I wandered into Hay in the late afternoon to stock up with enough food for the next two days. The streets were deserted! Situated in the bottom of a valley, Hay on Wye was now experiencing a temperature of around 38C, which I am prepared to admit is pretty hot for Wales! I posted my useless camping mat and a few unnecessary layers back to Roose Ferry, which lightened my load a little. I then purchased 5litres of water as Dan had already informed me that nearly all the creeks up in the Black Mountains were dry. Net result : about 2 Kg more than I arrived with.
I left Hay about 6.30pm, as it was cooling to about 35C, and I climbed rather slowly up in to the foothills. It wasn't too long before I picked up a slight mountain breeze and by 8.30pm I was on a 400 metre 'peak', surrounded by sheep and ponies! There was convenient rock, probably left by a glacier, which I used for a table and springy heather to sleep on. I cooked the sausages I had bought in Hay and ate them with rice and baby spinach, settling against the rock to watch the sun descend. Happy times!
I was up with the larks- not that I heard any! There seems to be a distinct lack of singing Skylarks on this walk but I have seen lots of Meadow Pipits. The Black Mountains run for many miles along the Welsh -English border and Offa's Path follows the main ridge; the distance between Hay and Pandy (at the end of the ridge) is 16 miles (26 km) but I had knocked a couple of miles off that last night. However I still had to climb up to the ridge line at 700 metres and today was promising to be hotter than yesterday*. An early start was essential!
I was a bit concerned about water - by now I had 3.5 litres with me but knew how quickly it could disappear, so I introduced a two mouthful rationing system. I was also able to fill a small bottle with some dubious looking water from a nearly dry creek near Hay Bluff. I treated it and it was to prove very useful later in the afternoon.
The climb up to the ridge was not too bad - I was fresh and there was a lovely breeze, a breeze which stayed with me most of the day. And the walk along the ridge is fantastic with extensive views into England on my left and Wales to my right, with the Brecon Beacons in the foreground. It was not too difficult to work out why the border was situated here: into Wales, the view was of barren moorland.....
While the view into England displayed the lovely farmed acres of Herefordshire.......
Old Offa and his Saxons weren't silly! They knew exactly where to stop and build a dyke, (not that a dyke was needed here, the Black Mountains do the job very nicely.) In fact I wonder dif they provided the inspiration for the rest of the Dyke project.
Further on, towards the end of the ridge, there is a trig point situated right on the border and I was able to settle one cheek in each country and enjoy a late lunch, not that I was feeling at all hungry. My cheese had melted to goo, but the salami was fine. I had less than one litre of water left (including the muddy water!)
The descent was steady and I estimate the temperature rose 1C for every 100 foot down! All too soon, I was soon out of water! I dipped my hat in to a muddy pond to cool off but the water therein was undrinkable. I soaked my self in green water at a cattle trough a little further on but no drinking water there either. Finally about a mile from Pandy I was found the River Monnow and was able to drink about a litre, without waiting to treat it with Aquatabs! Soon, more help was at hand - there was a camp site at The Rising Sun in Pandy. The pub served Birra Moretti and I was well re- hydrated by sundown!
* This was the day that some parts of SE England hit over 40C!
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