Monday 17 February 2014

Brecon Mountain Trail Challenge

For those of you who've hung around, you'll remember that last year I spent a lot of time walking, mainly to try and build up my stamina for the Brecon Mountain Challenge  a twenty mile trek through The Beacons taking in the highest peak in Britain  south of Snowdonia, 'Pen y Fan'.  My hubby and I raised £230 for a local food and clothing bank PATCH.


We set off at 4am full of excitement with a few nerves (well I was nervous!) to boot.  We arrived at the startpoint at 6-30am, signed in, got given our maps and then off we went...here am I....just about ready to go!


The beginning was fairly easy going (lulling into a false sense of  security!) and some people went off at an amazing pace with running shoes and tiny bags (where was all their food?!!)


We walked across a large area of bog land which is where my main problem occurred when my boots leaked...these bogs were still very wet despite the very dry summer we had last year, there was more than one walker that said the previous year that a few people had to be pulled out by fellow walkers when they got stuck up to their waists!



This is where the walk became more serious as we started the first climb......



Here I was looking back down to where we had started the climb, you can see the road there in the middle.


.....and the view onwards.....


....and more climbing.....I kept having to stop to get my breath take photos...I wasn't alone, parts of the beginning of the walk were murder and I  found it seriously hard to smile!


Even though we had been climbing for what seemed like forever, there was still a good way to go, (you can see people in the distance).



Get a load of that!


Oh, and I made it!  After getting to the top, all moans and whines were forgotten, and I could enjoy a nice drink and look at the panorama.


And down the other side....we had over ten more miles to go, so no time to dilly-dally!



These mountains literally take my breath away..........so stunning that they make something ache inside...does that make any sense?


After coming down through the mountains, we walked on passing reservoirs, through fields and across moorland.



So near and yet so far!




This is the board of everyone who had returned, our tags were somewhere in the middle there.....my worries that we would be the last ones turning in was totally unfounded!


I sat down on this bench just after handing our tags in....it seemed like a good idea .......I rethought my 'good idea' when it came to getting up again!

Looking at these photos reminds me of a wonderful day, walking in beautiful countryside, the mountains, the big skies, the sparkling reservoirs...it's maybe also not hard to forget my incredibly sore feet, (my leaky boots went straight back to the shop a couple of weeks later when I was actually able to put boots on again). 

When we got to the B+B after the walk, I rather embarrassingly was finding it pretty difficult to walk, in fact I went to dinner that night in slippers as it was all I could bear to put on!

I loved doing this 'big for me' challenge...I even sang a few lines of 'The Hills are Alive'! That's the Welsh girl in me, always a song on my lips!

12 comments:

  1. Well done, I hope you're ok now! The coast makes me ache.

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  2. What an amazing achievement! I would love to do this walk - or in my case it would probably be more of a crawl, especially near the end! You'll have to come to South Africa and hike in the Drakensberg mountains .... it's stunning! x

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  3. That is an amazing walk and the scenery is indeed stunning. I know what you mean about the ache ... L.M. Montgomery calls it "the queer ache" (in Anne of Green Gables) - that almost painful feeling we get in the presence of overwhelming beauty.

    Kudos to you for training and for finishing! I hope your husband gave you a good foot rub that night. :)

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  4. What a fantastic journey, beautiful pictures and for such a worthy cause. You are amazing.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  5. Big congratulations Faith, what a beautiful place the beacons are and you have done such an amazing walk for your local charity, puts me to shame really. I need to be more adventurous and enjoy nature more x well done I bet you had a great nights sleep and woke up feeling rather chuffed with yourselves xox

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  6. What a great achievement Faith, you must be thrilled with having finished this.
    Your photos have captured the beauty of the countryside and I know exactly what you mean about 'the ache'.....I feel it every time I read UK blogs and see the picturesque countryside!!
    Had to giggle at the slipper episode......I can imagine how sore your feet were...
    So what's the next challenge?

    Claire Xx

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  7. Wow, what a great achievement, and what absolutely stunning scenery. Looks like a fantastic day.

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  8. Wow congratulations on the fantastic achievement those views! stunning.

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  9. Wow lovely Faith...congratulations on such an amazing achievement!!...Those views are definitely breathtaking too...it must have been a fantastic feeling to reach the top and take a good look around (hope it didn't take too long for the poor feet to recover though!)
    Happy Weekend,
    Susan x

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  10. Congratulations - looks like a beautiful trail.

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  11. I once walked up Snowdon from Llanberis, not realising just how hard it would be and I'm not a walker! Well, I couldn't walk properly for at least 3 days haha! It was agony, so well done to you :D x

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