We were also joined by another friend of our's Martin who was having his first wander in the hills for some time and so we headed off looking forward to getting out somewhere a bit different!!
You start this walk just north of Ystradfellte and we managed to squeeze in between 2 Army landies and the whole walk was pretty much spread out before us!
- The Walk Ahead!
- The Three Amigo's! (or Muppets perhaps?)
It's a steady climb as you head up the fairly obvious path towards Fan Nedd and once you get there you realise the cairn that you can see isn't really the summit but simply a marker one the way to the summit.
- Martin at the Cairn
As WW was a bit out of shape we waited there a short while admiring the view across towards Pen-y-Fan and the surrounding countryside.
- Is that WW or Ivor the Engine?
A stunning day with superb visibility all around!
- Towards Fan Gyhirych
- Pen Y Fan Peeking over the top!
From Fan Nedd you head down the other side into the valley and towards an obvious track running along the bottom of the valley. Following this you then simply look for a spot to veer off and head up the side of the escaprment toward the summit of Fan Gyhirych (Don't ask me to pronounce this - I was with 2 welshmen and neither one of them could agree on the correct pronounciation!).
- Fan Gyhirych
- Summit Fan Gyhirych
Once on the summit we had the well earned break for butties, coffee, choccy and anything else we could lay our hands on!
- Chris and Martin on the Cairn near the summit - feeding their faces!
It was then simply a question of about turn - well nearly - we followed the edge of the escarpment along and back the way we came. We decided on a slight detour on the way back. Rather than go back over Fan Nedd we followed the wall around the face of the escarpment and back to the car.....and a stop off at the New Inn in Ystradfellte for a well earned cold one!! (I can strongly recommend the welsh cider!)
All in all a superb walk and frankly a lot more enjoyable then the usual Beacons wander with the crowds around Pen Y Fan!!
