On a previous trip to South Wales we drove from Brecon to the M4 using the A470. From that road we got a great view of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad with Fan Fawr beyond. The light was beginning to fade and Fan Fawr had a good covering of snow. I thought it would be fun to return to Fan Fawr 34 years after crossing the Fforest Fawr by foot.
I had originally planned to park below Craig Cerrig-gleisiad but since there were plenty of parking spaces at Storey Arms, I decided to stop there. There was a path leading directly westward and after going up the slope from Storey Arms, the view to Fan Fawr opens up. With Storey Arms being at a height of 439 m, it is not a very difficult walk to the summit with just under 300 metres of ascent. There is a cairn at the summit but the trig point is about 700 metres further to the south west.
There were showers passing to the south west.
Since I had arrived around midday and had four hours of good light I did not descend to the reservoir below but instead walked round the side of Fan Fawr 'haggis style' gradually descending to the saddle between Fan Fawr and Craig Cerrig-gleisiad.
The sun broke through and the yellow grass reminded me of what I had seen as a teenager. This time though the ground was frozen so there was no squelching through wet ground.
From Craig Cerrig-gleisiad there was an interesting view to the north. The cloud base was about 800 m but there was fog covering Brecon and surrounding villages. There was a slice of good visibility sandwiched between cloud and fog.
I walked north to the trig point at Fan Frynych and then headed back towards Storey Arms. After Craig Cerrig-gleisiad, I looked for the Beacons Way path but initially found nothing. The cloudbase lifted and it was possible to glimpse Corn Du and Pen y Fan across the valley.
Above Craig y Fro, I picked up a path that led across a few frozen streams. There were some interesting partially frozen waterfalls.
This one I particularly liked due to its large icicles and the running water below. Between this waterfall and the A470 there were a total of 4 frozen falls.
This waterfall was fairly close to the road. I was about 100 metres from the road when I managed to slip on some snow-covered grass and land hard on my tailbone. I felt the jolt right through my spine to my head...but did not actually see stars!
I got back to my car by 16:00 so completed the walk on time. It was not hard walking but I just enjoyed the emptiness...I only saw one walker all day.
Nice pictures for Fan Fawr 734m. Its very interesting place to see.