A Walk At Nant Yr Arian.

A little bit more haze today but still hot with a good drying wind. A washed pillow hung on the line was completely dry by the end of the afternoon. 

Our walk today was at Nant Yr Arian, the Red Kite Centre in the Cambrian mountains. You know you're getting higher when your ears pop as you drive up the road.

The big lay-by and the car park were remarkably empty though ever since the NRW closed the visitor centre (café, information, gift shop and toilets) people are not so keen to go there. Usually on a Sunday afternoon you would be lucky to find a space in the lay-by (free) and even the car park would be pretty full with people going for walks, bike rides or just waiting to see the red kites being fed. Now the facilities consist of a set of porta-loos, extremely posh ones with fancy sinks, hands-free taps and driers but still that unmistakable smell. I'd heard some very bad reports about the toilets but either they had been upgraded or the fact that very few people were using them meant that they weren't too bad. But they must be expensive to hire and maintain especially since there were alternative facilities in the now closed building. There was a food and drinks truck and some chairs for people to sit down as well.

 

We set off on one of the paths high above the valley where there was a bit of a breeze to keep us cool.

Eventually we came to Llyn Blaenmelindwr, (the head of the yellow water), a small reservoir that would have been created as part of the mining industry in the area. We found ourselves some shade under a tree on the shore to eat our lunch while the wind whipped up small wavelets that sparkled in the sun. 

After our lunch stop we headed back higher up the ridge through a forestry area which at some point may be felled and replanted but for now provided us with dappled shade.

Eventually we reached the top of the ridge and followed the easy track back to the start of our walk.

As we were almost at the end of our walk I looked across to the ridge on the other side of the main road and was dismayed to see smoke from a wild fire (right in the middle of the photo below, between the wind turbines). It looked to be on the hillside overlooking the Rheidol valley where a mile long fire had burned for many days not so long ago. That was the fire that had reached 200yds from a friend's land. I hope this fire is dealt with quickly but the grass and the gorse in particular are so dry at the moment it is a worry. Only last week 40 acres were burnt in a three day wildfire at Glaspwll (where we get the honey from) on the way to Mach.

Back home I brought in the now dry pillow, did a few jobs and managed to have an hour reading on the terrace in the warm sun before supper,