With Autumn well underway, I thought I’d have a little summer throwback before the wintery adventures truly begin.

Late in July, I happened to be spending some time at my boyfriend’s in Cardiff and we always try to get out into South Wales, so found ourselves taking the ‘Waterfall Walk’ along the Mellte (Meth-deh, as much as I want a river to be called the Melty, it’s just not a thing!). We didn’t intend to take the waterfall route, but just so happened to join up with our own ‘planned’ one. It was a lovely warm afternoon, a little later than we’d normally go out walking but we’d had some serious car issues so just wanted to get out of the house!
For some reason I have always been slightly nervous of going out into the country late in the day, but the route is well-travelled and summer gave us plenty of sunlight. I always love walking along water, and somehow always end up getting wet! It was a well sign-posted route with good map boards at the beginning of the walk and numerous easy paths. Although parking on the small road/track was a bit tight, it was a pleasant surprise that you could actually park there!

The waterfalls themselves were gorgeous and it was really interesting to see the river at that level (no paddling possible!). J talked me through the lines he normally takes and what the river normally looks like. Hopefully I’ll get the balls to paddle it by next summer! The route we took followed the river downstream along the left bank and you could quite easily wade across at points to the large slabs on the other bank.

The last waterfall is down a steep and windy path, but there are steps! It is really worth it, and it’s strangely a very popular spot for photoshoots (there was a karate shoot there when we went ha!). The rocks leading up to the water are slippery and you can’t help but get damp from all the spray! It’s just a really fun little spot and walking behind waterfalls is always novel. The walk back up was the least fun we had haha, it was nature’s step class!

Terrain: Easy, dirt tracks. Narrowing paths and lots of roots at points.
Gear: My trusty Merrell Grassbows & T-shirt. (I can’t remember it’s specific name, I got it free as a student rep for them. It’s wicking material with a secret pocket in the back- very flattering cut and always feels good to wear) J had his Merrell Belay shorts on too.
Highlight: Walking behind the big waterfall and watching a couple cooling off and taking a shower underneath it! It’s now on the to-do list!