Pen Y Fan x2, plus a few more

Walk Stats

Map & Track Elevation Profile

This was a fine day back in September & the walk didn’t get off to the best of starts when having gone about ½ mile I realised that I’d left my phone sitting on the outside of my vehicle, so it was about turn back to the start & relief at finding it still in place, then setting off again.

My original plan hadn’t included doing Pen Y Fan a second time that day but having had more cloud around on my 1st summit of it & having found that I’d rather sped round due to the relatively easy going and was ahead of my schedule for the day even with my false start & being so close after looping round with better sky's & still fit legs & checking the added distance, it was a fairly easy choice to make to do it again & was worth it.

Doing Pen Y Fan twice was also my completion of the Welsh 3 peaks not just once but twice, although it’s taken me well into double digit years since the first.

I had planned my route to try and avoid some of the busiest paths & make life more interesting, so the 1st section on minor path was just me, before hitting more people on Corn Du & then even more on Pen Y Fan although still room to walk & take pics freely without to many people in them. Heading on from Pen Y Fan along the edge was just the odd person & I did stop for a nice long chat with a man from Plymouth, turning inwards away from the edge & down to the reservoirs I was back alone before meeting odd person on the climb back up the other side & then more along the ridge back to Pen Y Fan with a very busy path on the final leg between Pen Y Fan & Pont ar Daf car park with plenty of people & children probably doing a late afternoon post school/work summit of Pen Y Fan.

Pic 1

The 1st section of my walk slightly before the path leaves the side of Blaen Taf Fawr looking back

Pic 2

Tommy’s obelisk – in memory of a 5yr old boy who died on the mountain in 1900, plus Corn Du & Pen Y Fan

Pic 3

from the Top of Pen Y fan 1st time & the cloud that then got worse

Pic 4

It’s marked on maps as Upper Neuadd Reservoir that sits in the valley I was walking round above

Pic 5

Approaching Cribyn & looking back at the escarpment of Pen Y Fan made it look more like a mountain than the approach from the SW

Pic 6

On Fan Y Big looking back at the escarpment to Fan Y Big with Pen Y Fan & Cribyn behind

Pic 7

After turning inland as I thought of it nature had provided it’s own engineered path that made a nice contrast to those earlier.

Pic 8

Dropping down gave a good view of the way ahead for crossing the valley, up the side of the trees & then up more

Pic 9

On the ridge the other side of the valley the sky turned moody

Pic 10,

Although the moodiness of the sky compared to the sunny trig point with Y Ddraig Goch (The Welsh Dragon) & heavy shadowed peaks gave a nice pic

Pic 11

The great body of water that is Lower Neuadd Reservoir

Pic 12

The dam wall of Upper Neuadd Reservoir holds back a mighty volume of - fresh air

Pic 13

Pen Y Fan my second time that day & clear views, hooray

Pic 14

You learn something everyday, so often people don’t about think the ownership or custodianship of the land we walk over. even me at times.

For me this was a nice long day walk with fairly easy going paths that gave one a chance to look around whilst moving & I make this comment with regard to the walk I did next which was a bit different.