Walking the Offa's Dyke Path
Day Five: Trial by Gale
A herd of wild ponies
The four intrepid hikers left their
farm house accommodation and headed back
up the mountain to the
Brecon Beacons National Park. This
was a 13 mile ridge line walk from
Longtown/Llanthony to Hay-on-Wye.
Getting up to the ridge took an hour and
a half of climbing up steep grass and
heather covered hillsides. They had lost
sight of the Offa's Dyke path while
climbing up to the ridge. However, in
what seemed like a bad B grade movie
plotline, a herd of wild ponies met them
about half way up and seemed to guide
them back to the path.
The steep hills and gusty wind had
tested them on the previous day.
However, this day their trial was by
gale force winds. Exposed to the
elements they struggled on against the
powerful winds. At no time during the
three hours of walking did the wind
speed drop below 40 miles per hour and
often it gusted to 60 miles per hour. In
fact, poor Mary was blown over by it,
but was fortunately unharmed by the
blustery attack.
Brecon Beacons National Park
The air temperature was 40 degrees
Fahrenheit, but the wind chill was way
below freezing so they were very cold on
this part of the hike. It was the
hardest walk the troop had ever made.
The wind kept them from getting into any
kind of walking rhythm. There were many
times they all felt almost at the end of
their endurance. The wind was constant
and at one point Julia was getting
really cold. Both Ernest and Mary had to
help Julia put on her extra layer while
they sheltered behind a small pile of
rocks. The wind was so strong it took
three people to help her put her fleece
on. The path was very rough full of
rocks, streams, holes, ruts, and of
course mud. They were all extremely glad
when the track turned east and down the
side of the mountain. This finally gave
them a break from the gale force winds.
Later, a local told them that these
winds were the worst he had ever seen in
Wales.
A wind chill was way below freezing
Once back down in the valley they
walked through lovely green fields and
were soon in
Hay-on-Wye sipping cappuccino and
eating cakes. The sleepy town of
Hay-on-Wye was a welcomed overnight
stop. The town is very cute with over 30
book stores, many little shops, an old
cinema, and a ramshackle stone castle.
The intrepid hikers will never forget
this day of trial by gale as it tested
them all to their breaking point.
What lies ahead of them next? Will
they make it to the mid-way point of
their hike? Join me on my next
installment of walking the Offa's Dyke
Path.