Four Wilderness Days in the Brecon Beacons - Part 2/2

Day 3: Carnau Gwynion to Nant Cwm du

23.32km
858m elevation gain

Route start at bottom of the map

Elevation gain over the distance of the walk

Again we slept long and well, but awoke once more to low cloud and a drizzle. Had tomato soup with fried chorizo again and started to grow really fond of it for brekkie. So easy to make and yummy as well. Think we found our breakfast for the Sweden trip! With some mushroom soup thrown in for variety.

This time we packed the dry inner tent first and stuffed the wet outer tent away somewhere else. Lesson learned. Headed down into Ystradfellte for another fresh water run, filling every single bottle. Loaded much heavier than before we made our way back uphill. Oof.
Freelanced over a field on a path that was on the OS map, my OpenStreetMap but not on the ground. Can't have it all, eh? Heading ever West we crossed an old hill fort, passed through a small oak forrest and could see the vast undulating bleakness ahead that we would pass through over the next few hours.

Just straight ahead, that's where we went

Old hill fort

It had some resemblance with Dartmoor and walking over the biggest cave system in Britain (The Ogof-Ffynnon-Ddu Pant Mawr National Nature Reserve) the drizzle and cloud came back. Waterproofs all the way from here on. In fact, the cloud turned to fog blocking everything that was worth seeing.

As bleak as Dartmoor

Turned North and East when we hit the old tram line. The literal turning point of our trip. From now on we would be walking back to the car. Yay!
Had our lunch break in the wood nearby to be out of the rain, before heading on through the fog. Passed between Fan Gyhirych and Fan Fraith and slogged up to the cairn on Fan Nedd without much of a view at all. Boo. It was wet and miserable and I couldn't convince Rich to make the short detour to Fan Nedd's real top. Have to come back for that one. And gladly so. It looked like it might be nice scenery around here.

Nothing to see here

Heading up Fan Nedd

Descended from Fan Nedd we crossed a pass and headed the short bit up to Bryn Melyn. Initially planned as our overnight camp we saw a few suitable camp spots but decided to head a bit further
to Nant Cwm du as there was a river and some trees and on the map it looked like it could be really nice.
One of the best decisions we ever made. We shortened our last day but a good half hour and found one of the best camp spots so far. Pitched in the sheltered valley with hills looming around us and the nice gurgling river nearby right under a tree.

Brilliant wild camp spot

More dehydrated food for us and the last of the whiskey from my flask and soon we fell once more into deep sleep.

Day 4: Nant Cwm du to Brecon

17.24km
367m elevation gain

Route start bottom left, finish in Brecon top right

Elevation gain over the distance of the walk

So far we had slept well and long every night. The last one was no different, only we wanted to leave by 9:30am to be back in Brecon early afternoon.
Only one hill today and that was right at our front door: Fan Frynych. We opted for the scenic route instead of a straight on ascened and enjoyed some nice views into the Heol Senni valley and back to where we came from yesterday. We could actually SEE! Shame about the fog the day before, it looked amazing! Have to come back!

Fan Nedd on the left, and the impressive ridge of  Fan Gyhirych

A whistful look back to "yesterday"

The higher we got, the more we could see around. (No shit!) We could see not only yesterday's hills, but also the ones from day 1 ahead and day 2 to our right as well as Brecon in the distance. Almost 360 degrees of our 4-day-hike.

So far we've been alone, but people started to appear as we made our way down to the A road. Bank holiday alright. Lunch break just before the last stretch down to the road with the sun warming our faces as we ploughed through snickers, haribo and cheese. I was really hungry today and figured we hadn't eaten enough over the past days as I roughly added up the calories.

On Fan Frynych with Pen y Fan and Corn Du in the distance

Found the link path to the Taff Trail which would lead us straight into Brecon for the next 2.5hrs, mostly on Tarmac though which made the last bit ever more exhausting for feet, ankles and knees. Still, we enjoyed the views over green fields and were looking forward to finishing at 2:30pm at Coffee No.1, where we had started our trip four days ago.

On the Taff Trail

Nearing Brecon

Got back bang on time, coffee and cakes it had to be. We didn't linger long, found the car, changed footwear and off we went back home to Bristol on a lovely day of sun and intermittend clouds.

So what do we take from this trip then? 

• It's been the expected weather mix, nothing really bad. 
• Rich did his first wild camping! 
• We gained more experience in finding a wild camp spot and what suitable places look like on a map.
• We did struggle finding water sometimes, even with the filter at hand, but eventually found something to fill up on. The Sawyer filter itself is super easy to use and small to pack. Winner!
• We found our breakfast and dinner food for Sweden and have a good idea of munchies for the day. 
• We managed to cook and get all packed in the tent whilst it was raining outside. 
• Wet whipes are not ideal for a "student shower". Will try dry soap.

It was a fantastic four days!!! A bit of an adventure, but never out of our comfort zones. Still learned a lot and have seen such a variety of the Brecon Beacons! It's not all just Pen y Fan. We will be back for sure and explore some of the areas we've walked through a bit closer.

Next up: My first wekk as tour guide in Devon!!!!!