Myself have Linda have been heading to the Brecons for the last 3 years and each year we’ve met up with Andy from Surfnslide for a walk. As a result of his guidance for our own walks, and the ones we have done together has meant seeing some fantastic spots all over the Brecon Beacons, that we wouldn’t normally see. This walk was another of that ilk, or should we count this as two walks given that it was 14 miles! The reason for the long walk was the parking at the start, which had been ambushed by an organised event group, swamping the parking, meaning everyone else needed to go elsewhere. We regrouped down the A479 a bit, with Andy saying we could reroute the walk a bit, adding on an extra section, parking further south with a lane walk at the end. So we went for it, starting off with a steep ascent to Pen Tir, one of 3 steep ascents on the walk (think Andy clocked it as 4000 foot of ascent in total). Once at the top of Pen Tir we had a simple walk across the summit towards Mynydd Llangorse, just missing the summit to reach Cockit Hill and the first coffee/snack stop of the day with fine views down to Cwm Sorgwm. From our rest spot we admired climb number two to Mynydd Troed, a short sharp pull up, which required plenty of stops to admire the views behind us! In order to celebrate our summit of this fine hill we stopped for lunch, this was Andy’s first ever hill he climbed and deserved a lengthy stop to recognise it. Off Mynydd Troed we turned and headed across the A479 heading for the Dragon’s Back ridge, we rounded Castell Dinas (the highest altitude castle in England and Wales – I learnt that off a Youtube video before heading here!) and joined the climb to Y Grib. It seemed to take us a while to reach the Cambrian Way at the top, around 2 hours from the bottom to the cairn on Pen y Manllwyn, this meant it was 4.30pm and we still had 6 miles to go (it would be pitch black by 7pm). Luckily we were heading downhill on paths that are a joy to walk, the sunlight turning that golden colour made for one of the best sections of walking I’ve ever had. The finish was a bit of lane walking, which was tough on tired legs. Andy wasn’t sure if we could continue the ridge along the top and drop down further on, probably not in the light we had but on longer daylight it might be possible, certainly before bracken grows on the lower hills. All in all a very, very string candidate for best walks of the year. It was just superb, in great company, as always with Andy and a pint in the Farmers Arms in Cwmdu to finish was very well earned.
Start – Cwmdu
Route – Pen Tir – Mynydd Llangorse – Cockit Hill – Mynydd Troed – Pengenffordd – Castell Dinas – Y Grib – Dragon’s Back – Cambrian Way – Pen y Manllwyn – Waun Fach – Pen Trumau – Penyrheol – Cwm-Rhos – Cwmdu pub
Distance – 14 miles Start time – 9.30am Time taken – 9hrs 30mins Highest Point – Waun Fach 810 metres
The church at Cwmdu, the Farmers Arms pub is the beige building on the right edge of photo, we will be there later, a fair bit later!On the climb to Pen Tir, it was a hazy day so distance views were limited, but this didn’t matter, as always we were deep into nattering and putting the world to rightsMynydd Llangorse up to the left and Mynydd Troed straight ahead across Cwm Sorgwm. This area would be very close to the fire we would see from Cockit Hill/Mynydd Troed in around an hourLlyn Llangors, Andy says its a boggy walk around its edgesCwm Sorgwm for our first stop before we drop to Cockit Hill. Think the high point of the far ridge to the right is Pen Allt-MawrCockit Hill before we start to drop down. The climb to Mynydd Troed looks interestingPlenty of stop offs on the ascent to Mynydd Troed. Mainly to look back at the smoke rising from the slopes of Mynydd LlangorseMynydd Troed summitOne of the highlights of the day was watching these gliders. There is a nearby gliding school and the towing plane seemed to be doing overtime taking up the punters to drift around above Mynydd Troed, it wasn’t until we were on the Dragon’s Back that we actually saw them landing again. They seemed to be having fun up there thoughAlong the edge of Mynydd Troed, we will be walking the top of that ridge opposite soon (well soonish!)Down off Mynydd Troed, Mid Wales is ahead in the haze.With the warm weather we almost forgot it was March and spring daffodil time. We would take the track to the right around Castell DinasCastell Dinas backed by Mynydd Troed, we had descended that slope to the right before crossing fields to hereTurning left we look along the valley holding the A479The Dragon’s Back ridge, up we goLooking back down the Dragon’s Back, which looks superb from here, this cairn marks to top of the ridge, but not the end of the climbing, there is a bit more to do to get to the Cambrian WayOn the Cambrian Way now at Pen y Manllwyn , its 4.30pm and that’s Waun Fach the high point of the walk. Just the 6 miles to do in around 2 hours before it gets dark. Better get a wiggle on.Around the Waun Fach summit I took this photo back into the sun. Pen y Manllwyn to the rightLovely layers of hills as the golden hour starts, we are heading for that dip on the right, the angular summit in the distance is Pen Allt-MawrLinda is posing as we reach Pen Trumau, ahead is the dip where we will turn right and drop down, ahead is Mynydd LlysiauVale of Grwyney down the middle here as we look to turn right at the cairn below, back left I think is Crug Mawr but I might be wrong on thatThis section was absolutely brilliant, all three of us looking right to the sun setting and loving this fantastic grassy pathHere it is, as we dropped so did the sun behind Mynydd LlangorseThis phot was taken around 6.45pm and most of the way along the lanes, the phone has done a fine job of lighting up the sky a bit, as it was darker in real life than this photo shows. We made it to the pub though around 7pm and a well deserved pint. I always say a good judge of a walk is if you would go to sleep and get up and do it again, this is a resounding yes for this walk, superb weather, superb route and all the better that it was made up on the spot and superb company as always. Bring on our next visit to the Brecons
treksandtors 
Looks so lovely up there. Maybe the beacons are due another visit
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There are some superb edges and ridges across the National Park, stay away from Pen y Fan area and you can get some superb walks
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Duly noted!
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