Total ascent 920m (3018ft).
I woke up with a thick head. This wasn't supposed to happen. Never mind, at least it was a shorter day at just under 15 miles. I had a brief chat with the landlady, and said how much I'd enjoyed the previous evening and the quiz. She said, "Oh you won didn't you? You were in my daughter's team." It was quite difficult to control myself at this point, as I desperately wanted to make it quite clear that it had not been her daughter's team, that she was hopeless and that her sole contribution throughout the evening was to suggest that the Kings Of Leon track being played was called Californication, which of course it wasn't because IT'S BY THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS!!! I said, "Yes."
I soon cheered up though, because it turned out that the girl behind the bar had given me ALL of my drinks for nothing, presumably because I'd kept Gareth company. That was quite a lot of free beer, and for the second night running!
I had another chat with a couple who were in the area walking. They had a book of all the Welsh 2000ft peaks and were gradually doing them all (about 190 of them), more or less from south to north. Of course I then bumped into them later in the middle of nowhere. Mind you it is Sunday, so I expected some company today. What I didn't expect was quite so many kids doing Duke of Ed, they seemed to be everywhere. They were also doing really well and some were even enjoying themselves, which was nice to see.
This was all on the Pumlumon, a remote moorland, not to be confused with the Elenydd which had made up the previous two days and is another remote moorland. Actually I'm doing the Pumlumon a disservice, because it is considerably higher than the Elenydd and contains the first proper mountains of the walk. The views from the top of Pumlumon Fawr (2400ft ish) were amazing. I'd been here once before but it had been raining. To the south were the Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons and Carmarthen Fans, then moving clockwise I could see Pembrokeshire, Aberdyfi on the west coast, Cafair Idris, the Arans, the Berwyn and even the Malverns in the east. Basically I was standing in the middle of Wales and could see pretty much all of it.
The weather was great once again, so I sat at the top for my packed lunch from the pub. There was a banana in it. This was a problem, because the only things I don't really like are bananas and celery, but I am aware of how good bananas are for you. Considering my circumstances and the need to eat things which are good for you I felt it was going to be necessary to eat the banana. I ate the banana. It was revolting! I have no idea why people choose to eat them, they have a weird texture and they repeat on you for hours like fish does. And I didn't feel any better afterwards. I'm sure I read that they're an aphrodisiac as well, but when I'd eaten it the sheep still looked like sheep. I will be checking future packed lunches.
Soon after the banana incident I passed the source of the River Wye. This isn't very exciting and doesn't look like much (well, a stream) when you're there, but what is interesting is that a mile later I came to the source of the River Severn. Two of the UK's longest rivers originate from almost exactly the same place. Mind you I'm not sure what the criteria is for being called the source, as rivers start all over the place. I suppose it's the longest tributary that decides it. Anyway I couldn't resist a short detour to see the Severn's source because there was a signpost. But was it worth it?
Here it is!!! Here it is!!!
So now I'm in the Star Inn at Dylife. And I've been here before. I stayed here when I did Glyndwr's Way 3 years ago (the two paths cross here) and was convinced I'd never (have to) stay here again. It's unlike anywhere I've ever stayed and I have no idea how it manages to stay open. Dylife used to be a thriving mining community but the pub is all that is left. It's miles from anywhere and very much a relic from the past.
There is a bar and a small dining/living room. The bar is closed tonight. I am the only person staying here, as I was last time. I find it hard to believe anyone else has ever stayed here. In reality it must be used solely by people walking the two paths as there are no other accommodation options anywhere near here, and nobody other than walkers could possibly want to come here.
I was met by the landlady, who is very nice but now walking very slowly on two sticks rather than the one she had last time. She very obviously can't get upstairs so had to tell me where my room was. It was the same one as last time and that created an immediate problem because the bed is ridiculously soft. This meant a quick mattress swap with the room next door, which is a slight improvement. The pub does have a bathroom which is much better than a shower after walking, but I didn't think to rinse it beforehand and found myself removing quite a lot of hair when I first got in!
It looks like some rewiring has been done because it's all over the place, and for some reason it's red, which makes it quite conspicuous against white walls. There are also several picture frames on the walls with no pictures inside. All in all it's a bit spooky! I haven't checked what I said about it last time but I do remember the one big redeeming feature - the food. Last time I had a chilli con carne and it was the nicest I'd ever tasted, so I repeated the experience tonight and once again it was delicious.
As nothing at all happens here it's a good excuse for an early night as penance for last night's excitement, and I need to be ready for my longest day tomorrow - 23 miles.
-- Posted from Kev's iPhone
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