Sunrise Cloud Inversions from Pen-y-Fan
So we find ourselves in that slightly depressing time of year.
Warm weather firmly our rear view mirror, dark nights setting in, and weather conditions taking a turn for the worse
After one of the wettest and warmest Novembers on record, I could count the number of time I had spent quality time in the outdoors on one hand.
The combination of the clocks going back and the biblical weather meant I had neglected spending time in the hills and that was beginning to take its toll on my mental health.
Despite having very little in the way of work commitments, I was lacking all motivation to get out of bed and go for a hike or mini adventure, which was extremely rare for me.
That all changed at the start of December when I saw that many of the mountainous regions in the UK were experiencing the incredible phenomenon which is known a cloud inversion.
This magnificent weather, which is usually caused by a period of high pressure, a drop in temperature, and low winds, had been plastered across my social media channels from both the Lake and Peak District.
I hadn’t however seen any footage of it occurring in the Brecon Beacons.
Not wanting to make a four hour wasted round trip to climb Pen-y-fan (which is again not like me at all), I had spent days scrolling through Instagram to see if there was any evidence of a cloud inversion in the Brecon Beacons.
Finally on Thursday 1st December, I stumbled across video footage on twitter from Freelance Photographer and mountain biker Jim Cossey, showing the inversions over the central Beacons.
I new a trip into the mountains was exactly what I needed to get myself out of my recent slump.
So after confirming that the forecast looked good for the next day, I readied the camera gear and set the alarm for 5:30am
As I was taking Laszlo with me, who can be quite reactive and barky with other dogs, I was deliberating heading up from the Horseshoe car park to avoid the crowd which are usually gathered on the summit of Pen-y-fan.
However as I was heading up with a friend who had to be back down for work, we decided on taking the quickest and easiest route to the summit from Pont-yr-Daf.
Considering the visibility on the drive through the Brecon beacons was almost perfect, I was conscious that there may not be a cloud inversion after all.
However given that the skies were clear and that the horizon was starting glow orange, I knew we were going to be in for a delightful sunrise.
I was pleasantly surprised to arrive at the newly built (and much needed) car park at Pont-yr-Daf shortly before 7am, to find only a handful of cars.
With sunrise at 8am, we set off up the route known as ‘the motorway’ covering the easy to follow 3km route to the summit in just over 45 minutes.
The partial cloud inversion became evident as we reached the saddle beneath Corn Du and was even more special once we were up on the summit.
Low cloud was blocking the horizon but the sky was awash with a red and orange glow. The sunrise cloud inversion was made even better by the fact that there was only a dozen or so people up on the summit.
After around 45 minutes of snapping some photos and taking it all in, we were back down and in the car by 9:30 and on our way home.
Although it was fleeting trip into the hills, it was just what a needed to get me out of my recent slump and i came away with some memories and photos which will live long in the memory.
Below are the collection of snaps which myself and my friend Will managed to capture. They were taken on a Sony a7iv + 28-200m Tamron lens and a DJI Mavic 3.
You can find more Welsh hiking inspiration in the following blogs
For more Welsh travel inspiration check out my in-depth guides to each of my favourite regions below.