Wales - 2015
08 April 2015 ........... Pen y Fan and Corn Du
I discovered during the previous day and evening that you just don`t get the best view of the Brecon Beacons from the south or west - the best view comes from the north, and it was from the north that I climbed Pen y Fan and Corn Du.
For quite a while you don`t see them at all, and it is only when you top over a rise in the ridge that they suddenly appear - and it is quite an impressive view, with the massive escarpments all along the north side.
Pen y Fan is the peak in the middle at 886 metres - just 28 metres short of being a Furth, and Corn Du is on the right at 873 metres.
Just a bit round to the left is another summit, Cribyn, at 795 metres.
Just below the summit now, and I came across this lovely stone slab with these very nicely formed ridges on it.
I would love to know how a stone slab 800 metres up a mountain has ended up with these ridges - they look exactly like the ridges you get on beaches at very low tide levels where there are strong tidal currents - but even if they were somehow caused by the sea, how would the sand suddenly get frozen in time and turned into rock ?
Up on the summit now - and the stone slab and plaque that mark the summit.
The summit of Pen y Fan is a wide flattish area devoid of any kind of grass - is this natural, or have thousands of feet worn away all the grass ?
In amongst this bare area, I came across some more rippled rocks -
As you would expect, you get some good views from the top, however it was quite hazy, so visibility wasn`t very good -this is looking back down the ridge that I had come up -
Looking across to Cribyn -
Looking over to Corn Du -
It is a short hop across to Corn Du, and Corn Du has the same sort of bare area that Pen y Fan has. This is looking back to Pen y Fan, and it fairly shows off the steep north side of Pen y Fan.
There is a long high level area running south east away from Corn Du with the same sort of steep escarpments that Pen y Fan and Corn Du have - according to the OS map they are in two parts called Craig Gwaun Taf and Graig Fan Ddu - I wonder what the difference is between Craig and Graig ?
Looking at the map, it appears that you could do a rather good high level but longish circular route above the crags by starting from the reservoirs to the south - up to the coll at 599 metres, then along above Craig Cwm Cynwyn to Cribyn, then up to Pen y Fan, across to Corn Du, then right along above Craig Gwaun Taf and Graig Fan Ddu, and back down to the reservoirs.
Heading back down the north ridge now, and a last look back at Pen y Fan before dropping over the brow of the rise and losing the view completely again.
Talking to various people in the Brecon area, it appears that the general consensus is that there isn`t any scrambling to be had in the Brecon Beacons. However those steep escarpments must surely provide some form of a challenge, rather than just following the well worn routes.
Maybe there might be a case to go for the sort of nailed boots that shepherds traditionally wore, to get a good grip on the steep grass.
Maybe invent some kind of aid climbing for grass.
I am also told that given the right kind of winter weather, the north facing escarpments can provide some excellent winter climbing. There are a good few ice axes for sale in the climbing shops in Brecon !
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