After some ten hours sleep I really shouldn't have felt tired on Sunday morning, but I did. Having
spent a fitful night, waking periodically, the wind and rain had eased to a pleasant calm, and it
didn't feel as cold as the previous night. I suspected that the calm meant clear starry skies, but I
never bothered to take a look. As it got light though, I was compelled to get up, fire up the gas
stove for a nice cup of coffee, and alert the others to the impending sunrise.
The second sunrise was a little better than the first, and featured the very odd shrouding of all
the Beacons summits in localised hill fog, yet our summit remained clear. From Fan Gyhirych across
the valley to Pen y Fan in the distance, was a line of foggy summits, reminiscent of the very first
sunrise I ever experienced here, back in October 1984. Fond memories indeed, but it wasn't exactly
the same. Why Fan Brycheiniog remained clear of fog is a mystery, but it was most fortunate.
As we each emerged from our tents we went our separate ways, capturing the sunrise according to our
inclinations. I particularly like the way myself and Phil Cook exchanged no words whatsoever, even
when taking a few photos in close proximity, by my favourite "Black Pool", a small pond near the
tents, a good foreground for sunrise photographs. Somehow mere conversation was unnecessary in the
face of a mountain sunrise.
I chose to wander uphill to a prominent viewpoint from which it was possible to photograph the whole
lake. From there I started to climb Twr y Fan Foel, a steep ridge that sticks out of the escarpment,
offering a cliff free route to the summit. As I ascended though, fog began to form on the top, so I
changed my mind and went back to the camp site instead.
Phil was keen to go off on a walk of his own to visit a plane wreck. He didn't have time to do the
main walk with us, he had to leave early. A pity. A short while after he left, myself, Mike and Mark
set off to contour around the northern escarpment, heading for Llyn y Fan Fach.
Bannau Sir Gaer looked good, in spite of being in shadow, and the walk to the lake was pleasant and
scenic, as we followed along drainage channel that led to the lake. The lake itself was a disaster
area though. Not only was it low because of the recent lack of rain, but also low because it is no
longer used as a reservoir. The result was an extremely low water level. A large portion of the lake
was a muddy sludge. I wanted to walk out to the edge of it but my footprints were getting so deep
that I decided not to risk it.
A number of people were picnicking around the lake, and a horde of walkers arrived at just about the
same time. Perhaps a bus load of people had been dropped off? A pity, but then again, it was Sunday,
so what can you expect?
We climbed the western slopes to Waun Lefrith, battered by an extremely icy wind, and determined
that the cairn was indeed in the wrong place. Shortly after a brief snack we met Roger Chapman,
who'd also decided to put in an appearance. He chose to continue on to bag Waun Lefrith then return
to join us. Seizing our opportunity we upped the pace and managed to reach the summit of Bannau Sir
Gaer just before he caught up with us. He was surprised at our pace, but we were pleased that we'd
actually managed to beat him for a change! :-)
Then we returned to our normal walking pace...
We stopped for another lunch break at the col, the headwaters of the Afon Twrch, then continued
directly to the summit of Fan Brycheiniog. Contouring around to Fan Foel and following the ridge had
been an option, certainly a more scenic one, but given the extra-chilly wind I didn't mind giving
that a miss.
We said goodbye to Roger at Bwlch y Giedd, where he continued on to Fan Hir, while we descended
back to the lake, having completely missed Bill, Fran and family who'd come up to meet us. A pity
about that.
Shortly after returning to the tents we packed up and made our way back to the cars, in daylight
this time, a much more pleasant walk by day. As we did the sun began to set and nicely coloured
clouds developed behind us over Fan Brycheiniog. There was a pleasant calmness back at the lake that
seemed to be trying to encourage us not to leave, but most of us had little choice in the matter.
All in all, a horrible wonderful weekend. Some miserable hill fog, strong winds and rain, mixed in
with two good sunrises and wonderfully clear skies and sunshine. Chilly, but no insects. Not the
best October weekend ever, but far from the worst. A good mixture of different conditions, an
interesting and varied weekend. Definitely thumbs up for this expedition.
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Paul
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The October Project 2003
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