Mountain rank by height: 145 out of 188
Height: 2,116ft | 645m
Region: Central Wales
Grid ref: SN862583
Drygarn Fawr is one of two mountains above the much-visited Elan Valley and its reservoirs. This was a walk that didn’t look that long on the map so I also planned to tick off two nearby hills (Bryn Du & Y Gamriw) as well as Gorllwyn, the other mountain.
However, everything was a lot bigger when I got there, the surrounding hills are quite a sight and it seems almost impossible that there are only two mountains in the area, given the ascents on every side of the reservoir and beyond. The total walk was 19.1m and for a lot of it there were very few paths and tough terrain – long grass, heather, constant lumps, divots and constant boggy patches that sometimes had to be avoided by detours.
It was one of the most tiring walks I have done, not helped by an issue with my water bladder that meant I was out of water by about 7m in on an hot day, with only a couple of small canned drinks to keep me going.
Anyway, gripes aside, the walk starts off well (indeed, the views driving to the parking spot are rewarding enough before you even get started) crossing a bridge and following a nice track up through a valley with fairly gentle ascent most of the way. This narrows to a path and you’ll eventually see a path breaking right, which you can follow all the way to Drygarn Fawr.
This path is very boggy in places, particularly near the start, but improves as you ascend and dries out to a pleasant path to follow.
Drygarn Fawr is topped by two very large and distinctive cairns as well as a trig point, so you are spoilt for choice when it comes to photographing it. The summit is a great place to rest, with plenty of rocks or grassy patches to chose from. You may also see jet planes passing nearby at very low altitudes – I saw a couple from here and I wasn’t hanging around long.
Views South include the classic Beacons view crowned by Pen y Fan, and views North of distant mountain ranges that I’ll be sure to visit another day. Definitely worth the visit, but the rest of the walk was to prove extremely draining.
Also worth saying that over the course of 19 miles of walking and four summits I only saw one other person on the whole route.
