Brecon 3 In The Sunshine

[Ibex]

I recently joined a mountaineering club and joined in one of their little trips away to the south of Wales.
Most of the group went climbing and a few went for a small walk in the local area. I decided to drive off to the Becons and aim for the high point.

I had a pretty disasterous organisation for the trip away, which was all my own fault, so forgot a load of things, such as my walking pole. I also got to the campsite late Friday night after work, and missed out on a good feed. Not to mention that I was bloody freezing in my sleeping bag and the birdsong at 4.30ak was louder than any alarm clock.

I got to the car park near the Brecon Resevoir at around 11.15am, after a series of detours around Merthyr Tydfil. I got set up quickly and packed my bag with a lot of things that I probably didn't need. I had 2 litres of water and 1 litre of cheap energy drink. I only drank about half the energy drink and none of the water at all. So that was a wasted 2.5kg to hump up the hills.
I of course forgot to put on my suncream and then chucked the rucksac on and headed up the path.


The very clear Brecon Way path up towards Corn Du

It was a steady slog up around 400m to the top of Corn Du. I was knackered due to lack of food, but was determined not to stop. Got up there in pretty decent time. Had a little chat on the way up with a bloke in training for the 3 peaks challenge. He got out his smart phone and showed me a video of the conditions in the same spot two weeks ago. The foot of snow and strong winds were a stark difference to the bright sunshine I was walking in. I felt spoilt!

Took a few pics on the top of Corn Du then undertook the 2 minute jaunt on to Pen Y Fan.
There was also a young lad carrying up a guitar. I saw him several times on the walk and not once did he have it out.


View from the summit of corn Du, looking back at the path up


The little walk from Corn Du to Pen Y Fan

I arrived on the Pen Y Fan summit a few minutes to be greated by the sight of a group of Army lads on training for their Commando's course. My pack was too heavy for my needs, but I can only imagine how heavy the poor Sigs guys was, with his radio and spare battery.


Pen Y Fan summit marker

Took a few more photos, though it was hard to see what off, due to the bright sunshine glaring on the view finder. The pictures I have taken really don't due justice to the conditions. It was much brighter than they appear.


Cribyn from Pen Y Fan. The next top!

Next stop was Cribyn, so I headed off to the South and walked down the ~200 meteres to the gap between the two tops. There was a boggy bit and a little pond over the path, so I walked around it, holding up my trousers, like a woman holding up her skirts when stepping over a puddle.
I did this because another of my cock ups, was to only pack one pair of trousers, so I had no spares. Idiot!

I walked slowly up the 120 odd metre ridge to the top of Cribyn, to be met by the sound of several Yorkshiremen, joking about who had been the first to mention the pub for the end of the day.

Took a few photos at the top, as the views were stunning. Especially the quite sheer East flank of Pen Y Fan, as seen below.
I also tried a few panorama shots with my new camera, and they went well until I got to the third stage and a Yorksireman got in the way.


The imposing East flank of Pen Y Fan with the path running down to the left of the summit


Pen Y Fan to the right and the flat top of Corn Du in the centre

At this point my knees were suffering a little. I was chiding myself for forgetting my walking pole. Though my knees weren't too bad, I was bashing them a bit on the way down. They were definately a lot better than when I did Tryfan last summer though, so I was very happy with that.
The uphills however were knackering me. This is definately a question of fitness to some degree, but I found a few odd things about my legs as I was walking up slopes. On a gentle gradient I could walk quickly and with no hinderance at all. Once the slope became more severe I was really feeling the strain in my hamstrings and hips and it became a much harder effort to keep going. Never experienced that before!


Fan Y Big from Cribyn. Another time.........

I was looking back at Pen Y Fan and considering going on to Fan Y Big as well. In the end I decided to take it easy, despite the fact that I had a lot of time left. I also noticed a slight 'escape route' for the way back, so that I would not have to climb all the way back to the top of Pen Y Fan and should have been able to cut out about 80-100m of ascent.
You can see this escape route to the left of the summit of Pen Y Fan in the picture below. It runs up to join the path which in turn avoids the Corn Du summit.


Route back to Pen Y Fan from Cribyn

I headed back down Cribyn and back up towards Pen Y Fan. Half way up I turned to look back at Cribyn and took this picture of the quite steep route up.



I packed the camera away and continued the slog up the hill, feeling quite drained of energy now. At this point a big yellow mountain rescue helicoptor turned up, flying about the local summits, no doubt doing training. I resisted the urge to get the camera out again and kept on a slow walk up the hill.
I somehow missd the path off to the escape route I had seen from the summit of Cribyn. Spent too much time admiring the view, or the hovering helicoptor I suppose. So I resigned myself to the walk up to Pen Y Fan summit again.

I got back to the summit of the Brecon Beacons for the second time in about an hour and kept on going, down to the west. I took the path to the side of Corn Du and then on down to the car park.

I reached the car after around three and a half hours of walking, in beautiful conditions. I was soaked with sweat, but was thoroughly spoilt with the conditions.
My knees were hurting a bit, but not too bad. My descent had been pretty rapid and I had a little rub on my heel. Should have tightened my boots before descending so rapidly.

All in all a fantastic day in the hills, thoroughly enjoyed and I learnt a few more things about my body.
I was a very happy guy when I got back to the car, but grateful to slip my trainers back on and even managed to get a celebratory KFC in Merthyr Tidfil, before heading back to the campsite. Happy days!

Points to take away with me are the need for more fitness training in general and a way to replicate the walking in the hills somehow, in flat Oxfordshire.
Plus organisation needs to improve massively and I will find it all a lot eaiser and possibly enjoy it even more.

A day later and my calf muscles are absolutely ruined. Thighs not so bad, but theres a definate ache there.
I dread to think what they will be like for my climbing lesson, tomorrow after work.

[johnkaysleftleg]

Always really liked the look of these hills but I've never been within 60 miles of them. I'll have to visit South Wales one day.

[willywalker247]

Done this walk quite a few times, but its well worth the effort on a good day as you saw the views are fantastic.

[Ibex]

Absolutely Willy. It was a stunning day and I was very lucky with the weather.
I could have stayed there all day taking photos, if I had more time. Brilliant day out and I will be returning to the Beacons some time to kock off Fan Y Big and the rest.