Magical moonlight mountain

Saturdays often end up being about chores for us.  Though we try hard to get as much done during the week so its not the case, sometimes we fail miserably.  Today was one of those days.  The morning was about cleaning and clearing.  Then we headed off to do the shopping.  Before we turned around it was 5pm and we were back in the house cooking the evening meal.  The day had been changeable anyway, weather wise, sunshine for a bit, rain, hailstones, thunder and lightening! A real mixed bag.  It wasnt surprising then that by 7.00 this evening I was desperate to just get out.  Get out and do something, walk, ride the bike, run ... anything ... but not sit staring at the goggle box in the corner. The weather seemed to have settled into a beautiful evening so we got our stuff and jumped in the car and headed towards Brecon.  As we got closer to Pont ar Daf car park we could see that there were some ominous clouds but we decided that they seemed to moving away so we would give Pen y Fan a try.  As we pulled into the car park the place was absolutely packed! Then we realised that most of them were there to do the final leg of the Welsh Three Peaks, raising money for Ty Hafan.  At the bottom, by the finish line, some people were set up with Champagne ready to celebrate when their friends reached them. 

As we started our walk up the hill progress was really slow as there were so many people coming down.  We could hear people cheering as friends and family reached their goal!  You had to smile every time a cheer went up, you couldnt not smile, people were sharing in others success and surely in the success for the charity. It was amazing, heartwarming, if a little sad when you thought what the charity are there for.  One poor man passed us very gingerly.  I asked him if he was okay.  'Yes' he replied 'My knees went two mountains ago'  'Oh no!' I said 'Would you like us to help you back down?'  'No' was the very definite reply 'Im determined to finish this, and theres my girlfriend coming up to meet me'  Cue the sound of a very excited girlfriend, calling his name and running up the hill to meet him, Cathy running to reach her Heathcliffe.  Hats off to that man; brave, determined and probably a little mad but it persuaded us to make a donation to the next walker wearing the Ty Hafan tshirt (complete with passes etc - so no worries, we didnt hand money to any random walker)

We pushed on up the hill, by now the sun was making its way down but we were keeping up with it, climbing higher so we could keep it in sight.  The walkers were getting fewer and fewer and as we were about 15 minutes away from the bottom of Corn Du, the remaining marshalls were winding their way back down the path.  Then 10 minutes later, two (non charity raising) walkers passed us.  They were the last, we were on the hill on our own. We reached the split in the path just as the sun was throwing amazing deep red glows across the mountains around us. We watched as it disappered quickly and then the sudden chill hit home and we abandoned all ideas of continuing to Pen y Fan. 

We could have continued but by this time it was 9.50 and although we could still see clearly we knew that that could change really quickly and that the temperature would only fall further.

If you had asked me before hand, 'Would you be upset not to reach Pen y Fan' after getting that far, I would have said 'Yes' but just being out on the hill, no one close to us, was amazing.  I would have sat there all night had I had a sleeping bag to snuggle into.

We started our walk back down and as the sun had been setting on one side of us, a beautiful half moon had been rising on the other side.  It was magical walking down, watching the sky change from reds, into purples in the blues, darker blues and finally settling into a more navy hue which hugged round the moon pefectly.  I would have never dreamed  six months ago that I would have been confidently striding down a hill (and yes of course, we were on a well defined path),in an amazing twilight, with moon gleaming, birds still singing and sheep calling quietly to their lambs.

Two thirds of the way down there was no noise at all apart from the occassional car in the distance.  So I started to sing, not because I wasnt loving the silence, wasnt enjoying the hearing the odd whisper of the wind, but because I could.  I could sing out, as loud as I wanted (and as tunelessly) because there was no one there to hear, no audience to critise or gripe.  Well unless you count the sheep, and hubby, they may have other views.  Show songs started to fill my head; Miss Saigon, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Jekyll and Hyde.  I finished off with Bill Barclays version of the Twelve Days of Christmas (yes its June, but its funny... even funnier as I couldnt remember all the words).   At the very bottom we were still talking pictures but those without the flash on were just pitch black, but we could still see really clearly, fantastic.


It was a fantastic experience, made all the better by being totally unexpected.

After passing through the kissing gate I took a picture, a shot into the trees ... the mist in the picture was also unexpected and a little eerie.

So running will have to be tomorrow now but now there is yet another new thing to add to my list.  Spend the night on a hill somewhere, maybe a tent, maybe a bothy, but its a must now, the idea is there and it has to be done!