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Having injured my left knee last December I wanted a walk that would give me 1000m plus of ascent and in the shortest distance to test my knee before heading up to Scotland to climb Ben Nevis in a couple of weeks. Having climbed most of the hills in the Brecon Beacons the only walk i could think of was a walk to Fan y Big and back, starting at Pont yr Daf just south of the Storey Arms on the A470 grid ref. Having done this route before with a couple of shortcuts. "this time no shortcuts". I left the carpark, which was already pretty full at 09:40. The climb up to Pen y Fan was uneventfull. There was a stiff breeze blowing with a lot of cloud about and the odd burst of sunshine. On reaching the summit i took a couple of minutes to catch my breath and it was straight on down the stone path to the base of Cribyn.
![Brecon becons walk 009.JPG]()
- Cribyn & Fan y Big from Pen y Fan
As i said in a previous report the stone path now goes all the way down, which makes the desent easier. It`s now a short but steep climb up to the summit of Cribyn. On reaching the summit i take a short break for a coffee. Now on to Fan y Big, again it`s a short steep climb up to the summit.
On reaching the summit i look for a spot to sit and i notice a plaque has been set in a rock. It is engraved with an image of three walkers I have been up Fan y Big a few times i have not noticed it before. Does anyone know how long it`s been there?. I sit there for 1/2 an hour watching the world go bye.and eating my lunch, then it`s standing room only there are people everywhere, my cue to start heading back.
![Fan y Big and back 2 003.JPG]()
As i head back i look across to Cribyn and think to myself it`s only a matter of time before they lay a stone path on the steeper parts of path back up Cribyn. On reaching the summit again i dont stop too many people. I desend the path to the base of Pen y Fan i take another break to ready myself for the climb back up to the summit of Pen y Fan. Stopping to catch my breath for a couple of minutes. As i head on down to the carpark my knees start to ache which slows me down. Thankfully on reaching the car they stop aching after a few minutes. So my knee is good to go. I could have increased my ascent had i used the path next to the storey arms and gone over Corn Du, next time!
