Bannau Sir Gaer 2008
A demonstration of weather.
Map of the Brecon Beacons National Park, showing the locations of the various mountains and ranges.
The walk follows the Bannau Sir Gaer and Fan Brycheiniog ridges, basically crossing right to left of this picture, then returning along the flanks below the scarp. The weather forecast said light rain starting late morning, and heavy rain in late evening, with a cloud base of 800 metres, dropping to 600 during rain. We were all kitted up well, but after hail and rain most of the way from Cardiff, it looked like the worst weather would hit early.
The start of the walk at the base of the Afon Sawddle gully, with the Bannau Sir Gaer ridge in the background. On the way here, I had watched 3 red kites just 5 metres above the road, and 2 buzzards tried to crash into my windscreen, flying past at just 2 metres range. Our startoff was delayed, with another two red kites and a falcon keeping us company here between rain showers.
The Sawddle Gully.
After climbing through the flanks, we get a first view of the ridge. On the left is the northern edge of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge. On the right is Bannau Sir Gaer, starting with Picws Du (749 metres) on the left, the double bump of Cwar-du in the middle (without enough prominence to be a mountain), and Waun Lefrith (677 metres) on the right. From here until most of the way up the ridge, it hailed then rained, so the camera was kept out of sight.
Superb view from near the top of the ridge, and by far the best we would get. The tip of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge, and the three main parts of the Bannau Sir Gaer ridge are visible. The lake is Llyn y Fan Fach (little peak-lake) at about 500 metres altitude. The swirls on it are caused by the strong winds whipping up the surface. We are already having to protect our faces from the pain of the rain.
While the clouds were lifted for a few minutes, I sped up to the ridge to see Garreg Las (635 metres) and Carreg Yr Ogof (585 metres), with Garreg Lwyd (616 metres) in the background. That includes the only two metric mountains in the Black Mountain that are not part of the ridges we were walking
Moments later, the normally best view was completely wiped out, and the fog and hail then rain pelted us again.
The rounded summit of Waun Lefrith. Honest.
Normally, this would be accompanied by excellent views, but instead, no pictures until the summit of Picws Du, the highest part of Bannau Sir Gaer. The wind had become quite ridiculous, and spent most of the time trying very hard to blow us over the edge - normally around 20 m/s (45 MPH).
Looking down the scarp on Picws Du. Normally, this would be a stunning view of the 200 metre scarp below Peter's feet, and the extra 50 metres to reach the lake. Today, it is ... well, you can see for yourself.
For a moment, the clouds lifted and we could see Bwlch Blaen-Twrch, the pass between Bannau Sir Gaer, and the Fan Brycheiniog ridge. We sat in the shelter of the pass to eat lunch, hiding from the thunderstorms in the Baked Bean shelter. Great weather to climb mountains. Even the weather on the Besseggen walk could not compete with this.
A momentary superb view of Picws Du, and some sunshine! Oh, the linked arms is not a romantic gesture, it is Nicola's surface area to weight ratio causing her to be blown around too much, and needing extra support to avoid being blown off the edge. Just after taking this picture, all the surface water you can see here was suddenly lifted off the ground, and thrown at me at 25 m/s (55 mph). The uphill walk felt like a downhill.
The tip of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge is called Fan Foel, meaning bare (ie. naked) peak. We made the jokes about it being a place for naked pagan rituals, then reached it and realised the "cairn" was a stone circle with a raised dais. Perhaps we were right after all. The height is 781 metres, but with only a couple of metres prominence, this is not a mountain in its own right.
Peter learning to fly in the now constant 25 m/s (55 mph) winds. That's a force 10 gale, just so you know.
Walking the ridge. The wind and rain were so severe that it was no longer possible to look up at the path ahead because of the pain of the rain, and the path on the edge was just too dangerous to follow because of the wind trying to blow us over it. My newly waterproofed boots could not cope, and were leaking. As were my waterproof trousers. And my waterproof jacket. And everyone else's.
Nerys approaching the first summit. I was trying to take a picture of the clouds whistling over the ridge, but the camera was trying too hard to clean up the picture. Given the conditions (as you can see from the way Nerys is leaning into the wind), I was not going to mess with it to get the picture right - it was taking enough of a beating for the few seconds it was out.
