Solo yomp in Black Mountains.
Cloud base 300m.
No views. All days in the clag then claggy darkness.
Saw 3 people and no one after lord herefords knob.
Twisted knee on descent and seriously considered calling MR as was incredibly painful to make progress needed to descend current ridge and ascend and descent another (about 10km back to the car). Darkness fell as planned and just made steady somewhat nauseating progress with poles and plenty of swearing, Figured I would have to make progress as would get cold, decision made due to no phone signal and expected eta to make call home 3hrs away - set longer due to no phone signal at start /finish.
Spent nav in darkness shouting ‘hey pony’ so I didn’t startle any hill ponies, was strangly comforting. Aside from the knee it was a good day with testing nav and some very poor vis throughout the day,
43.15 km
9hr 40 in total inc stops and limping.
Elevation gain 1386
Ave pace 13.33/km inc stops.
Area :
Black Mountains
The Black Mountains (Welsh: Y Mynyddoedd Duon) are a group of hills spread across parts of Powys and Monmouthshire in southeast Wales, and extending across the national border into Herefordshire, England. They are the easternmost of the four ranges of hills that comprise the Brecon Beacons National Park, and are frequently confused with the westernmost, which is known as the Black Mountain. To confuse matters further, there is a peak in the Black Mountains called Black Mountain.
