Rhiwagor Waterfall / Pistyll Rhyd-y-Meincau

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here. Me and my human did this short walk a couple of years ago, but we forgot to tell you about it. Pistyll Rhyd y meincau is a waterfall on the Afon Eiddew. It can be reached by following a track in a north westerly direction from a small car park at the north of Lake Vyrnwy. Our walk turned into a bit of a disaster, so my dad said that the first nine photographs show the beauty of the area, but the last four are pretty graphic!

The walk is quite flat and was almost deserted on the day of our visit. Our plan was to walk to the waterfall then along the valley. We were going to circle Bwlan and Braich yr Owen and to return along the Afon Nadroedd.

Little did we know what was to come and forcing us to cut our hike short.

I had the freedom of the area. It was deserted, and Shaun the Sheep and his gang were nowhere to be seen. I even managed to have a dip in the river at a few points along the way.

At one point, we met another crazy Spaniel, so I had to be pur back on my lead. After my human had chatted to the other dogs humans and we had been untangled, I legged it into the river again. It was only shallow and slow moving, so I had a zoomie around. Just to cool down, in the sunshine, you understand.

We were gifted some really nice views ahead and where we planned to hike. It was a lovely sunny day with bright blue cloudless skies.

Our first view of the waterfall came as the path became rocky. The water could be seen cascading down the steep hillside ahead.

As usual, I had to sit on a rock with the view in the background. All I wanted to do was swim in the river but I was required to be a ‘good boy’, as usual!

As we neared the waterfall, we noticed that there were a few people gathered by a fence. They were deliberating whether to cross the river or to turn back. The view of the waterfall was really good from this point, and people were choosing to gaze and photograph it from there.

My human said that we would assess the crossing when we were nearer. Our plan was to carry on up the hillside, so we really needed to cross the water.

My human took this photograph and decided that it looked safe to cross. The water was slow moving and shallow. There were plenty of stones for the big feller to step on. So, I zoomed across in advance. It was easy, and I didn’t even put a paw in the water.

This was when our day changed and went rapidly downhill. The Muppet stepped on a few rocks with no problem. Then, as he was about halfway across, he stepped on a rock that wasn’t secure. Down he went like a sack of spuds. He faceplanted in the water but took most of the fall on his elbow.

By then, there was no one around to witness his acrobatics. He rushed to stand up as I jumped into the water to rescue him. He got out of the water with his hair soaking. He looked quite bedraggled and shocked, so we sat on a rock for a few minutes while he regained his composure.

We slowly walked back to the car, where he sat again for 15 minutes or so while he decided if he could drive. He chose to drive the hour home. By the time we arrived home, his elbow had swollen like a balloon.

He decided not to go to A and E because he could bend his arm, and he didn’t think that it was broken. Our neighbour saw him struggling to get out of the car and offered to look after me while he went to hospital but, Mr. Stubborn thanked them and declined the offer.

My human has included a few photos below. It wasn’t broken as he did get it x-rayed a few days later. He ruined our hike!!!

Till next time!