A few days of intermittent drizzle have given way once again to hotter August weather, so we were glad to spend the return half of August’s walk meandering down the river in the Cammarch valley, and the dogs in the party took every opportunity to cool their pads in the water.  The morning tramp up through Llwyn Madoc’s sessile oaks was cool, too; and the views from Garn Wen so compelling that we took a very early lunch break to enjoy the 360 degree view from the crumbling cairn – slightly desecrated by the placement of a modern tri point right in the centre?  Carmarthen Fan and Pen y Fan showed out clearly to the south, Drygarn Fawr more or less due west.

The top of the valley is sadly rather dominated by conifer plantations whose forest tracks were dusty gravel underfoot after the long dry summer.  We could all have done with a bit more water by the end of the 8 miles.  But the return through pasture has preserved a few friendly flowers: Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Tormentil and a few unknowns leavening the tawny dry grass – which the sun made a marvellous Study in Beige with this dying thistle.  As all the best naturalists know, it isn’t just about ‘bagging’ sightings of nature’s rarities (which are anyway probably commoners, somewhere else); it’s about recognising the beauty of the things we tend to overlook and undervalue.  Where would our goldfinches be, without specimens like this to feast on?