Craig Cerrig Glesiad - Storey Arms Car Park via Pen y Fan and Cribyn

I woke up to the most spectacular sunrise after a very windy night on the ridge. The sun rose up behind the Pen y Fan summit at 05.30, a sight it was well worth waking up for (before going back to sleep obviously). My friends were driving from London, and so I had the whole morning leisurely to myself. I made my double chock mocha coffee (at 28 I still have an embarrassingly juvenile coffee taste) and packed up my little camp in the bright blue morning. Chris had already left, and I was completely alone. All there was to do was stride downhill to the road, cross it, enter the already packed Storey Arms car park, grab a pancake-flat cheeseburger from the food truck (nowhere but the UK…), and lay down by the river to tan and wait.

If you think you’re not fit enough to hike up Pen y Fan, let me assure you, you are. Amongst the people who passed me were two women in flip flops, a guy in a full suit, and a sausage dog so fat and short, its stomach nearly dragged on the ground. If you have legs, you can climb this mountain.

I had a joyful reunion with Mann, Harper, and Sarah, and we began the gentle climb up towards the summit. This is always the most trafficked part of the Pen y Fan hike, you’ll almost be walking in a queue, the crowds luckily thin out considerably towards the top. If you have a car and are not doing the Beacons Way, you can ascend from Neuadd carpark instead for a longer but less crowded route (read my guide to that loop here).

Mandatory photo at the summit plaque, which felt almost embarrassing considering we had barely walked 45 minutes to get there. The wind was so fierce we had to don our puffies despite the clear blue skies, nearly losing them as we wrestled them on against the gales. Sarah’s petite form looke like it could blow right off the mountain, and we nestled down for a long lunch. A red kite soared over us for over half an hour, riding the winds and undoubtedly showing off to the gathering audience.

My favourite part of this day hike is the route between Pen y Fan summit and its smaller neighbour, Cribyn. The crowds disappear, and we had the trail all to ourselves. While Pen y Fan has flat twin summits, Cribyn sticks up more like a traditional peak. A dirt path and stone steps take you through the V-shape between them, with the final summit climb up Cribyn being the steepest part of the hike. I was in peak shape and jokingly coaxed the others along – I probably looked so extra with my 65L pack and trekking poles.

The view of Pen y Fan from Cribyn summit is spectacular. You get views of the textured part of the summit, which is so characteristic to the Beacons and a top photo spot. There isn’t a single tree to shelter from the wind, but the expansive views are unparallelled. Alas, the day was waning, and this was the end of my hike. After a too-short photo stop we had to turn around and hike back. I could have hiked another 10 km now that the wind had finally died down, but the long road to London wasn’t going to get any shorter.

You can easily add on another night to this hike, which would be well worth the views, by adding on Fan y Big and Allt Lwyd mountains before descending back into civilisation. I hope to do this the next time I’m back in the Beacons! These additional miles will add almost nothing to the altitude profile of your hike, as the mountains are table-top formed, once you’re up you stay high.

Almost everyone else had gone by the time we meandered back down towards the car in the afternoon sunshine among Welsh ponies and the sheep. We piled into the car and sped off back to London, Mann and I exchanging amused glances as our two junior friends, “the kids”, fell asleep in the back.