Date: Tuesday 22nd March 2022
Estimated miles: 15 miles
Strava says: 17.44 miles
Elevation: 3,396 ft / 1,035 m
Weather: Hot
Start: Fan Llia car park (nearest post code CF44 9JD, then use map)
Route type: circular
Conditions: very dry
Website link: Gwynne-Harris Round
Describe the route in three words: surprisingly runnable trails!
Recce report - Gwynne-Harris Round - the 3 summits of Carreg Cadno, Fan Gyhirych & Fan Nedd
Due to the stomach bug I picked up on my last visit to Wales early February, this particular recce ended up being re-scheduled to March. I realised with the days getting longer at this time of year I would be able to do this route of around 15 miles in one day, avoiding the expense of overnight accommodation.
I managed to rope in my running friend Tariq, who by the way completed what I called “Run-adan” for Ramadan last year, raising over £6,000 for KIN Hub, supporting families local to Fleet who are suffering financial hardship, or those in crisis by providing nutritious food. At the end of each day of fasting throughout ramadan Tariq completed a 10km run. That’s 30 days in a row of running on a completely empty tank, he wasn’t just avoiding food from sunrise to sunset, but liquid too. This guy is a legend. Tariq had not had any experience running in the mountains, and his trail running seems to have just been the odd race here and there throughout the recent cross country season with our club Hart Road Runners, Tariq is very much a road runner so I was delighted that he was willing to swap his road shoes for trail shoes and give this a shot.
We departed mine at 7am, I’d emailed Tariq a kit list which he was able to put together borrowing items here and there and I told him to bring more food and water than he thought he needed. We made it to the car park at Fan Llia in pretty good time, I’d found the closest postcode I could and we got the map out to navigate the last part of the journey.
We set off from the car at around 10.40am up the steep yet short embankment that took us back up onto the road we'd just driven in on and then a sharp left onto the Beacons Way national footpath. Well this was a surprise! It was a gravel track! The track is part of the Sarn Helen Roman Road. We ran past Maen Madoc, a standing stone marking an early Christian burial (didn't stop for a photo). My previous experiences on the Gwynne-Harris Round was sheep trails, bogs and tussocks! I couldn’t believe the speed we were able to go up here! I did have to bear in mind that we had just started out and it was probably going to be a shock to the system for Tariq so we adopted a run-walk technique. We crossed over the river Nedd Fechan and I think Tariq got his first realisation on just how beautiful the scenery was going to be.
The very runnable path continued and I exclaimed to Tariq that this was not at all what I was expecting! Finally it was time to turn off and make our way along the more anticipated trail of longer grass with the odd bog here and there. The recent warm weather did mean the route was mostly very dry and certainly a lot easier underfoot than it had been in January and February.
Our first summit of the day was Carreg Cadno, 538m which we reached around 11.47am. There’s not much to say that you are there, other than the fact you are on a high point, no cairn or trig point that we could see.
We took in the views and continued along our way which involved a bit of boulder hopping and tussock skipping, this was the wild Wales I was used to thanks to the technicality of the route of the Gwynne-Harris Round. I know that Tariq found this mentally quite tough, I continually reassured him by keeping a closer eye on the map and the gpx than I would normally and explained as we were travelling along that footpaths in Wales are very different to the ones in England, there isn’t always a clear or obvious path underfoot, you just need to have faith in your map reading skills.
Soon enough we were deposited out onto a grassy trail which was very easy to run along and I believe was either the old Neath and Brecon Railway line or an old tram road route.
This area is the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve and we could see rare limestone pavements to our right. I glanced at my watch as my stomach was indicating to me that it might be around lunchtime. We saw a couple of hikers and some buildings in the distance and then found a nice place to sit in the sunshine and take in the views as we ate our lunch - pesto, spinach, cherry tomato and mozzarella wrap with a bag of plain Hula Hoops for me, yum.
