Up The Garth.............

Walking with my family is so important to me, it's when we chat the most. When you are away from the distractions of technology, work, school and general responsibilities, It becomes very easy to chat about how we are feeling, what we are excited about, what we are worried about and things that are most important to us.

Not that Garth silly.........

When looking for places to explore, it is so easy to forget what is on your own doorstep, despite living in Wales all my life (apart from a 4 year jaunt in Plymouth) I've never climbed the Garth. So we me, the husband and the 7 year old thought we'd give it a bash.

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We started at the walk at Gwaelod y Garth Inn (CF15 9HH) There isn’t a car park (As far as we could see) but there is un-restrictricted parking just before and just after the Gwaelod y Garth Inn. To start the walk turn left just before the Gwaelod y Garth Inn and walk up the steep tarmac road.

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When you get to the hairpin bend in the road, keep left and head upwards, for about half-a-mile. You will know that you are on the right route when you pass over a cattle grid.
As the road levels, you'll pass above an old barn on your left.

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Follow the route marker sign on your right and head up a steep hillside track towards the mountain. The mountain track can be slightly tricky for small children as they may need help crossing a small stream and lifting their legs upto large steps.

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You then go up a very steep (somehow the 7 year old was able to run up, while I struggled) grassy track towards a false summit (the actual summit is a mound with a concrete trig atop of it, a little further on)
The views from the false summit are ridiculously amazing. With not only Taffs Well, the river Taff and Cardiff,  but also Somerset in the distance. You can see Aberthaw Power Station to the west and the Brecon Beacons to the north.

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Stretching out our legs at the false summit

Veer left and take a straight route of around 730 metres to the summit (apparently it's 1007 feet) and trig point. On the signs it says it's a circular route but we simply headed back down the way we came.

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As you can see according to the old Fitbit, this took us just over 2.5 hrs, this time also included us sitting near the top to have some snacks. I think next time we will have to stop in at the Gwaelod y Garth Inn as it looked loved and on nosing at their website I discovered they have vegan options. But being a Sunday we did need to get home and prep for the week.

Anyway, it's well worth a visit, changing scenery and beautiful views xxx

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