Walking: Pont ar Daf to Dyffryn Cellwen

It had been quite a long week and I really felt like I needed to stretch my legs and give my mind a chance to just wander aimlessly, preferably in a location where there weren't other people.  So I decided to go on a long walk in the mountains.  For ease, I wanted to start somewhere where Ed could drop me off on his way to work, but I also wanted some parts of it to be in an area I hadn't been to before with some off-path sections so I planned on heading up Fan Fawr and then just going west.

I knew the weather wasn't going to be good and a little bit chilly, but it was meant to clear up a little as the day went by (though that didn't really happen).  I made sure I wore a number of layers and had more in my bag, along with a thermos of hot tea to make sure I was able to stay at the right temperature throughout the day and in case anything bad happened so I could protect myself from the elements.  I also took both my walking poles to give myself a bit more stability when crossing any rivers and when going through the boggier areas.  As an additional safety assurance, and because my route wasn't 100% fixed, I set my WhatsApp so that my husband could see where I was at any time.

So, from Pont ar Daf I headed to Storey Arms and up onto Fan Fawr, straight into the clouds.  It wasn't actually as cold as I was expecting, but it was as wet as predicted and I knew that my feet weren't going to stay dry for very long (I had also packed my trainers, some dry socks, and a miniature towel for when I finished - a luxury for sure, but definitely a good one).  However, I find as long as I can keep my body warm my feet do just fine in these conditions.

From the top of Fan Fawr I headed towards the trig point and then north with the plan of cutting across west a little bit later to look at some old, unused sheepfolds on Nant (brook) y Gaseg.  Unfortunately, at that point I couldn't see far enough in the front to be able to navigate properly so I decided to follow a path I already knew which would lead me to Nant Mawr, a tributary I could follow down to Nant y Gaseg.  From there it would be easy enough to find the sheepfolds.  As I was following this I finally came out of the clouds and could see them ahead of me and this allowed me to then take a more direct route.  

After a little nosey around it was time to cross over the brook.  It took a little while to find a safe spot as the water had risen quite a bit in the rain and the main issue was not trying to not get my feet wet (this had already happened) but more that you could see the rocks were a little bit too slippery to use safely.  However, I did finally find somewhere and I was very glad I had my walking poles with me.  Then it was straight up the very steep east side of Fan Llia back into the clouds.  If I'm honest, I actually quite enjoy walking in cloud cover and mist.  You may not get the views, but there's something very magical about it and I love how easy it is to mis-interrupt things you see in the distance and the changed noises that reach you.  

The plan was to then find a route down the west side of Fan Llia, cross the road, and look for a route around the side of Fan Nedd that would take me to the actual path leading to the top.  However, visibility had gotten even worse by this point and I knew this wasn't going to be a safe option at all.  So I changed my plans and decided to just follow the Beacons Way off Fan Llia and onto the Roman road I was planning on following later, leaving Fan Nedd for another day.  I have walked this path before so I took the slightly lower route this time, not that I could really see anything to make this really feel any different.  It was, of course, raining pretty heavily once I'd reached the bottom and it was time to have my lunch.  Nothing that a good, hot cup of tea couldn't fix though.

Then it was onto the Roman road for 2.5 hours.  I'd already walked just under half of this before when I had walked this section of the Beacons Way, and I have to grudgingly admit the other half wasn't any more fascinating than the first.  Up until this point, I hadn't bothered listening to anything on my headphones as I was enjoying the more natural noises of brooks, rain, and wind.  This time of year also meant that there weren't even livestock noises out on the hills, but now I needed a little bit of extra distraction so I put on some podcasts I'd been saving.  It was also quite a straightforward walk from here on so I could afford to concentrate less on where I was going.

As expected, it did get a little bit more complicated when I was walking through farmland and I ended up not being able to finish the very last part how or where I wanted.  Instead, I ended up walking along a B road which allowed me to look into the fields where the Roman fort and camp were meant to be.  It turns out there wasn't actually too much to see so I didn't feel like I'd missed out too much.  Then it was onto Dyffryn Cellwen to meet up with a friend who kindly drove me to get a pint or three.  Though things didn't exactly go to plan this walk was still exactly what I needed and, though physically tired, I felt much better afterward.  I also ended up with a lot more energy again, managing to get quite a lot done in the days following that walk.  It's definitely something I need to remember to fit into my days a lot more often.

Walks 2023: Fan Fawr, Pont ar Daf Circuit

I decided that, as it's been a while since I've done any mountain walks, I wanted to test out my legs and basic navigation skills so I decided to do a relatively long walk in the Brecon Beacons.  The route I took ended up including an AA walk (And on into Fforest Fawr), was around 13 miles, and it took me about 5.5 hours to do.

I started off at the Pont ar Daf National Trust car park and walked up to the Storey Arms before crossing the road and heading straight up hill for the top of Fan Fawr.  Most of this walk is pretty doable, but one of the last sections of Fan Fawr is a particularly steep bit which definitely gets your heart going and I'm glad I decided to tackle that first.  After a mini false summit the rest of the walk up to the top felt a lot gentler.  I then carried on west to the triangulation pillar, before turning back on myself down that steep side of Fan Fawr before heading north, skirting below a cliff edge, and joining into the path that walks along the highest point of the moorlands.

This path then connects to the Beacons Way at Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and I followed this path for a little bit before breaking off to follow the path that takes you into the Graig Cerrig Gleisiad National Nature Reserve (taking a slight detour to reach the triangulation pillar at Fan Frynych) and down towards Twyn Dylluan-ddu, passing a very handy cairn on the left.  It was then right at a cross-paths to follow a very well used footpath down into the valley, crossing the A470 and carrying on down the valley to the river Afon Tarell. 

A little crossing over the river at a waterfall (a very small waterfall) and I then walked along the Taff Trail back to the Storey Arms.  Having decided that I had a little bit more time to kill I didn't carry on along the path back to the Pont ar Daf car park, but instead went through the gate and up the footpath towards Corn Du.  There's a couple of different routes here but I decided to just follow the National Trust's path up, before cutting across on a path just below the summit as there were a lot of people there and heading back down to the Pont ar Daf car park on another well used path.

My legs definitely felt it by the time I was back at the car, probably not helped by the squats I'd done as part of my exercise routine the day before (what was I thinking), but I did really enjoy myself.  It was just great being back out in wilder lands and being surrounded by natural noises rather than just human noises.  Whilst I was there I kept forgetting to take photos, even though I had thought it would be good to blog about it, and I completely forgot that I had planned on possibly listening to some podcasts as I was walking.  The quiet, at least at the start, was just too enjoyable.  All good signs and it was also good feeling that type of terrain under my feet again.  I rarely find my feet get soar when I'm walking in these types of areas.  I'll be back as soon as I can.