The first of the two summits of Fan Brycheiniog; Tŵr y Fan Foel. At 802 metres, this is the same height as the main summit, with virtually no prominence. Water had now soaked my lens, and it was impossible to dry it properly (the camera is being replaced soon anyway, so I didn't mind abusing it).
The main Fan Brycheiniog summit (802 metres). This is the highest mountain in the Black Mountain, with the second highest being Fan Hir (761 metres), the only summit on the southerly trending ridge from Fan Brycheiniog. Oh yes, and Peter is crazy. That's a 200 metre drop in the direction that the wind is blowing.
The shelter on the summit. It looks nice, but in these conditions, it failed miserably to protect against anything.
We dropped off the ridge at the pass between Fan Brycheiniog and Fan Hir (seen here). The sky darkened, and it began to hail. Then snow. Then thunder. Eesh! For a little while, we could see the Llyn y Fan Fawr lake through the pain of everything being blown into our faces, but because of the water being blown into the lens, the camera could not.
Skirting the lake, we took the path on the other side, and the thick fog closed in. The path appears to climb a little way up the Fan Brycheiniog scarp, with these old remains being the obvious landmark.
Then the ridiculous hailstones started. The wind was still at least 20 m/s (45 MPH), and it was pelting us with these. The small one near the centre is the size of a regular hailstone. The biggest ones are the size of marbles.
Skirting the edge of Fan Foel.
The buttress of Tŵr y Fan Foel. I swear, this is not taken with a Holga, though it really looks like it.
Rather than trudge through the boggy ground all the way around to Llyn y Fan Fach, we took a shortcut down Nant Melyn. Everywhere, and I mean everywhere, was bursting with water. Random springs, multiple small torrents where there should have been paths, and a raging river in the bottom of the "stream" valley.
Wild ponies. Not Welsh mountain ponies - as can be seen by the pattern on the only one that is in focus. The coats of the others are also weird, with the grey colour looking just like a horse blanket.
Another herd. Probably time to stop being cruel to the camera. The journey back was crazy, with flooded roads, stuck cars, massive puddles, and scared drivers. Despite the clearly terrible weather, it has been an excellent walk. Probably would be nice to see the views next time, but it was too much fun not to enjoy it as it was.
Map of the Brecon Beacons National Park, showing the locations of the various mountains and ranges.
The walk follows the Bannau Sir Gaer and Fan Brycheiniog ridges, basically crossing right to left of this picture, then returning along the flanks below the scarp. The weather forecast said light rain starting late morning, and heavy rain in late evening, with a cloud base of 800 metres, dropping to 600 during rain. We were all kitted up well, but after hail and rain most of the way from Cardiff, it looked like the worst weather would hit early.
The start of the walk at the base of the Afon Sawddle gully, with the Bannau Sir Gaer ridge in the background. On the way here, I had watched 3 red kites just 5 metres above the road, and 2 buzzards tried to crash into my windscreen, flying past at just 2 metres range. Our startoff was delayed, with another two red kites and a falcon keeping us company here between rain showers.
The Sawddle Gully.
After climbing through the flanks, we get a first view of the ridge. On the left is the northern edge of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge. On the right is Bannau Sir Gaer, starting with Picws Du (749 metres) on the left, the double bump of Cwar-du in the middle (without enough prominence to be a mountain), and Waun Lefrith (677 metres) on the right. From here until most of the way up the ridge, it hailed then rained, so the camera was kept out of sight.
Superb view from near the top of the ridge, and by far the best we would get. The tip of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge, and the three main parts of the Bannau Sir Gaer ridge are visible. The lake is Llyn y Fan Fach (little peak-lake) at about 500 metres altitude. The swirls on it are caused by the strong winds whipping up the surface. We are already having to protect our faces from the pain of the rain.
While the clouds were lifted for a few minutes, I sped up to the ridge to see Garreg Las (635 metres) and Carreg Yr Ogof (585 metres), with Garreg Lwyd (616 metres) in the background. That includes the only two metric mountains in the Black Mountain that are not part of the ridges we were walking
Moments later, the normally best view was completely wiped out, and the fog and hail then rain pelted us again.
The rounded summit of Waun Lefrith. Honest.
Normally, this would be accompanied by excellent views, but instead, no pictures until the summit of Picws Du, the highest part of Bannau Sir Gaer. The wind had become quite ridiculous, and spent most of the time trying very hard to blow us over the edge - normally around 20 m/s (45 MPH).
