The weather for the week had been mixed to say the least, but Saturday was looking glorious and so a plan was hatched to take my neighbour, Paul, on his first outing to Carmarthen Fans.

Just before bed on Friday I had a last look at the weather and it was still showing lots of yellow suns.

We arrived at the car park just below the filter beds and hatchery to find two other cars in place.

I briefly explained the legend of the Lady of the Lake and Paul thought the illustration on the interpretation panel looked a lot like Nigella.  No wonder the farm lad thought he was in luck!

Here is our route (click)

On the track up we met some folks coming down and could only assume they must have had a night on the hill.  The stream on the lright of the path was full and flowing well over the falls.

At the lake we had elevenses and then set off up the path to the first summit of Waun Lefrith with views down to Llyn Y Fan Fach and the hills beyond.

Then on to Picws Du.There was then a steep downhill to the bwlch where we had lunch in the sun.

Refreshed we took the direct route up to Fan Brycheiniog and had a look around the the circular cairn which in windy conditions is a god send.  Down below was Llyn y Fan Fawr.

We now headed back but stuck to the edge and visited Fan Foel.  

Near here is a large circle of land with some material resembling that used for weed control.  Paul suggested this was used to cover archaeology digs. See  link

The path back down to the bwlch has now been engineered and probably better than the rutted track which had previously been there.

At the bwlch we took the zig zag track which leads one below Picws Du and across the moor back to the car.

We stopped en route for a cuppa.

 Looking back at the hills we saw a para glider heading our way and he landed back at our car park which was now full. The farm, Blaenau which is just down the road from the car parking area has a cafe and I believe only open at weekends and looks very inviting, but we passed.

A good way to start October.  Hopefully I will be just as lucky a little later in the month when “The Navigator” and I head for the Lake District.

Owing to pre-booked appointments our walk today was planned to be a little shorter than usual.  However “The Navigator” had come up with a plan which would still make for a good walk.

We were headed for Crymych and one of the Preseli Hills outliers – Frenni Fawr.

Here is the Route (click)

We walked a short distance outside of the centre of Crymych towards the cemetery shown on the OS map and then followed a path parallel to the dismantled railway. We passed a disbanded farm and had early elevenses by the disused quarry near a lovely named farm – Jollity Farm.  We passed some pigs who seemed very happy in their muddy field.

The path was well sign posted and included a diverted path which led us near to Penlan-Uchaf before the short pull up to the top of Frenni Fawr. On the way up we came across a number of fungi of the wax cap variety which included the meadow wax cap, the blackening wax cap, the parrot wax cap and I think a hygrocybe persistens (yellow). 

This is the time of year to see these colourful fungi and they are normally found in unimproved pastures. It is of course the season for lots more fungi. If you are within striking distance of the National Botanic Garden of Wales on the 14th October there is day dedicated to all things fungi.

Lunch was consumed just off the top of Frenni Fawr but not before looking at the views towards the main Preseli Hills, Dinas Island and in the distance Worm’s Head on the Gower.

The route off the top was north west following the established path down to the road. 

We soon turned off heading for Cidigill.  On this lane we noticed a sheep who had managed to get its head stuck in the wire fence.  As Mrs Navigator approached, the sheep panicked and pulled itself free.  Judging by the dirty fleece it had been there some time and was clearly very hungry.

By Cidigill we made a detour as our planned path was blocked by a farmer who was loading cattle into a trailer.  This led us back to the main road where we spotted the rare sight of the shy Welsh dragon.

 We then turned onto the minor road leading back to our car.