How many times for you have to climb Pen y Fan for a clear view?

25 November 2012

Our second day in the Beacons followed a very pleasant night at at the Bear in Crickhowell, thoroughly recommended.  We had thought about a walk in the Black Mountains but in the end decided to try the walk we had originally planned the day before and go up the north face of Corn Du and Pen y Fan. The phone GPS guided us pretty close to Cwm gwdi car park and we guessed the last half mile. On arrival at 10.00 we noticed the remains of broken car windscreens on the ground suggesting the place is visited by car thieves, so we parked with some trepidation but hoped that it would be too busy on a Sunday for a thief to get a clear run. 

Our route took us back to the entrance to the car park and then left along the lane for a mile or so. We turned left again after crossing the stream and headed up past another parking area and onto the fell. After skirting the farm we emerged onto the hill up towards Corn Du. The morning had started off pretty fine and we should have been able to see both mountains ahead but the top was shrouded in cloud. 

Cwm Llwch.

A soon as we got to the steeper section it started to rain so I had to get full warterproofs on again. Sue had started out in hers. The rain got more unpleasant as we got higher and there wasn't much time to admire the small lake that came into view below the summit. We eventually made it up to the obelisk which was erected in 1902 to mark the tragic loss of a five year old on the mountain, Tommy Jones. 

We contemplated turning back at this stage but decided that we should plough on and made it on to Corn Du just ahead of a couple carrying a very small baby who was evidently starting Marillyn-bagging at an early age. Our second consecutive day on Corn Du and we still couldn't see a thing. Oh well, on to Pen y Fan, maybe that will be different. It wasn't. How many times do you have to climb Pen y Fan before you are granted the pleasure of its 360-degree views?

Our route could now have continued on to Cribyn and Fan y Big, but since we couldn't see a thing we decided to leave that for another day and, having consulted our compass, took the path to the north off Pen y Fan which has quite a steep and unstable start but becomes a decent if boggier path below. 

The route was quite straightforward for some time and included some light downhill jogging and then we veered to the left as we needed to keep going roughly north. The path now became very faint for a while and we thought we'd lost our bearings but managed to find the route that led directly down into Cwm gwdi car park and found the car and thankfully no sign of the glass breakers. It was now just before 2pm so it was probably a good idea we hadn't  taken the longer route as in these shorter winter days we could easily have ended up finishing in the dark. 

Another wet and somewhat muddier day in the Beacons but we will certainly be back for more. 

Ominous cloud formations higher up.

Llyn Cwm Llwch.

The Tommy Jones Obelisk.

Once again, clearer on the way down.

Bracken on hillside back to Cwm dygi car park.

Eerie light over Brecon.

Beacons in the mist

24 November 2012

Our 25th anniversary treat was a short break in the Brecon Beacons. Set off for the drive south at 8.30 and immediately into the fog and started to feel some consternation about whether we would get any walking in at all. The drizzle and poor visibility continued all the way to Brecon, and we changed our plans when we got to the outskirts and headed for Storey Arms on the A470 on the basis that this was likely to be a safer ascent and easier to find. 

Once we got to the car park at the Storey Arms - an outdoor centre run by Cardiff city council - we saw lots of walkers coming down off the hill having completed the ascent. Perhaps we were mad after all, but we weren't the only ones clearly. 

After quick coffee and trusty flapjack we donned full waterproofs and set off up the path. It was pretty obvious which way to go as the path was laid with stone most of the way and is presumably packed solid in good summer weather. But today it was only 2 degrees. A flock of field fares were spotted just after a stone marking the handover of the Brecon Beacons to the National Trust by Eagle Star in1965. 

As we got nearer to the top the visibility worsened and we just about caught a glimpse of the first target, Corn Du, during a brief cloud break. Here the wind really whipped up as we were now at the top of the ridge and Sue had trouble staying upright on the short climb up Corn Du. My rucksack cover also disappeared in the wind but fortunately I spotted it 100 yards away and managed to get there before the next gust. Lesson learnt; tie up the rain covers as they just act like a balloon in the wind and fill with air. 

On Corn Du.

The rain was now really whipping in as well and the right side of our faces was being stung at every step, but after the short scramble to the summit, it was calmer and we found the level tabletop surface of old red sandstone. The path on top was further reinforced with stone, presumably because of the numbers coming up here in the summer and a small cairn marks the Summit. We took a couple of photos here and some on the phone to text to family to show how much we we enjoying our 25th!

