Sunday 6th May 2018. An ascent and survey of four hills in Y Mynydd Du, Carmarthenshire, South West Wales. The principle summits were Pen Rhiw-ddu 535m/42m, Moel Gornach 616m/104m, Foel Fraith 602m/77m and Cefn y Cylchau 556m/38m. 13.0km, with 505m of ascent. 6hrs 35mins.

Heading south with MP, he parked his car in a lay-by on the northern flank of the hills at a beauty spot where the Afon Clydach tumbled down a picturesque little valley. Dodging the motorcycles on the busy mountain road, we headed west, taking to a quiet minor road after just over a kilometre, mercifully unscathed by our brushes with the traffic. A little way along this lane we spotted a grassy track leading up to a small quarry. It seemed to be heading to Carn Pen y clogau, our first objective, so we left the road to begin our ascent.

The track petered out at the quarry, and the rest of the ascent over rough grass moorland was pathless. A few wild ponies were grazing there. One of them approached us, but soon lost interest when he realised we had no food to give him. Eventually, baked by the midday sun, we reached the huge Bronze Age cairn (see at http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/84092/details/carn-pen-y-clogau) that adorns the summit. MP commenced the first of the eleven summit surveys he undertook on our hike, while I sat in the sunshine admiring the expansive, though hazy, view.

Survey completed, we headed east to climb Pen Rhiw-ddu, my only new summit on the walk. The others I had climbed in two separate hikes in 1999 and 2003. I reached the summit first, as MP was busy surveying the intervening bwlch. There I encountered a local birdwatcher who told me he was trying to spot dotterel, but so far to no avail. Leaving him on what appeared to be a fruitless task today, we headed north-west to inspect another large Bronze Age cairn.

The mountain road was a short walk away. As we descended, I was sure I could see an ice cream van, but wondered whether it was a mirage or the first signs of heat stroke. It was not. It was real, and very welcome. Cooled and refreshed, we continued our ascent onto Moel Gornach, the highest summit of the day, and the most westerly of the 2000ft hills in South Wales. A bit of a path picked its way through a series of small crags and boulder fields and up onto the summit plateau. On the highest spot was a trig point, and another Bronze Age cairn, this one of very sizeable proportions, a mini-mountain itself.

Leaving the summit, we headed north-east on a narrow path. This took us down to a wide bwlch, decorated with peat hags. The summit of Foel Fraith, our next objective, did not take long to reach. This was a rather disappointing place, as far as the view was concerned, being a wide plateau. However, its thick grasses proved to be a comfy resting place to doze and gaze at the wide blue sky, as various surveys were undertaken by MP. An aeroplane passed over, high in the stratosphere. I mused that it must be at about the height of Mount Everest, which made the 600m hill on which I rested seem very low.

Eventually we moved on, dropping to a boggy bwlch with a little pond at its centre - the source of the Afon Clydach. The final ascent of the day proved to be a bit of a struggle through quaking bogs and thick grass, and I was pleased when the tiny cairn on the summit of Cefn y Cylchau came into view. Last survey wrapped up, we headed west past a fine cairn on a rocky outcrop, descending gradually in the direction of the car. On reaching it, we were surprised to find the place heaving with people - sightseers and even some campers setting up for the night. It was quite a contrast to the empty hills above.

The long drive north commenced. I got home just before midnight. A long day just for one new hill!