I Woke to a slight drizzle on the tent and all I could think of was - Great! We are going up and onto the Black Mountains today , if only the cold snap had lasted one more day.
It was pretty dark in contrast to the full moon shining on the tent last night.
I got the radio on reminded that instead of 6.45 Bst it was now gmt and 5.45. It made no differance as we still had to get going.The the weather outside and did not encourage movement though.
We had enough water for porridge and a tea for J , I would go without as the Earl Grey tea from Morrisons was awful.
We got the routine done, pleased with the fix to the pole especially as we would wild pitch tonight.
We got moving in a slight drizzle. Our host came out just before we left to offer us a shower, good of him but we thanked and said we had to get going ,even if we did smell!
J'S hair had sorted itself out from near dreadlocks.
We walked down the road then through an idylic woodland with numerous varieties of fungi. Sadly the the route then went through muddy fields and dropped to the River Wye.
We were soon in Hay- on -Wye where we wondered around on this quiet Sunday morning , into a cafe for coffee - the Granery, tasted like instant, passed numerous bookshops, an outdoor shop to get a new map case and clothing waterproofer and stood in the street spraying each other ,the castle and popped into Herefordshire to the co op for basics that did not need cooking ,we were nearly out if meths.
We just could not get out of Hay, even in drizzle it had a good feel. We went into the Blue Boar for a warm up coffee , alot better. It was a shame there was no wifi as I would of liked to of got my blog updated.
We finally started to walk out getting alittle confused which direction to go around the tourist nformation office,which was convienently closed. Eventually having wondered around looking lost we found our route.
We were to climb gradually, via farmland, then more steeply on very chewed up paths which increased the effort. This time horses were the cause but in places their hoof indents in the mud created steps.
We came out on flater moorland with a view up to Hay Bluff at 677metres over 2000 ft. A slight drizzle and increased had us donning our waterproofs. We made our way gradually up but feeling light headed I stopped for some bics. I had not eaten since breaky and had only had coffee and an energy drink.
We knew our mileage would be lowraising due to our sightseeing of Hay, but we needed to get on.
A trio came down from the misty tops, our route, and we asked how the going was. They said wet, they were not that well dressed for the weather.
We climbed the steady incline just below Hay Bluff at to gain the top. It was fairly flat with slabs of stone to prevent soil erosion and bags of stone to repair further paths. In better weather the walk would of been easy an pleasant, with good views, however we had strong westerlies with driven drizzle. We put our heads down and listened to radio 4 play - Frankinstein. It passed an hour after which we found a place to pitch on the eastern side of the path. We were still fairly exposed but on writing this. are warm. We ate baguette olives salmon and coldslaw.
The wind and rain has increased but I feel confident the tent is pitched well. It is dark now.
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