Pen-Y-Fan
This hike has been on the cards for a quite a while, certainly since the waterfall ramble that we did back in June of 2014. This was a personal challenge for Marks wife, Sarah who had her heart set on reaching the peak and having her photo taken next to the famous sign. Mark's sister Cindy also tackled the peak as did myself and Nigel.
We started early and journeyed over the bridge to 'Gods country' as Mark aptly calls it. We arrived at the car park around ten to nine and prepared ourselves for the climb. I was quite anxious to get up there again because I wanted to know whether or not my fitness levels had improved since walking more regularly.
The weather was not ideal, there was low laying cloud and no sign of it lifting. I was hoping that it would not get any worse as I know from previous experience that it can get extremely windy up there. We made our way from the car to the start of the path that lead up to Corn Du. From Corn Du we aimed to follow it round to the peak of Pen-Y-fan.
The ramble had begun, it was onward and upward. Visibility was very shallow especially ahead of us but we were thankful of little wind and no rain. The scenery was quite atmospheric and moody. The route starts with a gentle climb up a kind of stairway. Every now and then we had to step over a stone gully that channeled run off water. After a while the landscape opened up and you start too see how high you really are. The car park and the road seemed so small now in the distance.
The views were quite stunning but my camera was struggling, it was damp and the contrast between the sky and the ground where very different - one being very bright and the other very dark. After making it up the first section we passed through a gate to a more flatter section that gently declined down into a kind of ravine that had a stream running through the middle.
As we approached the stream the route beyond it seemed to go straight up steeply, right into the dense fog. This looked quite daunting to Sarah but I tried to assure her that it looked a lot worse than it was. We passed the pleasant stream and began the climb. I tried to look for the obelisk of poor Tommy Jones if you don't know the story click the link. As I walked I could not help but think of that poor kid at five years old, alone in the dark right where I was walking. We could not find the obelisk so we marched on. I made a mental note to do my homework and find out exactly were it was.
About half way up we reached a type of crossroads and the ground fell away in front of us. The cold updraft was refreshing as it blasted us like standing next to a strong fan. Having done my homework about the obelisk if we had turned left at this point we would have stumbled across it. However we only had the peak in our sights and turned right towards the steepest part of the climb. The fog was thicker and we had bouts of light showers.
A bloke came past us in full army gear, including a very heavy rucksack. I joked about him getting his map out and realising that he had come up the wrong mountain and turning round - swearing under his breath. That tickled me and I nearly fell about laughing.
We were all getting a little excited now as the peak of Corn Du was in reach though not visible due to the thick fog. It was a shame really because the fog prevented us from seeing the majestic views, all we could see was each other as we puffed and panted our way to the top. The last bit saw us struggle over some very large boulder type steps before making the final lunge to the top.
On top of Corn Du it was damp and quite miserable though we were all quite elated to have reached the peak. A large stone cairn had been erected to our left that I contributed to as we headed on past towards our next peak.
The weather was quite poor so I kept my camera by my side. We trundled on down the far side of Corn Du which lead down into a shallow cut between Pen-Y-Fan and Corn Du. Usually from here the views are magnificent especially to our left and right. It looked like a glacier had past right though here between the high mountains either side.
The struggle was over we could see the flats that marked the top of Pen-Y-Fan. It was time to crack open the bubbly - if we had some. We had our pictures taken at the summit right before a deluge of tourists and other climbers began to fill the area. We made it just in time really because on our way down we past loads of people on their way up including fund raisers and families.
We headed on down the social path as I call it. Its quite frustrating to see all manor of folk walking up, some in jeans and casual shoes no respect for the mountain. We felt proud that we came up the rambling way in true rambling fashion. This was all very thirsty work so we had to stop off at a public house and force a few down. Cheers!
RIP Canon 500D