A return visit to Pen-Y-Fan and Cribyn. Only this time the weather was a little cooler.
The strong head-wind and horizontal snow/sleet mix made for an interesting hike up along Cefn Cwm Llwch.
Visibility was marginal – with the occasional clearing of the cloud to show that we weren’t hiking inside a white tent. The last section up to the summit even had a bit of ice axe action.
The trail down the eastern edge (along Craig Cwm Sere) had deep, occasionally thigh deep, snow drifts, with some decent plunge stepping down to the saddle. A brief pause to test the wind speed by noting the angle that the map case flew at (horizontal map case = fast wind), before heading up to Cribyn and then down to the track at Bwlch ar y Fan.
A hike down in the gathering gloom-cum-head torch darkness to a fantastic dinner at the White Swan in Llanfrynach.
The view this morning was much clearer – you could even see the top of Cribyn which we’d raced passed the previous day. But no sign of Pen-Y-Fan, nor of Martin’s shades that took a flying dive off the cliff during the summit photo-opp. A good way to go if ever there was one.
