A couple of weekends ago we decided to take a drive into Wales and head for Pen y Fan. Situated in the Brecon Beacons it is the highest peak in South Wales. At 886 metres it is not quite the most challenging peak in kiwi terms but nice for a day out.
We found a rather quiet spot to park the car and proceeded across the fields following the way markers. With some sheep and ponies along the way, the sun shining and very few other people around it was a great start to the walk.
The thing with land in the UK is that every bit of it is owned (not unusual) but groomed within an inch of its life. What do I mean by this? Well, having come into a national park I would expect it to be unfarmed. However, that is never the case in this country. Farming was the original use of the land and even though it has national park status, continues to be used as farmland. Not that this is wrong in any way, just that we are not used to it. Imagine the Tongariro National Park being used for cattle. It would soon be destroyed. That probably also ties in with the barren nature of Pen y Fan. Although there are a few trees spotted around they are far and few between. The grass is so short it looks like a golf green.
Given all this it is a spectacular place, the views magnificent and the continual, unrelenting uphill slog refreshing yet tiring. I was very surprised that as undulating as the land looks we never seemed to get a downhill slope, we were forever walking uphill.
An hour and a half later we made it to the top. It was at this stage that we realised that while we were slogging it out over dirt paths and sheep poo, there was actually many paths leading from all angles of the mountain to the peak. All of these other paths were paved! I am kinda proud that we took the back country route, you know, stand out from the crowd, strike our own route, blah blah blah.
When we got to the top we realised that the next peak along was actually Pen y Fan (pronounced Pen e Van) so we hot footed it for another 15 minutes to get to the highest peak. Success! To be honest we thought Pen y Fan was one of the top 10 highest peaks in the UK and we were rather chuffed at how easy it was. We have since found out that it is only the highest in South Wales which kinda takes the shine off of it. Oh well, it is a good starter for the other peaks we now want to complete.
Would I recommend it? If you are after views – on a fine day, yes. When the wind picks up in the afternoon it is bitterly cold so be prepared. Although you are hot and sweaty going up, a windbreaker at the very least is good for walking around at the time to keep the chill off and especially for the walk back down.
