Wales - 2015
24 September 2015 ........... Corn Du and Pen y Fan
The Brecon Beacons don`t look their best from the south, the view as you drive up the A4059 doesn`t really get your pulse racing - the obvious summit is Corn Du, and you can just see the flat top of Pen y Fan over the top of the long ridge which I think is called Craig Gwaun Taf - that is the name that the OS map shows, but I`m too sure if that is the name of the ridge, or the name of the crags on the far side.
However I had a few hours to spare, so I headed off up the Beacons Way.
The weather wasn`t the best, a lot of broken cloud around, which seemed to be getting thicker and greyer - so some showers were a distinct possibility.
However apart from a wee spell of drizzle just as I started out, it stayed dry, and the west or northwest weather stream brought quite good visibility - in fact I think it was the best visibilty I have had there.
The walk up Beacons Way is a bit tedious, a constant gradient on a highly manufactured track isn`t the most interesting bit of the trip, however once up at the coll the world opens up - round to the right is the same ridge as in the first photo, Craig Gwaun Taf, which invites you to head off along it.
However not today, my goal was in the opposite direction - looking up to Corn Du, with Pen y Fan off to the right.
Up on Corn Du now, and looking west across to the rather odd feature Craig Cerrig-gleisiad - I wonder how it was made - what would take a big spoonful of rock out of the hillside like that.
Down by the roadside there is a sign which says that you shouldn`t go climbing up the crags there - I am not sure why you would want too, it isn`t really rock climbing country - it isn`t that steep, and it is covered in vegetation - it isn`t really scrambling country either.
The sign also says that permission may be given for winter climbing - now I can see that as a possibility - but what happened to the theory of open access under CRoW ?
Round a wee bit to the left lies Fan Fawr, with its very well done Welsh dragons on the OS marker cairn.
If the view of Pen y Fan from the A4059 isn`t the best, maybe this view is a bit better - the rather odd shape of Pen y Fan.
Round a bit to the right, looking past Pen y Fan to Cribyn.
Up on Pen y Fan now, looking back to Corn Du - away in the distance over the top of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad is I think Fan Brycheiniog, the highest summit in the Black Mountains.
Looking down on Llyn Cwm Llwch -
Looking down the long north ridge, with Brecon just visible beyond the ridge.
Last and very definitely not least - how about that for a ridge walk !
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