Fan Fawr

Thursday 15 July 2021

Another early start for a day out in the Welsh hills. Left home at 7:00am for the two hour drive to the layby on the A470 a couple of miles north of the Storey Arms (SN 971222). The journey was very straightforward and uneventful, all the way on only two roads; M4 & A470.

 

The walk started uphill through woodland beside a stream, and on reaching the open countryside followed a wall northwards for a kilometre before veering away from the wall to ascend to Twyn Dylluan-ddu. Here an almost 180° change of direction to follow a red coloured track ascending the north-east ridge of Fan Frynych. The summit is about 150m west of the track and the trig pillar adorned with a red Welsh dragon on all four sides. A nice spot for the customary banana break (but without a banana as I forgot it!), admiring the view of Corn Du and Pen-y-fan to the east.

The route continued south along the crest of the cliffs to the next summit, Craig Cerrig-gleisiad (which is a national nature reserve). The top is marked by an untidy pile of stones.

The next summit, Fan Fawr, was a 2.5km plod across featureless moorland, descending gently to a col, and then rising more steeply to the summit. As I ascended the grassy, pathless hillside I noticed to my left a line of soldiers ascending to the summit on the next ridge. At the summit they were reporting in at a tented check-in point before descending on the south-west ridge. I moved a short distance away from the summit cairn to eat my lunch.

After a leisurely break I descended the north-east ridge on an initially steep and rocky path down to the Storey Arms. A well worn track led all the way down. Somehow I managed to painfully twist my right ankle twice within a 100m, but luckily I managed to walk it off. Initially I thought I may have to abandon the next summit.

Crossing the A470 at the Storey Arms, I then followed the well-trodden highway that ascends to Corn Du and Pen-y-fan. At about the 590m contour I left this track and turned left to make my way over a grassy hillside to the summit of Y Gyrn. There was no path as such, but  a quad-bike had clearly marked the route to the summit.  A small pile of stones and a wooden post marked the summit, but when I crossed the wall/fence to begin my descent I found another small pile of stones. I think this was more likely the true summit as it was to the side of the wall where the OS spot height was marked.

The descent westwards off Y Gyrn was unpleasant to say the least. Very steep in places and pathless through heather. In the last 200m before reaching the old drover’s road the heather gave way to waist high bracken (in places shoulder high) which I just had to plough through as best I could. The gate which Nuttall said to use was chained and pad-locked, so had to be climbed over.

A final 800m on the drover’s road before turning left and ascending through a steep field back to the A470 opposite the start.

A glorious summer day.

	Summit	Height (m)		Status
	Fan Frynych	629		Hewitt, Nuttall
	Craig Cerrigy-gleisiad	629		Hewitt, Nuttall
	Fan Fawr	734		Hewitt, Nuttall
	Y Gyrn	619		Sub-Hewitt, Nuttall

More photos here