, we continued on into the pine forest. The highest point in Glamorgan is marked white topographic survey triangle Next to a dirt road. The summit of Craig y Llyn is a vast forested plateau crisscrossed by service roads. Not far from the top of the mountain, we emerged from the forest again and saw a large field of huge wind turbines stretching to the distant horizon, just like a scene from a movie. world war.
leave service road Later we found out Narrow walking path On the north side of the mountain. A path winds through the moorland between the cliffs, offering great views of the rolling hills at the valley head. Another, more dangerous path led deeper into the forest, winding between pine trees whose broken branches threatened my view. Once I hid under a dead pine tree that had fallen on the path. I quickly looked up and came across a fatal wooden spike. I wore a baseball cap to protect my shiny head, but my blood was drawn and I had to attend team meetings the next week with a scar that made me look like Mikhail Gorbachev.
At the bottom of the forest we reach another service road, which offers uninterrupted views to the north of Bannau Brycheiniog. I can easily identify twin peaks du corn and Van Paine On the distant horizon. These two adjacent peaks take on the shape of an elevated trapezoid when viewed from almost any direction, certainly from the north, west, and now the south.
We had the opportunity to walk underneath the lower end of the zip line, shortly before another group, before following the rocky trail back through the hairpin bends to Riggs Lookout. screaming thrill rider Whistling overhead.
if you like Ride on the zip line Well I guess this must be one of them picturesque. If you're not too busy staring at the water below you, the views are vast, and if you look far enough, the Brecon Beacons become a great view.
For a crowded community in South Wales, this place is easily accessible. For the rest of us, it's worth a quick trip to Bannau Brycheiniog. i might come back one day. In some ways, our trip felt incomplete; I thought we needed to try the zip line.
