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Writer's pictureultramadlizzie

4 summits of the Rownd Mynydd Du (Black Mountains Round) including the Dragon’s Back Ridge

Updated: May 19, 2023

Date: Sunday 26th February 2023

Strava says: 13.64 miles

Elevation: 4,403 ft / 1,342 m

Weather: Sunny & bright

Start: Dinas Castle Inn, LD3 0EP

Route type: Recce, circular

Conditions: Soft going, muddy in places

Website link: Rownd Mynydd Du (Black Mountains Round)

Describe the route in three words: sunny Sunday funday

4 summits of the Rownd Mynydd Du (Black Mountains Round) including the Dragon’s Back Ridge - Route Recce

As usual, the weather in Wales is glorious! I’d not got up and set off too early as I had a short recce of around 14 miles to complete. I left home at 9am and found the parking at Dinas Castle Inn easily. There is an honesty box for you to pay £2 for the parking. I ate my lunch in the car as soon as I arrived and set off at midday as planned (hurrah for good time keeping!) I know I’m to have a checkpoint around here, either at Pengenffordd or at the village of Waun Fach.


The first part of the route was to head in the opposite way that Hannah and I had come into the first checkpoint on the Blacks to the Beacons, it was so nice for everything to be so familiar from the off.

Pengenffordd
Potential checkpoint location at Pengenffordd

I immediately realised that my plan of wearing my trail shoes was not a great idea, the lugs on them are not nearly as aggressive as the ST version and as soon as I hit mud I noticed the difference! A great way for me to really see the difference that shoes make. My plan was to run as much of the Dragon’s Back as I possibly could, and I was quite pleased with just how much of it I did run, luckily it was already registered as a Strava segment so I can tell you that I did the two mile uphill stretch in 35m 20s which I was really pleased with!

The Dragon's Back ridge
The Dragon's Back ridge

As it was a beautiful sunny Sunday I was expecting to see a lot of people out and about, which I certainly did. As I neared the top of the Dragon’s Back, two hikers commented on how cold and windy it was, I took that as a hint that perhaps I should don an extra layer. I’m very glad I did! I got to Pen y Manllwyn 766 at 12.48pm which marks the top of the Dragon's Back and headed towards Waun Fach.

Pen y Manllwyn
The top of the Dragon's Back, Pen y Manllwyn - 766m

It’s just a short hop over and I was at Waun Fach - 810m at 1pm. I have to confess though, at the time I was completely confused and for some reason thought Pen y Manllwyn was Waun Fach and Waun Fach was I don’t know what, so I headed off through the undergrowth for a while thinking there was a path I needed over there when in fact I had been on the correct path all along. I returned to the correct path (still thinking I was on the wrong path) and asked a group of hikers where I was. Turns out I was exactly where I needed to be. I’m not sure why I had got so confused!

Waun Fach
Waun Fach - 810m

I made it to Mynydd Llysiau - 663m at 1.28pm and knew that this was where I needed to turn off the path and try out a new and quicker line that Brett had found since initially completing his FKT.

Mynydd Llysiau
Mynydd Llysiau - 663m

I totally forgot that Brett had told me to just head for the fence line and faffed around for a while with my map and compass and had a quick snack too. Shortly after I set off down the steep hill I spotted the fence line and remembered what Brett had said. There’s a gate to pass through and the route is very straight forward and easy to follow. The footpath takes you to the left hand side of a farm and you end up on a lane.

It was here I became unsure as the gpx was to take me through a field which is on the right as the lane bears round to the left but for the life of me I could not see a public right of way so I chose to continue down the lane as I could see it came out in a similar place. I spotted the end of the footpath and headed back up it to check the way that I should have come, and sure enough, it was through that field.

I was now in the village of Waun Fach at 2.07pm, this is likely to be my first checkpoint location.

Village of Waun Fach
Likely to be the location of my first checkpoint - village of Waun Fach

I was heading to Mynydd Llangors which started with a pretty steep lane, not one that I could run up. The lane takes you into a field and you get a great view of what’s to come. I had hoped that I would be able to do a lot of this route without poles. Although I did this climb without poles, I do think on the day I will need to use them.

I reached a cain at 2.35pm and I did think this was the top (it wasn’t) and I came to the trig of Mynydd Llangors - 506m at 2.44pm. There’s a lovely and enjoyable path away from the trig and to my alarm I realised I was heading in the downwards direction, with one more summit to go, this can only mean another steep climb! I saw a couple who I believe were mother and son having the most monstrous argument, I bid them a good afternoon but they were oblivious to me.

Mynydd Llangors
Mynydd Llangors - 506m

I could see the very steep Mynydd Troed ahead of me and sent a text to my husband and friends saying, “My car’s on the other side of that!”. (Although it never looks that steep in the photos!)

I definitely needed my poles for this! It took just under 20 minutes to climb, it was quite hard work but not as hard as Allt Lywd! I reached the trig of Mynydd Troed - 609m at 3.25pm and it was an easy and fun descent down to the road crossing at Pengenffordd which completed my loop, I reached the road at 3.39pm, good to know it took 14 minutes to come down.

Mynydd Troed
Mynydd Troed - 609m

I happily trotted back to the car and was really pleased with how the recce had gone.


What’s in the snack pack?

Luchos guava square

Natural bar

2x 500ml bladders water - with Phizz

Salomon Bonatti waterproof over mittens

Inov 8 Trailshell waterproof jacket

Long sleeved spare layer

Vasaline

Harrier Helvellyn Carbon Z-Poles and quiver

Petzl e+lite head torch

Whistle

Survival blanket

OMM Halo waterproof trousers

Fully charged mobile phone

Harvey’s map

Silva Expedition 4 compass

The Dragon's Back
Running along The Dragon's Back

What I wore: Saucony Peregrine 12, Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire, buff, Sweaty Betty power leggings, Stance socks, Montane long sleeved top plus Decathlon long sleeved top, hat, gloves, Dirty Girl gaiters, Salomon Adv Skin 12 running vest.

The Dragon's Back
The Dragon's Back

Lead up: As this was a recce rather than a race I did not do anything in particular to prepare myself.


Morning preparations: A nice leisurely departure from home at 9am. Porridge with mashed banana and mixed berries made with oat milk for breakfast.

Waun Fach
Cheesy grin at Waun Fach

Summary

A fabulous day out and a really useful and important recce - in particular finding the line down from Mynydd Llysiau and checking the footpath coming into the village of Waun Fach. It was good to be able to take a photo of the checkpoint locations for my crew to help them find the right place on the day.


Lessons learned

I really need to wear my STs in future on this terrain, regardless of the weather!


Results

Elapsed time: 3 hr 40 m 38 s

I do like a bling haul!

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