We set off again, appetites satisfied and reached the buildings, I chuckled as I saw a wooden post which was engraved with “taxi pick up point” - we certainly were on a less isolated part of the route! This was Penwyllt, a former quarrying village which had a major quicklime and brick production centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The five limestone quarries and brickworks operated here between the 1870s and 1950s. I think the large building here is the South Wales Caving Club, turns out that this is the location of one of the most extensive caving systems in Europe!
We ran along a lane for a short while to then pick up a footpath into the Brecknock Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserve, Tariq’s ankle had rolled but he seemed to be ok. The path lead us into the back of Craig-y-nos Country Park. As the path undulated we saw a clear pond, mating toads and a pair of dog walkers asked us if there was much livestock about, just the toads I said.
We crossed through a field of sheep, each sheep seemed to have two lambs a piece and we walked carefully through so as not to startle them, I was surprised at how protective the mothers were, each one hurried over to her babies and stood over them as we passed through.
We came out onto the A4067 which was the part of the route I was least looking forward to, I knew it was around 5km of uphill road. We popped into the Tafarn-y-Garreg pub which was closed but the landlord very kindly said we could use the toilet. We began the slog up the A4067, I should also mention that today was HOT! We continued in single file with our run-walk technique and would stand on the grass verge every time a car came, which was also a welcome breather. The cars were coming along really fast. This part of the run passed a lot quicker than I anticipated and wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be, that section of road is actually split into three Strava segments and I got a trophy for each one so we must have been moving at a pretty decent pace. We arrived at the lay-by where a right hand turn was required.
We looked up, and I felt a bit nervous about what Tariq was thinking or what he might say. Fan Gyhirych, let’s just say, is pretty steep.
We set off up the mountain and eventually reached the final part of the climb which is stunning due to its natural step formation. I explained to Tariq that we should put our waterproof jackets on as they would protect us from the wind that was about to hit us as we ascended higher. Jackets on we continued our way up, each natural step is quite high so it really makes you pick your feet up.
I found a really lovely stone to sit behind which protected us from the wind and offered us phenomenal views. We sat for a few minutes soaking in the rays and the views the Cray reservoir to our right.
Tariq told me he had a new found respect for ultra runners. We set off again and finally popped out onto the summit plateau and were greeted with a wobbly trig point (or was that my legs that felt like jelly???)
Fan Gyhirych, 725m at 2:33pm. All the hard climbing was immediately forgotten, I was beaming from ear to ear! The wind was quite strong so we were glad for our coats. The path off Fan Gyhirych was an easy one to follow, and I chuckled to myself that we’d spent all this time to get here and no time at all at the top, we took a few snaps and then we were off again!
The grassy trail leads to a gravel track, the wind was pushing me sideways so it was quite fun leaning into it whilst running, it felt like the weight was being taken off my feet.
We reached a style and could clearly see Fan Nedd in front of us, again, I wasn’t quite sure what Tariq was thinking and feeling at this point,
I was trying to look at the mountain through the eyes of a newbie and when I pointed out Fan Gyhirych in the distance and said we’d just been over that, Tariq said he felt physically sick just looking at it...
...so I nervously pointed at Fan Nedd and said, “This one’s next! But don’t worry, the car is on the other side of it, it’s just a short hop down then we’ll be done!” I think this spurred him on and we clambered up Fan Nedd pretty quickly, to be honest it was a piece of cake compared to what we had just hiked up on Fan Gyhirych! Tariq pointed out a cairn to our left, I told him that the trig point was a little further on and would be on the right, did he mind going to that first before heading to the cairn? No, not at all. It wasn’t long before it came into view and we happily ran to it, posing for a few selfies and taking in the views, Fan Nedd 663m, 3:34pm.