Pen yFan summit.

Our next target was Pen y Fan itself although we couldn't see it at all. We worked out which path to take from the map and headed back into the stinging rain. At the top, the highest point in the Brecon Beacons and southern Britain, we found the stone marker post and took a photo for a couple of guys and they reciprocated. One of them kindly offered us some dried mango, which we didn't take but it sounds an interesting food to carry, shall have to try it some time. We decided to try and have some food ourselves but quickly realised that was a bad idea. Having bare hands in these very cold conditions is not a good idea and we instantly froze and gave up. Both of us had sodden gloves by now so when we got to a bit of a windbreak we retrieved spare gloves from the packs - well prepared, eh! 

Dry gloves. Bliss. 

It was then an easy walk downhill to the car, although when we got there, at 1.15pm, we realised that both waterproof jackets had failed miserably and were soaked through. Our waterproof trousers were brilliant though. 

Clearer views on the way back downhill.

Top of Shropshire at last

4 November 2012

Despite being in and around Shropshire for around 25 years, we have to admit that we have never scaled the county's highest peak, until today.

The Clee Hills have always seemed to be tucked so far away in the far corner of the county that we've just never got round to it, but having done plenty of walks on and beyond the Mynd we thought we really need to get to the top of Brown Clee.

Our route is a circular one around The Shropshire Way, found on shropshirewalking.co.uk. A drive across the lanes to Abdon took us down roads and through villages we never knew existed, something that is all too common in Shropshire. Having parked at the village hall at 11.30am, which actually looks more like someone's house but has a reassuring sign, we set off on the path towards the hill. Although the walk goes to the highest point in the county at 540m, the ascent is not that tough as you are already quite high up at the start. We negotiated the first couple of stiles OK but then ran immediately into navigational issues. The footpath sign and the map suggested we head across a field but it took us a while to work out how to get on to the next path which is in a gully and is either a sunken green lane or a stream, perhaps depending on the season.

Once on our way up we got a good view across to the Shropshire Hills and the Long Mynd before the path joined the lane at Abdon. Community action is clearly alive and kicking in this village (hamlet?) as a former red telephone box was now playing a role as the community library. "Borrow a book and leave one  for someone else', reads the sign and the locals have decked it out with shelving and a neat tiled floor. A modern, rather soul-less BT telephone sits alongside. 

The route then joins The Shropshire Way and turns left up onto the side of the hill. A noisy group of five ravens were busy over the top of Abdon Burf and a feisty crow decided to take on a majestic hovering kestrel and continued hounding it until it disappeared over the top. The route circles the hill through a beech plantation and then joins the former railway track to the summit. We stopped at the foot of the track to have lunch at 1pm, having gone about 4.4km, a bit slower than expected but we had stopped for quite a few photographs.

The tram route takes you right up to the top of Abdon Burf, the highest of the twin summits of Brown Clee, although the other one, Clee Burf, is only 30 metres less. What does burf mean? The evidence of the hill's industrial past is everywhere to be seen on the top with the remains of the dhustone mine buildings including one where only the fireplace is left standing. The ruins are juxtaposed against the radio masts which now dominate the hilltop, with the distinctive sight and sound of redstart everywhere.

One of Brown Clee's claims to fame is the astonishing fact that looking due east, there is nothing higher until you get to the Urals in Russia. a difficult one to believe, and the cyclist who we met at the trig point didn't believe it either and vowed to check it when he got home. It was now 1.30pm and we had gone just over 5km.

Just beyond the summit the path became very muddy.

We had read about the bog on Brown Clee and now we'd found it. It didn't seem to bother the ponies though, a group of five were grazing close to Abdon Burf, and we found more near Clee Burf - a group of eight, seven brown and one grey. The path had skirted around Clee Burf but we decided to detour to the top where there are more old industrial buildings and clear evidence of the mine workings, as well as a radar installation that is linked to the ones on top of nearby Titterstone Clee.

The view to the west had been terrific up till now but suddenly it was clear that rain or something worse was on its way. We jogged down the hill to Nordy Bank, a great example of a hillfort, and then the white stuff appeared. It might have been hail or sleet but it was certainly sharp and wet, but no sooner had we got waterproofs on, than it passed over. 

Once at the foot of the hill, we found the footpaths leading across the fields without too much difficulty and returned to Abdon, completing around 10km in a very leisurely time. Great walk though and we will be back to Titterstone Clee at some point.