Early Saturday morning, Brian and I set off for an impromptu walking and camping trip in Wales - we got to Talybont-on-Usk at about 9.30 (yes,we did set of early!). After not too much faff, we set off in the wrong direction... after gathering our bearings we got back on track and headed toward pen-y-fan. At the reservoir, we followed a bridleway which suddenly stopped and we were left on a sheep path which led us into pretty horrendous moorland - tramping over heather and marshy bogs. Finally getting to the top of Craig y fan much to our relieve we'd got to a decent path. From here it was a fabulous walk along the tops of the ridges of Craig Pwllfa and Craig Cwareli to Fan y big and eventually to the furthermost peak of Cribyn. The path gave us vetigous views down the valleys with sheer drops. On Cribyn we saw the sheer number of people roaming all over Pen y fan (highest point in the Brecons) and decided not to go any further. Instead, we strolled off to look for somwhere to camp. We found a great spot in amongst some peat ledges overlooking Pontsticill reservoir in the distance. The weather all day had been superb and it continued into the night. We'd bought up vast quantities of decent food and drink and we settled in for a nice relaxed night - even the ground although uneven was nice and soft! It'd been a long day after all!
The morning was up at a sensible time and after a breakfast of scrambled eggs - set off back down the hills toward the car, this time taking the main path all the way to Talybont - this time I had a lighter rucksack. Near Talybont, we headed down a bridlepath that ended at a river and no bridge! So, not wanting to turn back we had to wade across it - yikes it was chilly and not with hazard of sharp stones and a barbed wire fence! Unscathed, we made it back to the car for the journey back to London. A very successful trip!
It's weird how doing a different sort of exercise can have such an effect on my legs - they were so achy after traipsing up and down all those hills! I may be a pretty good cyclist - but walking with a load is a different matter...