DECEMBER 2022 · ADVENTURE
Pen-y-Fan: Failed Camp
Central Beacons, Wales
The plan was to camp at the base of Pen y Fan near Upper Neuadd Reservoir. December, low cloud, the peak somewhere above it. This is standard approach country — a forest track in, open moorland beyond, the reservoir sitting in the valley below the north face.
The security presence at the reservoir was not standard. Multiple personnel, vehicles, a hard perimeter. Star Wars was filming on location. The entire reservoir access was closed. I was told, politely but clearly, that no cameras were permitted near the area.
A metal gate with a red marker and a moorland path fading into mist beyond. That's the one image that described the day.
Pen y Fan — December 2022
So the walk became about the approach instead of the destination. A December forest in low cloud, the peak above invisible, the plan abandoned at the gate. Pine forest first — dark, sparse undergrowth, twisted trunks. Then a rural mountain track with power poles, the low cloud sitting on the hills above. A solitary tall pine among winter vegetation, the overcast sky flat above it.
A large oak near a stream: bare-branched, moss-covered, the bark very dark from recent rain. Sheep behind a metal gate with a red marker. Misty conifer forest fading into cloud. The forest clearing with tall pines and winter light, no drama. The actual mountain somewhere behind it all, hidden.
A metal gate with a red marker and a moorland path fading into mist beyond. That's the one image that described the day accurately. You reach the gate, the path goes on, and then — in this case — it doesn't.
Winter pine forest with bare branches and dark undergrowth
Large bare oak tree among sheep and conifer plantation, misty hills
Rural mountain track with power poles, low cloud blanketing distant peaks
Dark winter forest with sparse undergrowth and twisted pine trunks
Misty conifer forest fading into cloud, overcast winter day
Dense forest under cloud with misty mountain backdrop
Tall conifers among deciduous trees in low cloud, moorland winter scene
Moorland track with bare shrubs and winter grass, mountains in mist
Moorland vegetation and trees with distant forested hillside under cloud
Solitary tall pine standing among low winter vegetation, overcast sky
Metal gate with red marker, moorland path fading into mountain mist
Large moss-covered oak beside winter stream, sheep grazing behind gate
Dense forest clearing with tall pine trees, overcast winter light