Marvellous Views....Not!

Today, it was the Rest Day at Croeso24 but, as per usual, orienteers struggle to rest so there was a Sprint around Brecon Town for anyone who fancied it and various other options ranging from sleeping in and staying on the accommodation couch.  Tony and I had decided to re-enact our Pen-Y-Fan walk, last completed in, we think 1978/9 before we were married when he was working at Bredwardine Outdoor Centre as an Instructor and I had gone down to be a general dogsbody in the summer holidays.

The Weather Gods had promised a good day which meant I packed the big camera as the views are extensive on the ascent and from the summit.  As we went south around Brecon raindrops landed on the windscreen and as we dropped further south we plunged into low cloud, arriving at the National Trust carpark in pouring rain and minimal visibility.  I grabbed my waterproof, got a ticket for the parking and went to the loo, asking the National Trust Warden what had happened to the weather.  He said the forecast had suddenly changed at 7.30 and it was set in for the day!

What to do?  Well the rain eased a little so we set off up the track.  Apart from scrawny sheep occasionally emerging from the cloud, we saw nothing.  From the col beneath the summit, the wind picked up and we donned our coats and hats.  At the point where Tony took this blip of me, I was holding the string of my hat in my mouth to avoid it being blown off the mountain and I couldn't see a thing as my specs needed windscreen wipers!

So we descended to the carpark, ate our sandwiches in the car and consoled ourselves with cuppas and some of the delicious cakes at the CoffeeBox in Brecon.  Up to this point no cafe has topped the Old Mill in Blair Atholl for carrot cake, but the CoffeeBox has knocked it off its pedestal.