When half-term and clear weather come together on the hills our highest points become honey pots for the casual walker and for fund-raising expeditions. This is particularly true in the Brecon Beacons where access from the towns in the South Wales valleys is so easy.
Not having young children ourselves half-term is something that doesn’t normally impinge on our lives so we were surprised when we arrived Storey Arms to find both car parks full and dozens of vehicles parked on the verges on both sides of the road. We’re not great fans of crowded hills so there was a conversation about climbing Fan Fawr instead but as this was more of a quick “leg stretcher” than a full day out we decided to follow the crowds up the path from the main car park.
There are several ways to the top of Pen-y-Fan and this is probably the least interesting but also the quickest and easiest. Add to that a car park that has toilets and a couple of refreshment vans taking advantage of the passing trade then it’s easy to see why it’s the most popular route.
We joined the throng heading upwards and without much fuss arrived at the top of Corn Du. The picture is taken from there looking across to Pen-y-fan and its crowded top. We decided not to bother making the short traverse across between the summits but instead headed down towards the Tommy Jones memorial before curving round onto the path back to Storey Arms.
Just after the stream crossing part way down we found a path (or maybe a sheep track?) traversing above the stream back to the car park and finally had a piece of hill to ourselves. Job done, cobwebs blown away, legs stretched and back in the groove after some time away from the peaks.