Looking down the scarp on Picws Du. Normally, this would be a stunning view of the 200 metre scarp below Peter's feet, and the extra 50 metres to reach the lake. Today, it is ... well, you can see for yourself.
For a moment, the clouds lifted and we could see Bwlch Blaen-Twrch, the pass between Bannau Sir Gaer, and the Fan Brycheiniog ridge. We sat in the shelter of the pass to eat lunch, hiding from the thunderstorms in the Baked Bean shelter. Great weather to climb mountains. Even the weather on the Besseggen walk could not compete with this.
A momentary superb view of Picws Du, and some sunshine! Oh, the linked arms is not a romantic gesture, it is Nicola's surface area to weight ratio causing her to be blown around too much, and needing extra support to avoid being blown off the edge. Just after taking this picture, all the surface water you can see here was suddenly lifted off the ground, and thrown at me at 25 m/s (55 mph). The uphill walk felt like a downhill.
The tip of the Fan Brycheiniog ridge is called Fan Foel, meaning bare (ie. naked) peak. We made the jokes about it being a place for naked pagan rituals, then reached it and realised the "cairn" was a stone circle with a raised dais. Perhaps we were right after all. The height is 781 metres, but with only a couple of metres prominence, this is not a mountain in its own right.
Peter learning to fly in the now constant 25 m/s (55 mph) winds. That's a force 10 gale, just so you know.
Walking the ridge. The wind and rain were so severe that it was no longer possible to look up at the path ahead because of the pain of the rain, and the path on the edge was just too dangerous to follow because of the wind trying to blow us over it. My newly waterproofed boots could not cope, and were leaking. As were my waterproof trousers. And my waterproof jacket. And everyone else's.
Nerys approaching the first summit. I was trying to take a picture of the clouds whistling over the ridge, but the camera was trying too hard to clean up the picture. Given the conditions (as you can see from the way Nerys is leaning into the wind), I was not going to mess with it to get the picture right - it was taking enough of a beating for the few seconds it was out.
The first of the two summits of Fan Brycheiniog; Tŵr y Fan Foel. At 802 metres, this is the same height as the main summit, with virtually no prominence. Water had now soaked my lens, and it was impossible to dry it properly (the camera is being replaced soon anyway, so I didn't mind abusing it).
The main Fan Brycheiniog summit (802 metres). This is the highest mountain in the Black Mountain, with the second highest being Fan Hir (761 metres), the only summit on the southerly trending ridge from Fan Brycheiniog. Oh yes, and Peter is crazy. That's a 200 metre drop in the direction that the wind is blowing.
The shelter on the summit. It looks nice, but in these conditions, it failed miserably to protect against anything.
We dropped off the ridge at the pass between Fan Brycheiniog and Fan Hir (seen here). The sky darkened, and it began to hail. Then snow. Then thunder. Eesh! For a little while, we could see the Llyn y Fan Fawr lake through the pain of everything being blown into our faces, but because of the water being blown into the lens, the camera could not.
Skirting the lake, we took the path on the other side, and the thick fog closed in. The path appears to climb a little way up the Fan Brycheiniog scarp, with these old remains being the obvious landmark.
Then the ridiculous hailstones started. The wind was still at least 20 m/s (45 MPH), and it was pelting us with these. The small one near the centre is the size of a regular hailstone. The biggest ones are the size of marbles.
Skirting the edge of Fan Foel.
The buttress of Tŵr y Fan Foel. I swear, this is not taken with a Holga, though it really looks like it.
Rather than trudge through the boggy ground all the way around to Llyn y Fan Fach, we took a shortcut down Nant Melyn. Everywhere, and I mean everywhere, was bursting with water. Random springs, multiple small torrents where there should have been paths, and a raging river in the bottom of the "stream" valley.
Wild ponies. Not Welsh mountain ponies - as can be seen by the pattern on the only one that is in focus. The coats of the others are also weird, with the grey colour looking just like a horse blanket.
Another herd. Probably time to stop being cruel to the camera. The journey back was crazy, with flooded roads, stuck cars, massive puddles, and scared drivers. Despite the clearly terrible weather, it has been an excellent walk. Probably would be nice to see the views next time, but it was too much fun not to enjoy it as it was.