As a treat after the work the day before on Pen y Fan, and to give Becky some practice at leading, I joined some of the staff and two of the other freelancers of Wales Outdoors for an afternoon's gorge walking in a remote valley in the Brecon Beacon.
As an experienced caver, I have many times swum in underground streams, so this was not an entirely new experience, but it was the first time I has done anything like it on the surface, and over such a distance. The gorge was at the bottom of a narrow glacial valley deepened by a vigorous stream, and varied in width between a few yards and about eighteen inches.
Dressed in wetsuits, buoyancy aids, and helmets, we lowered ourselves into the water, and proceeded down the gorge, feet first and hands crossed over our chests.
There were various exciting features to negotiate, including a rock ring to pass through, and a small waterfall to fly over, and one or two submerged trees to avoid, but for me the most remarkable feature of the ride was the astonishing beauty of the gorge, especially where it was safe for me turn and face upstream and see the sparkling water and the sunlit verdant sculpted rocks; it was just like fairy grotto. I have seldom, if ever, seen any place so beautiful in my whole life.
Thank you, Andy and Becky, for giving me the experience.
