Sunday 10th September 2006
For this walk I returned to hills that I've walked over many times before but never by the northern ridges. So with an opportunity to correct that oversight I parked at the old Cwm Gwdi Training Camp and set off over a stream across the bottom of the northern slopes of Allt Ddu. Taking a footpath out of the open country I crossed Cwm Sere and Cwm Cynwyn to climb the bracken-covered slopes of Cefn Cyff. After expending all that effort I followed the clearly defined ridge all the way up to the top of Fan y Big. The scenery was, as always, stunning with bright sunshine and clear blue skies, and fortunately the strong winds of the day before had eased. It was a gorgeous day.
Descending from Fan y Big I crossed Bwlch ar y Fan and climbed up around the top of Craig Cwm Cynwyn to the top of Cribyn. The summit was packed with people so I passed straight over the summit and down the steep northern ridge. When the gradient levelled off I stopped and had my lunch while admiring the views of Pen y Fan nearby. After I'd eaten I went back up the steep ridge to the top of Cribyn, where there were now less people. I suppose it had been rather mad for me to go down the ridge only to go back up again but I'd wanted to do all three ridges so why not? Okay, I am mad!
From Cribyn I climbed around the top of Craig Cwm Sere up to Pen y Fan, the highest point in the Brecon Beacons, and the highest point in Britain south of Snowdonia. The last time I was there was just before Christmas when the weather was poor with freezing mist and drizzle. There wasn't anyone on the summit then, but now the weather was considerably better and correspondingly there were considerably more people. Good weather at the weekend always seems to draw people out onto the hills, especially hills like Pen y Fan. In some ways I prefer being out on the hills in bad weather as it's the only way to get them on my own.
From Cribyn I climbed around the top of Craig Cwm Sere up to Pen y Fan, the highest point in the Brecon Beacons, and the highest point in Britain south of Snowdonia. The last time I was there was just before Christmas when the weather was poor with freezing mist and drizzle. There wasn't anyone on the summit then, but now the weather was considerably better and correspondingly there were considerably more people. Good weather at the weekend always seems to draw people out onto the hills, especially hills like Pen y Fan. In some ways I prefer being out on the hills in bad weather as it's the only way to get them on my own. Leaving the crowds behind I dropped steeply down the northern ridge of Pen y Fan along Cefn Cwm Llwch and down into Cwm Gwdi, back to the car. This is a great, classic walk, but it was a little too short by my standards, as I had to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around Brecon.
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