Day 100 of the 365 Day Nature Play Challenge: Looking for a waterfall… and day 4: finding one.
100 – Looking for a waterfall
Saturday 20 September. Wet. 15°C
We’ve only got 100 days to go on the 365 Day Nature Play Challenge and I think it’s time to pay some proper attention to country walks. We’ve done a few, of course, but we’ve not really named them as such so far. We tend to walk towards a challenge and away from one without naming the walk itself but B is getting more positive about the idea of ‘walking’ and I think we can do this now.
We both agree we need to do something spectacular for challenge 100. I suggest several options: climbing a mountain? Getting up at dawn and going animal spotting? Going to feed some goats?… B goes for the final option: Looking for a waterfall. We google. There are quite a few around but they’re all quite a long drive from us. Then we see a little one only 40 minutes away. There’s a few descriptions of how to find it so we set out in our wet weather gear feeling hardy.
We find the parking ok but there’s no signs (we’re a bit off the beaten track) so we set off up the most obvious path and hope for the best. The internet says it’s only about 10 minutes walk…
Half an hour later we’re both thinking we’ve gone the wrong way. We don’t know where we’ve gone wrong though so we keep going. We’re looking for a path on the right. We find one in the end and follow it, but it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It’s completely deserted – the rain has seen off any other walkers so no one to ask. I start worrying what will happen if one of us falls over.
B worries at a different time and pace than me… she’s nervous about the depths of the puddles, gets a stick and tests them. Then finds they’re actually really shallow and has some fun. Eventually. after 45 minutes or so, we agree that we should probably go back. We’ve climbed a hill, seen some sheep, skirted by a dark bit of forest (BEARS?!) and thought we were on the right track. We’re giving up. It was dry when we started but now the rain is coming back heavier and heavier. We are very wet, and very alone in the middle of nowhere.
And it’s at this point, that we start to have fun. There’s definitely something about turning back that gives reassurance. We’re suddenly impressed with our hardiness, and excited by the quiet and isolation. We try and make friends with the sheep, enjoy the cattle grid and wonder where on earth this waterfall is. We have no answers and get back to the car soaking wet but I think we’ll try again… maybe after consulting a proper map, checking the weather forecast and doing some serious research!
Next steps though is going to be to find a popular walk, that’s well marked and has other people on it… waterfalls still feel like a good incentive though.
4 – Finding a waterfall
Sunday 28 December. Sunny.5°C
We’re four days from the end of the 365 day nature play challenge and I’m ashamed that we still haven’t tried another ‘walk’. This time we’re ready. We’ve done a lot of research on local waterfalls (not B, my mum and me!). We now know where they all are, which ones are the easiest to get to from the road and which car park has the most in close proximity. We go for the car park and head up past Merthyr Tydfil to Pontneddfechan on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, home of the ‘four waterfalls walk’.
We’re not going to attempt four. We think we’ll aim for the nearest one and see how we go, so we head off boldly up a steep slope. About half way up we start doubting this is the ‘easy’ walk promised and go back down to find another family having the same discussion. They go on, climbing like mountain goats. We go back. We think we saw a turn off at the bottom and think we’ll try that instead.
The turn off goes along the side of the river, which is promising. It has a sheer drop down one side though which is making B nervous. As we go further along it gets steeper and the path gets smaller. Finally it more or less disappears down a chasm. Beyond we can see a weir but we give up and go back.
We’re both sad and a bit depressed. I’ve stupidly mentioned to B that waterfalls can be dangerous and, being a cautious child, she’s now panicking about falling in. Back at the car park we look at our options. There are two other paths. We pick one for one final try.
We pass two signs. One says there’s a waterfall this way. The other that the path is blocked. But it’s been taken down so we head on. B is getting more nervous but this path is wide and easy to walk on and the stream running alongside is pretty.
Finally we turn a corner to see the end of the path (due to path erosion) and beyond it, easily visible, a very pretty little waterfall. We have a huge sense of satisfaction. We did it! It might not be a big one, but at least it’s a start.
On the way home we both agree that we wish we’d been able to get closer and explore the waterfall properly and decide that we’ll go back in the spring when the weather’s warmer. We might even try one of the longer walks again, when we’re feeling braver and B’s legs have grown a bit longer.
