{"id":49345,"date":"2026-09-07T07:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=49345"},"modified":"2026-09-07T07:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:25:10","slug":"pen-y-fan-one-new-nuttall-nearly-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/09\/pen-y-fan-one-new-nuttall-nearly-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen y Fan: One New Nuttall, Nearly Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Having recently climbed both Cadair Idris<\/a> and Yr Wyddfa<\/a>, I thought it might be nice if Cl\u00e9lia could climb Pen y Fan as well, so she could complete the Welsh Three Peaks before heading home to France. Unfortunately, we kind of ran out of time, but I got her a print of the Three Peaks as a leaving present anyway! I\u2019d planned a suitable route for her that took in a couple of new Nuttalls for me as well. So, despite being on my own, I decided I\u2019d do it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the weather looking nice for Saturday, Pen y Fan was always going to get busy, so I set off early to try to beat the crowds. This meant leaving home at 4 am to get there for 6 am. So much for my plans to miss the crowds! The car park was already full, and the path was packed with people both heading up and coming back down. I wasn\u2019t expecting that. I guess I was part of the problem, though, so there was nothing I could do but join them and start making my way up the easy, wide trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this many people around, and paths that are so well surfaced, it doesn\u2019t really feel like a hike in the hills. It felt more like walking along a cobbled street in a city to me. Fortunately, after a while my route had me heading off to the right to contour around the hills, missing Pen y Fan for now and heading towards Fan y Big. The going was a little rockier and more rugged along here, but still easy going. Now that I\u2019d left the crowds behind, I had the trail to myself, so I picked up the pace and started jogging along. It was nice, with the sun breaking through the clouds and illuminating the valley below as I bounded from rock to rock, making good progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Valley<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"Brecon<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"Valley<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"Sunshine<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I contoured around below the peak of Cribyn and then joined the main path once again in the saddle of Bwlch ar y Fan, between Cribyn and Fan y Big. Here, I headed steeply up on a cobbled path to the summit, where I stopped for a few photos. This was the first summit of the day and, at 717 m, also a new Nuttall to add to my list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Views<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Next, I retraced my steps back to the saddle and started the climb up the main path to Cribyn. It was much quieter over here, and I only passed a few people on these trails and summits. Cribyn (794 m) was the second Nuttall of the day, but wasn\u2019t new to me as I\u2019d been here before<\/a>. From here I descended and then climbed again to Pen y Fan (886 m), the highest point of the day. Needless to say, it was a little busier here, but I headed off to the nearby summit of Corn Du (872 m), which was a little quieter. Both were shrouded in cloud, so there wasn\u2019t much to see. Having summited both in the past, I didn\u2019t hang around long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pen<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I had intended to head from here to Y Gyrn, which would have been a second new Nuttall for the day, but I kind of forgot. With so many people around, I ended up following the crowd and soon found myself running down the track I had come up on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Crowded<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I was supposed to turn off to the right, but was now in full flow and soon went flying past the turning without thinking about it. By the time I was halfway down the track and realised my mistake, I decided that Y Gyrn would have to wait for another day. I now just wanted to keep on running to the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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