Early mountain walking in the Brecon Beacons

Before I go to the Lake District this Easter I have time to go back to the year 2000 and describe some of my earliest mountain walks. At this stage I was still very naïve about hill walking, so on this occasion I suffered my first bad weather walk where I was forced to abandon my plan. Nevertheless I also enjoyed a fabulous walk to the top of a mountain that was considerably higher than anything I’d previously encountered.

The Brecon Beacons

Monday 4th September 2000

Before this holiday I had no clear idea where I would be walking except for a few vague ideas. The day before I went I wrote in my diary: “I am still unsure on a schedule. I have a number of activities planned, but no definite order in which to do them.” One of the goals for the week was Pen y Fan, the highest point in the Brecon Beacons, but it soon became apparent that the best weather of the holiday was going to be on the first day so after a prolonged drive I eventually arrived at the car park by the Storey Arms (an Outdoor Pursuits Centre). With a starting height of 425m this is an ideal place to start since almost half the height of the climb has already been achieved before you start. Following the crowds I walked up the wide track that climbs the broad slopes of Y Gryn past a memorial obelisk and finally up to the summit of Corn Du. From the top a short walk took me across to the summit of Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in either England or Wales south of Snowdonia, and the highest hill I’d ever been up at that point.

From the summit of Pen y Fan I descended the steep slope above Craig Cwm Sere and as far as I can recall I bypassed the adjacent top of Cribyn. At the bottom of the saddle, known as Bwlch ar y Fan, on the far side of Cribyn, I turned right onto a wide track that I followed down to the dam for the disused Lower Neuadd Reservoir. I remember the weather was good for this walk and I had a really pleasant walk down the gentle slope while enjoying the views behind me of the Brecon Beacons. After crossing the dam I climbed the slope opposite all the way up to the top of the steep edged ridge of Graig Fan Ddu. I now turned back towards the Brecon Beacons and walked along the ridge towards the tops, but just before reaching Corn Du I turned left down a path that quickly drops down the grassy hillside back to the road. This must have been a fabulous walk but I don’t remember it leaving much of an impression on me. My diary entry, once I got home at the end of the week, described this as being a “nice walk.” The only thing that I could have had against it was that it was rather short with the climb to the top being altogether too easy.

The Black Mountains

Tuesday 5th September 2000

The next day I was back in the familiar territory of the Black Mountains, but it was now wet and misty. This was actually the first time that I can remember walking through low-lying clouds with low visibility, and I quickly got a thorough lesson in the perils of walking in such conditions. It was already rather late (I’ve no idea why) when I set off and soon I lost the path I’d wanted. I believe I had started at the top of the Gospel Pass and after passing over Hay Bluff I wanted to go over Black Hill but instead I kept to the more prominent Offa’s Dyke Path. It wasn’t long, however, before I lost even that path in a stony area where the way is not clear across the stones. Eventually I found the path again and proceeded along it, but in the wrong direction! I don’t know if I’d failed to look at my compass or whether it wasn’t working properly, but it wasn’t until I reached the turning towards Hay Bluff that I realised that I’d already come this way. By this time it was far too late to go over Black Hill, as originally intended, so I returned along the Offa’s Dyke Path.

Eventually I reached the pile of stones that marks the top of the wonderful path down into the valley that has drawn me to this area ever since my first visit there in 1999. This was to be my first descent of the path after previously twice ascending the path and making a mistake both times, and it was only now in descent that I found where I should have been going. One thing I distinctly remember on this descent is being amazed at the trousers I was wearing (!). Previous walks had been done wearing jeans, which are not the best thing to wear as when it rains they get very heavy and cling to your legs. I was now wearing tracksuit bottoms and I was amazed at how easy it was to bend my legs even when the trousers were saturated. From this point on I would never wear jeans on a walk again.

