- On the highest of the Brecon Beacons.
On a week's break, travelling around South Wales, I decided to re-visit the Brecon Beacons. I had not walked them since my student days in Cardiff, so with nostalgia coursing through my vains it was a must. What's more, it occurred to me, it was October 31st - the exact date I had begun my Wainwrights in Winter campaign last year - so what a neat way to re-engage with the Welsh mountains. What's even more, the idea occurred to me for the next major project. The sequel, so to speak: 'Wales in Winter.' Wales does not have Wainwrights as such, but it has lots of Hewitts: Hills in England, Wales and Ireland Two Thousand feet or above. This could be the challenge: all the Welsh Hewitts in one winter, from clocks going back to clocks going forward, a period of 5 months or so. This would also be part of an overall target to bag the full Hewitts (happily I already have 99 out of 114 English Hewitts done by virtue of my Wainwrights campaign). The Brecon Beacons would contribute the first 4 of my 137 Welsh Hewitts. My researches show there is 6 Beacons, technically, but only 4 of these are classed as Hewitts. On this day I thought I might as well bag all 6, as well as all 4. It's been a while since I've done a long walk.
- 6 Brecon Beacons but 4 Hewitts (black circles).
- Misty start to the day.
- I begin to emerge from the mist.
- Into the sun.
The day began at the '3 Rivers Ride' car park shrouded in mist. I had barely glanced at the forecast, and I thought it said cloudy with light showers. With a stoic attitude to my new challenge, I set out, expecting a long eerie day with no visibility and much compass usage. However, after a preliminary walk around the lanes and climbing the foothills to Llyn Cwm Llwch, with with great awe I found myself to be emerging from the mist. I discovered it was all just a blanket of evaporation in the valleys and plains around the mountains, and I steadily rose above it, for the rest of the day gazing over it like a white ocean. This was right up there was my most amazing experiences on any mountain. From here on it was actually a glorious and mild summer's day, comparing very favourably to the wet wild day I had on Skiddaw this time last year. Shame about little Tommy Jones, a boy who got lost up there in 1900 (the obelisk)
- The inversion spectacle.
- The Tommy Jones obelisk.
- Looking back west as I climb Corn Du.
- Leaving Lyn Cwm Llwch behind.
- The Brecons to the east.
On Corn Du, the first Beacon, suddenly I ran into lots of people. This was clearly the touristy part of the park, and we were even treated to a fly-past by an army helicopter, a crew member hanging out of the door and waving to us. This is of a course a famous place of military training, and a there were several out there practising their yomps. It was sobering to reflect on the news one SAS trainee had collapsed and died out there a couple of winters ago, lest I take my idea of Wales in Winter lightly. These parts would clearly be a different ballgame cometh the snows.
- On Pen y Fan (not my dog).
- Cribyn ahead.
- Looking back at Pen y Fan.
- Fan y Big ahead.
- Looking back at Cribyn, Pen y Fan and Corn Du.
- Along the ridge to Waun Rydd.
Peny Fan, the high point of the Brecons, quickly follows after Corn Du. Thereafter it was an excellent ridge-walk to take in the remaining 3 Hewitts - Cribyn, Fan y Big and Waun Rydd. The last was a bit of a nuisance, stuck out on its own a bit and not very interesting. It took some figuring out where the exact summit was, and just for good measure I walked half a mile out to the main cairn out there - Carn Pica - only to realise it was definitely not the high point. After studying the contours carefully, which I could have done in the first place to avoid the trouble, I realised the summit (such as is) was back and a little way off the path. A couple of workmen with little mechanised diggers were constructing a new path, which added to my confusion, as it was clearly not intended to lead to the actual summit.
- Carn Pica, not the actual summit.
- Actual summit of Waun Rydd.
- Improvised descent, to Cwm Cwareli.
- Cwm Cwareli.
As this was a long walk, naughtily I improvised a descent to chop off a bit of mileage for the return journey. This was probably a waste of time in terms of saving time, and especially energy, as the heather - which looks so inviting from a distance - was a nightmare to walk on. An excellent gorge, called Cwm Cwareli, was worth it for the spectacle though. One final hitch came when I misread the tricky little tangle of lanes around the foothills, and had to backtrack half a mile thus adding 1 mile to the whole venture. My legs were hurting by the end, but what a glorious day for the end of October.
- Late afternoon at the end of October.
- The colours of Autumn in South Wales.
- Walking back through the foothills.
- Some landowners did not seem welcoming around here.
