Blorenge 2008
The other side.
I used to live within sight of the west side of this mountain, but for some reason never made it to the east side,
except to drive past on the road to Abergavenny. Time to fix that.
The mountain is best known for its concave north face, that looks a little like a cleavage, or a pair of buttocks,
depending on your perspective. The west and south are underlain by parts of the Ogof Draenen cave system. The southeast is
edged by the southern spur of the Brecon Beacons national park, which strangely neglects to include the ridge to the
south. The northeast has a feature known as the Punchbowl, which is the target for this trip.
Map of the Brecon Beacons National Park, showing the locations of the various mountains and ranges.
Cwm Mawr.
A good view of the secondary peak created by the landslide on Skirrid.
Looking along the edge of the Blorenge towards the Punchbowl. The Sugar Loaf is visible in the background.
Looking down Cwm Mawr along the spur of the National Park.
Branches.
The top of the Punchbowl.
Beech trees.
Hairy tree. Very unusual for this species.
The Punchbowl.
Blue sky below us.
Perfect reflection.
Pastel fuchsia.
Frogspawn.
Fungus.
Wild horses.
Mynydd y Garn-fawr (503 metres). This is not really a separate mountain, and is just the southern ridge of the Blorenge.
The summit of the Blorenge, as seen from the moorland on the top of the Blorenge. Strangely, the trig point is misplaced at 559 metres, while the actual summit is a little further along the ridge, at 591 metres.
Mynydd Garnclochdy (448 metres). The national park spur runs along the left side of it, and finally ends a few kilometres further south.
Coety Mountain, on the other side of Blaenavon. Coety sounds just like the plural form of the Latin word coitus, but fortunately or unfortunately, it's not. The mountain has a few summits (as might be expected for plural coitus), with the tallest at 571 and 578 metres, and Varteg (on the left) being treated as a separate mountain at 544 metres, even though its connection to Coety is at 549 metres.
Map of the Brecon Beacons National Park, showing the locations of the various mountains and ranges.
Cwm Mawr.
A good view of the secondary peak created by the landslide on Skirrid.
Looking along the edge of the Blorenge towards the Punchbowl. The Sugar Loaf is visible in the background.
Looking down Cwm Mawr along the spur of the National Park.
Branches.
The top of the Punchbowl.
Beech trees.
Hairy tree. Very unusual for this species.
The Punchbowl.
Blue sky below us.
Perfect reflection.
Pastel fuchsia.
Frogspawn.
Fungus.
Wild horses.
Mynydd y Garn-fawr (503 metres). This is not really a separate mountain, and is just the southern ridge of the Blorenge.
The summit of the Blorenge, as seen from the moorland on the top of the Blorenge. Strangely, the trig point is misplaced at 559 metres, while the actual summit is a little further along the ridge, at 591 metres.
Mynydd Garnclochdy (448 metres). The national park spur runs along the left side of it, and finally ends a few kilometres further south.
Coety Mountain, on the other side of Blaenavon. Coety sounds just like the plural form of the Latin word coitus, but fortunately or unfortunately, it's not. The mountain has a few summits (as might be expected for plural coitus), with the tallest at 571 and 578 metres, and Varteg (on the left) being treated as a separate mountain at 544 metres, even though its connection to Coety is at 549 metres.