Eventually I reached the tranquil hamlet of Capel y Ffin where, according to my diary, it would appear that I walked along the road all the way up the valley back to my car at the top of the Gospel Pass. I do remember walking along the road on one occasion so I guess this must have been it. As it turned out this walk was similar to the one that I’d done the year before as my first ever walk up a mountain (that is up a hill that is more than two thousand feet high). On paper this may have been a very short walk where I made some quite bad mistakes, but I learnt so much from this walk that it was significantly another step in helping me gain confidence in mountain walking, in any weather.

Brandon Mountain

Friday 16th September 2005

This was my last walk in Ireland, and I ended on a corker. The weather, once again, had played into my hands providing me with clear views across the mountains all day. Despite a cold, stiff breeze the weather was perfect, in fact, it was excellent walking weather. I had been really lucky with the weather throughout the week; I suppose it was the luck of the Irish! Driving across the Dingle Peninsula I parked in Cloghane and set off along a side road, climbing up the side of the hill to Faha, where there is a car park. 

I continued to climb across the hillside following the clearly marked Pilgrim’s Path where white metal posts guided me across the grassy southern slopes of the ridge and around a hill into a rocky cove with Locha Chom an Chnoic topping a long chain of small lakes. With considerable glee, I clambered among the rocks at the head of the cirque and, passing the small loch, began to climb steeply up the cliff face ahead of me. The excellent path zigzagged up onto the top of the main Brandon ridge where I was rewarded for my effort with superb views across the Dingle Peninsula. Climbing up onto the ridge southwards brought me quickly to the summit of Brandon Mountain where the views were even more impressive. Nothing can describe the breathtaking views that I saw across the whole Dingle Peninsula from where I was standing. I was really going to miss this, I didn’t want to leave Ireland!

After lunch I headed south along the ridge, keeping as close to the edge as I dared (which at times was not very close!). Continuing along the ridge I came to the foot of, and began climbing, Brandon Peak, and once I had assailed the top I continued along the narrowing ridge to Gearhane, after which the only way forward was steeply down the hill. As I descended I reflected sadly that I was now leaving the last hill of the last walk of my week in Ireland. I always feel a little sad when I start descending after a good day's walk in the hills, but on my last day in Ireland this was doubly sad. I love hill walking and I love a good day's walk on rocky hills. I always hate having to leave them behind. After crossing an often boggy, grassy plain I descended further to the col with Ballysitteragh (which I had climbed the day before, though in considerably worse weather). Turning left I joined the track that zigzags into the valley and then walked along the road for three or four miles all the way back into Cloghane. This was a slow end to a great walk, but it failed to dampen my feelings at the end of a great walk. I'd had some good walks in Ireland during this week, and I hope it won't be too long before I return.

Ballysitteragh

Thursday 15th September 2005 

This walk was a total wash out. I drove over to the Dingle Peninsula in the morning with varying degrees of rain all the way. In Dingle I decided to head up to the Connor Pass and see what the weather was like. It was raining and cloudy, but because I can't resist doing a walk I headed westwards over Beenabrack along a grassy, boggy ridge up to Ballysitteragh. And then after lunch I walked all the way back. Or at least I tried and strode confidently out across the hillside and down the hill. Eventually I thought I wasn’t recognizing the landscape that I was passing (such as there was) even though I supposed to be returning by the way that I had come and when I got my compass out I realised that I had been heading down the long, southern slopes instead of east back along the ridge. I was frustrated with myself and climbed back up the hill almost all the way up to the summit of Ballysitteragh before I could turn right and proceed, now correctly, through the low cloud, wind and rain along the ridge and back to the car. The most I saw throughout the whole walk was the northern edge of the ridge which falls steeply to the loch filled Cloghane valley. There were no views to be seen except murkily at the car park and the ground underfoot was very wet and boggy. It rained heavily and the wind blew strongly almost all the way so I got soaked! Two hours of walking in this was enough to put me off for the rest of the day! I drove back to Dingle and wandered the streets for an hour before driving around the picturesque Slea Head to the Dunquin Youth Hostel where I hoped I would have better weather for my last day's walk in Ireland the following day.