Mastering the Bluff

Hay Bluff (left) and The Twmpa (right) at dawn on 16th Feb.

Hay Bluff.. Many of us who work at AndersonBrecon have heard of it, seen it and quite a few have climbed it. But as a small group we gathered in the factory car park at 8am on Saturday 16th February, seven of us (Adam T-R, Lyndon P, Mark A, Fred S, Steve Mans, David H and Gemma L) who plan to tackle the Three Peaks were today joined by two more walkers, Deb W and Rita W. Deb and Rita are also planning on taking on a walking challenge in June called the WAAT4 challenge (http://www.waat4.co.uk/), this challenge involves a 30k walk up and around the Brecon Beacons including a climb of Pen-Y-Fan. This challenge also raises money for The Wales Air Ambulance. The girls wanted to get some training in, so what better way than to train together.

Fred was the designated navigator for todays challenge and briskly set the pace as we set off down Brecon Road towards the start of the world famous Offas Dyke Path which we would follow for most of this walk by looking for the little acorn symbol and following the point of the arrow to the next style or way point.

The start of the hike was mostly flat as we covered the fields below Hay and Cusop with relative ease, lots of friendly chatter and a few introductions between staff who had never had an opportunity to meet before. The weather was kind to us once again as the sun began to dance in and out of the low clouds. But after about 2 miles we hit a boggy, steep and slippy hill that raised the heart-rate and lowered the conversation rate in equal measure!

The killer bog-hill!

After a lovely stroll across the common we reached the little carpark at the base of The Bluff, while we re-grouped a few sneaky snacks were digested, and one even managed a sneaky cup of tea! We then tackled the foot of the Bluff, For many this was quite a task, except Fred aka 'The Mountain Goat!' but with much determination and encouragement the team made it to the peak of The Bluff, and in pretty good time too!

Hay Bluff

We decided at this point to make the walk a circular one, and Mark took over navigational duties to offer an alternative route down the mountain, using the OS map he'd brought along!, the descent was wonderfully steep and we had stunning views of the surrounding hills. Alot of the return walk was on roads, which is pretty hard going on the feet and ankles - but we've got to harden up I suppose!

We returned to the Factory car park at 12.30pm, 

Total time 4 hours 20 mins, total distance walked 10.49 miles.

Well done everyone.

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