We could recognise the windmills and tree felling line in the distance, we’d driven past them on our way in, we then realised we could make out the road and thought we could see the bridge which the car was parked close to. We trotted over to the modern cairn and then started to make our way down. At one point we thought we could see my car but then Tariq said, “Oh no it can’t be, it’s moving away from us!” I really hoped it wasn’t my car, there’s no phone signal here so we’d have had a bit of a hike to the nearest village of Ystradfellte to get help! I could see Maen Llia at the bottom and told Tariq that I had a surprise for him, I knew he’d be really humbled to see this ancient stone. We quickly zig zagged our way down the hill, very close to the bottom I turned to speak to Tariq just in time to see his ankle twist and he fell to the ground. Uh-oh. Tariq had run a quick half marathon two days prior and had played a fast paced football match the evening before, I think his sporting antics were catching up on him.
Tariq seemed ok and we continued on, the trail spat us out on to the road and I pointed in the direction of Fan Frynych and explained that it was the way I had gone on my last recce in February. We came to Maen Llia, “Welcome to your surprise Tariq! This standing stone has stood here for 4,000 years!” “Wow, wow, wow!” came the response, we placed our hands on it and paused to think of the people who lived here thousands of years ago.
Legend has it that the stone goes down to the river, the Afon Llia to drink on occasion. This tale seems likely to be an allusion to the fact that its shadow is cast across the moorland as far as the river when the sun is low in the evening sky.
We continued down the road, running the majority but with the odd walk here and there. We went down the embankment that we’d scampered up just a few hours before and my watch died just as we got to the bottom, I had it set on trail run today, normally I have it on ultra trac mode so it was good to know that 16 hours of battery actually equates to 6 hours when using gpx in trail.
We changed our clothes at the car, Tariq was sat in the passenger seat within minutes, I suggested he perhaps stretch but he said he’d sat down now and was alright! I devoured another wrap and packet of Hula Hoops, oh and a banana and a Coke Zero and then we headed for home. We arrived at mine just before 8pm, a pretty decent day out I think!
What’s in the snack pack?
Wrap (pesto, spinach, cherry tomato and mozzarella)
Hula Hoops
3 bars
Malt loaf
Shell-less Skittles
Sugar coated stemmed ginger
Mints
2x 500ml bladders water - both with Hi 5
Extra bladder with 1 litre plain water
Gloves
Salomon Bonatti waterproof over mittens
Hat
Inov 8 Trailshell waterproof jacket
Long sleeved spare layer
OMM Halo waterproof trousers
Vasaline
Spare hair band
Safety pins
Compeed, plasters, surgical tape, spare socks
Harrier Helvellyn Carbon Z-Poles and quiver
Silva head torch
Whistle
Survival bag
Mobile phone
What I wore: Saucony Ultra ST, Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire, buff, Sweaty Betty power leggings, Stance socks, tee shirt, OMM arm warmers, Dirty Girl gaiters, baseball cap, suncream, sunglasses, Salomon Adv Skin 12 running vest.
Lead up: The day before I’d run to the morning Blaze session (outdoor fitness group) and run home again, around 9.5 miles total and also went to the evening Blaze session. I haven’t had as much time for training recently so this week I was aiming for a big training week (I ran the Writers' Way out and back 26 miles two days after this run and achieved a new FKT).
Morning preparations: My usual breakfast of 40g porridge oats and 200ml Alpro oat milk, mashed up banana and mixed berries stirred through. I am embarrassed to say no pre-run stretching took place.
Summary
An epic day out, I really enjoyed it and it was wonderful to be able to share the experience with someone else. I hope Tariq will look back fondly on this day, and I hope he is proud of what he has achieved, it was a huge amount of elevation and technical trails for someone who is used to the flats of Fleet in Hampshire! For me personally, I feel delighted to have been a mountain guide for the day and it was wonderful to share my knowledge with someone.
Lessons learned
Definitely use the ultra trac setting on my Fenix 6! This was the main takeaway. The navigation was spot on and I had all the kit I needed plus extra for emergencies. There was not much for me to take away from this trip in terms of new things learned, it was just great to be able to continue to practice my map skills and be able to introduce the Brecon Beacons to Tariq.
Results:
Elapsed time: 5h 28m 32s
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