Their story, in their words….
Our trip to Brecon Beacons has been rather character building to say the least. As a group of 4 who don’t get out of their comfort zones often we planned to camp and hike nearly 200 miles away from home in South Wales. Even after the numerous re-drafts and thorough planning, we made many mistakes along the way. One of them was not bringing the right equipment such as hiking poles.
We spent 5 days there, two of which were dedicated to travelling to the campsite and coming back to London. Once we got off the coach at Cardiff we were meant to take 2 buses, however, we ended up taking 4 since we got lost. Finding our way there consisted of panicking, crying and arguing but we managed to figure it out by working as a team. The views from Brecon and the countless stars you can see at night was worth the stress.
Not everything went as planned so we had to comprise and do what we could. For the first hike to pen y fan we couldn’t reach the top due to the situation we were in. There were two trails to go there, one that was made for cars and another for walking. Unknowingly, we decided to go through the path made for cars which made the hike way harder than it should’ve been. Our stamina was not on the same page either, meaning that some of us were faster than others. This led us to losing each other and a lot of time being taken up. Navigating our way back down the mountain would’ve been unsafe at night, therefore, we had to cut it short. Whilst walking back to our campsite a lovely couple offered one of us a lift in their caravan because of an injured ankle. Although we didn’t go to the top of pen y fan and walk 22 miles, we are still proud for walking 17 miles.
From then on forward we made sure that we stuck together and did hikes that were safe. The hike to tor y foel was the most enjoyable for us as we were more organised re-encountering the previous days disaster. The people we met along the way were extremely helpful and are part of a tight knit community full of warm welcoming people. Living off pot noodle and snacks in a tent also made us grateful for the basic luxuries we took for granted in London. Despite all the struggles, this trip taught us so many lessons and has made us more confident and resilient than ever before. We are grateful for having the opportunity to experience a difficult road with a beautiful destination.
