Day 1. Started out from a little village south east of Brecon called Llanfrynach, and made my way up into the Beacons, into the more popular area of Fan y Big, Cribyn, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The weather was great and lots of walkers were about. The steep terrain was challenging with a 40lb pack. At the Storey Arms Centre I continued along the Beacons Way up into the hills and made camp at the 12 mile mark.
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| Leaving Llanfrynach. |
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| Heading up Gist Wen. |
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| Bwlch y Ddwyallt. |
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| Joined the Beacons Way at Craig Cwmoergwm. Fan y Big just ahead on far right. |
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| Cribyn, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. |
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| Looking back to Fan y Big. |
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| Cribyn. |
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| Pen y Fan. |
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| Bwlch ar y Fan pass between Cribyn and Fan y Big. |
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| Llyn Cwm Llwch. |
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| Pen y Fan summit. |
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| Corn Du. |
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| Down the path to the Storey Arms car park where a burger van awaited. |
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| Blaen Taf Fawr. |
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| Following the Beacons Way along Craig y Fro. |
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| Y Gyrn across the valley. |
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| Heading into the Fforest Fawr region. |
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| Sunset from camp. |
Day 2. Lots of rain through the night. Twas nice to be all snug listening to the patter. I purified some water and ate some scran, before heading south along the Beacons Way. Weather was rubbish...visibility about 25m. My new Arc'teryx jacket did a great job, even keeping me dry during a 2 hr period of walking into driving horizontal rain. It felt empowering. After 11 miles I set up camp in the dark, down in a disused quarry...and it is still hammering it down.
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| Morning brew and some water filtering. |
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| Following the Beacons Way over Fan Dringarth... |
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| ...and Fan Llia. |
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| Afon Llia. |
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| Arc'teryx Alpha FL jacket did a great job of keeping me dry. |
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| Weather got savage as I walked through the Ogol Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve. |
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| Disused quarry at Penwyllt. |
Day 3. Leaving my quarry campsite at Penwyllt I made my way down into the valley, in search of some water, following the Beacons Way. The River Tawe provided, and then the Way led to an arduous ascent back up high, to Fan Brycheiniog, a high point overlooking Llyn y Fan Fawr. Time for a brew. Continuing on the landscape became more and more dramatic. The first sight of Llyn y Fan Fach and I knew where I was camping tonight. Awesome place!
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| River Tawe. |
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| Leaving Swansea Valley. |
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| Rainbow sheep. |
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| Carnau Gwys and beyond....pretty remote. |
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| Fan Brycheiniog. |
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| Brew on! |
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| Twr y Fan Foel. |
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| Llyn y Fan Fawr. |
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| Fan Foel. |
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| Oooo...perfect place to wildcamp! |
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| Picws Du. |
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| Llyn y Fan Fach. |
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| Following the Way along the Bannau Sir Gaer. |
Day 4. Today I delved further into the Black Mountain region of the national park. Feet killing from blisters, I'll never use ultralight hiking shoes again for hiking. Managed to get to the 10 miles left to go point, (of the Beacons Way), at Cerreg Cennen Castle. Couldn't go no further...so sleeping on one of their picnic tables. Below on the grass is many slugs. Will I make it to Bethlehem tomorrow? Ughhhhh and sleeeeeep….
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| Wild Horses. |
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| Rather than follow the Beacons Way Northward I cut across Tyle Gwyn and rejoined it at Carreg yr Ogof. |
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| Carreg yr Ogof. |
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| Garreg Las ahead. |
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| Lunch. |
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| Moel Gornach? |
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| Carreg Cennen Castle. |
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| Slept on picnic table at the castle car park. It was slug city down on the grass. |
Day 5. Off the high ground now unfortunately. The road to Bethlehem and the end of the Beacons Way, was mostly on crappy public footpaths through farmland...the hill at Carn Goch the only exception, and a good place for lunch. So that was, in a nutshell, the western half of the Beacons Way. It was decent.
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| Bethlehem. |
