Walking and Climbing

Just thought I'd write about our long weekend trip 23rd - 25th Sept 11.

 Started on Friday am early leaving Ipswich at 4 am. Arrived at Pen y Pass at around 11am due to an overturned Tesco truck near snowdon and jobsworth coppers who could have let us past but redirected us 15 miles through country lanes... just for a laugh we assumed. We set off intending to do Crib Goch route but it was very gusty at the bottom and when we got to the Pyg Track split we decided to carry on and miss it out for safetys sake. It was really blowy but I nearly cried. After pulling muscles in my legs a few times we arrived at the top, a deserved beer was drunk and we returned the way we came. Quite foggy at the top so no real views as usual.

 After our descent, we made the trip down the A470 to Brecon Beacons and parked at the well known spot just past the white building on the left (Youth Hostel? Hotel?) Camped overnight in the woods of the layby at the bottom of the main tourist track up to Corn Du. Really enjoyed our evening with the camp fire etc. Good times.

 Next morning up early, I quickly shot into Merthyr for a can opener while the rest had a lay in, ended up just getting some dried food and leaving cans in the car due to weight, rucks weighing in around 4 stone each now. The boys are all nearly up by now so we packed our bergens and headed up to Corn Du, over Pen y Fan. We missed Cribyn etc as the fog was rolling in heavily. As we watched the rain getting closer a few miles off now, we got into our wetproofs and continued our slog downwards taking a bogy path (almost a small stream around the next mountain. Lunch around this area was welcome just as the downpur began properly (on and off most of the day from then).

Another few more hours slog and we arrived at a car park looking for a camp site. Had to wait around a bit for the Rangers to leave and the recce'd the area. We found a good grassy bit near a waterfall but my mates said it would interrupt thier sleep! We continued and found a grotty site in the woods some reprobates had used and left thier crap everywhere. We cleared the site and settled in with me on stag while we waited for dusk and got the fire going.... Good times again but a slightly earlier night as we were all hanging a bit at this point.

Sundays walk was the hardest, it was chucking it down for most of the day and the paths were boggy, I found it made it more fun but definitely more tiring. Went around a resevoir and then attacked a very steep climb up onto the main ridge leading back to Corn Du. Almost had to swim up parts of it and the scramble near the top was good fun, bloody steep though with the Snowdon climb catching up on us now. Got almost naked at the top sweating like Gary Glitter in mothercare, the hardest was over now though and it was a relaxing trek across the top ridge with some awesome views of the valley below. Last year we did this ridge in the dark, didnt quite realise back then how dodgey it is and how close we were to the drop either side towards the end! Back down to the car which was luckily not broken into, a nice breakfast bap was bought even before the bergens came off and then into the car for a drive back to sunny suffolk.

Awesome weekend, same again next year!

The climb up from Neuadd Reservoir is one of the nastiest in the Beacons!

But I was out both days in the same area as you and didn't find the weather nearly as bad, Joe. Perhaps that's to do with 18 years of living in Wales rather than the arid wastes of the east of England

Glad you had a great weekend - and some sunshine in there too

I wanted to park where you suggested near the lake the other side of Pen y Fan but we had a mate coming up from Exeter and he parked in the wrong place. By the time we got there he had already picked a camp site and settled in so we did the old route... again.

It was quite rainy by the time we got to the top of Pen y Fan, fog had rolled in so Cribyn just didnt seem worth bothering with considering the lack of views we'd get. On the way down our dry gear was getting saturated so we decided to change half way down. Quite funy for passers by.

You're right, the climb up past the resevoir was hard but good fun. Almost came back down quickly with the slippery surface and heavy rucksacks on! Passed lots of runners down the bottom, must have been some kind of race on??

Yes, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Adventure Race was on Saturday and Sunday. They had the poor bastards running, walking, biking, canoeing, orienteering through both days!

I've done that slog up from the reservoir on snow, and decided at the bottom that I'd be ok with just my walking poles. By the time I was 2/3rds of the way up the really steep bit I thought that actually crampons and axe would have been a better decision, but it was too late to change   Did get to the top ok though!