Weekends In The Slow Lane - Ep.03

I was joined by Tim & Alex for the third instalment of the WITSL side project. After a successful ramble around the Beacons earlier in the year, Tim and I were desperate to get back there and show Alex a few of the spots we’d found.

The weather wasn’t as kind to us but it was a break all three of us needed. We left feeling refreshed, a little tired and a little damp but full of whiskey and cocktail sausages.

Enjoy.

Day 1 -

We relived our first visit and upon arriving in the Beacons headed straight for the Caerfanell valley, a wet hike up and around the valley alongside it’s sets of small waterfalls, most were running heavier than we’d previously seen because of the amount of rain Wales had seen over the previous couple of days, they made for a great soundtrack.

With the threat of more rain looming and the lack of daylight hours we soon head towards Brecon, and set up base is the pub.

Day 2 -

Waking up early in a car park in Brecon, not our most glamorous of camping spots, we were back in the pub by 9 to watch the rugby final. Following that disappointment we headed for Llyn Y Fan for a hike, the clouds were low and light rain continued to soak us for pretty much the entirety of the day. These conditions just seemed to suit this location though, so much atmosphere and the late autumn colours seemed highlighted even more against the grey.

After shooting a few photos for Craghoppers and running around the lake a little, we sheltered in the rescue hut and ate some snacks before heading back to Graham again. Definitely a new hike on the list, saving it for better weather next time.

Day 3 -

From Llyn Y Fan we headed for Pen Y Fan, camping on our second car park of the trip. More rain followed more rain but we were optimistic for a sunrise hike in the morning, where the clouds and mist would burn off, maybe even a cloud inversion to feast our eyes on… unfortunately none of that happened. About 10 minutes from the van we were in cloud which kept us company until we hiked back down. Wales had spoiled us with great weather in the past, this time I feel like it was making up for it.

After the hike back down we had a little wander around the forest at the base of Pen Y Fan, more mood and atmosphere and we all fired off a few shots, finishing rolls of film in the rows of pine trees. This definitely made up for the complete lack of a sunrise.

Our final camping spot of the trip was at the start of the Four Falls Trail, a little wander before dinner and, as we were getting ready to call it a night (the whiksey was finished), we were blessed with our first and only glimpse of a clear night sky.