FAN HIR
This is one of several peaks on the beautifully desolate range known as The Black Mountain, west of the Brecon Beacons and Fforest Fawr. I picked a day when it was a bit drizzly at home in Cardiff, which made me a little uneasy about conditions I'd encounter up on the tops. As I drove north, the rain got heavier and the wind started to really get up. When I found the pull-in at the side of the steep and winding lane that runs up the Tawe valley to the pas of Bwlch Cerrig Duon, the car was getting battered by a blustery gale and the rain was just ballistic. I had second thoughts about venturing out at all, but told myself conditions were good enough to at least make an attempt on the 3 peaks around Llyn Y Fan Fawr, so long as I was prepared to give it up if the weather made things unsafe.
The path I was following to the lake (Llyn Y Fan Fawr) is probably easy to follow in clear conditions, but it soon disappeared into marshes and divided into several small tracks that wandered in all directions. Visibility was only fifty metres or so, and on this vast featureless plain there was no option but to run on a compass bearing. This proved tough when I encountered the swollen streams, one of which is the River Tawe itself which has its source close to the lake. There was no way I could safely ford the surging white waters so I turned north and followed each stream until I could find a crossing point. When I did reach higher ground I ran south to get back on course, but must have over-corrected. Within half an hour I was soaked pretty much right through, despite full waterproofs - the wind had found the gaps and vents in my gear and the rain had driven its way in mercilessly. Still, I told myself that the air temperature wasn't too low and I was warm enough to last an hour or two out there.
Finally, a dramatic cliff-face loomed out of the mist with a narrow stream just before it running south - I realised I had come to the south of the lake and was looking at the slopes of Fan Hir. A path appeared to go straight up, through a snow filled gully, so up I went. The path soon evaporated, but the rocky bluffs were quite passable. This was too steep to think about walking let alone running - what you might call a scramble, using hand holds as well as feet. It only took a few minutes to haul myself up and there I was, on the summit of Fan Hir.
FAN BRYCHEINIOG
I had hoped to climb Fan Brycheiniog and Bannau Sir Gaer together from Fan Hir, but the weather was so rough I had made a decision not to expose myself to it for more than two hours. Atop the ridge, the wind and rain were as bad as I'd expected when I'd been struggling across the plain - but I decided to at least get up to Fan Brycheiniog as it was so close. From Fan Hir, I ran down into the saddle above Llyn Y Fan Fawr and there found the major path I'd been attemting to follow earlier - it led me up a moderate climb to the trig and summit shelter (gratitude is due to whoever builds these elaborate cairns - on a day like this I really appreciated it). I stayed only seconds at the top - just long enough to get between the low walls of the shelter to check the map - then shoulder-barged into the wind heading back towards Fan Hir. This was a real duel with the south-westerly wind but at least I was heading down hill which made life easier. Back at the col near Fan Hir the path dived suddenly down a steep slope and the wind subsided somewhat - I caught a glimpse of the lake (even in high wind Llyn Y Fan Fawr seemed somehow calm and placid - I must come back here another day to see it in clear conditions) then it was on through the mist and rain and more adventures trying to ford the river and streams. The return from the summit to the car took only half an hour, though it seemed much longer. When I got back, you'd have been forgiven for thinking I'd been swimming fully clothed in the lake - wet through from head to foot. I was happy to have managed two mountains on such a day - I'll be back for the third next week. It really had been like a duel with the weather. Back in the calm drizzle of Cardiff that afternoon I felt like I'd been to another planet.