Pen Y Fan, the most amazing cloud inversions we have ever seen

A miserable morning is how our day started! That thought of 'will we see anything at the summit?' instantly crossed our minds. Luckily for us we don't hike just for the summit views, we hike to enjoy nature!

As we started our ascent, we agreed it's a good thing we don't hike for the views. There were no views! Cloud, mist and rain was the vast majority of what we could see.

Shortly after starting our hike we met a guy on his way down from the summit of Pen Y Fan, 'don't waste your time, there's nothing to see up there' is what we were told. 'Thanks for the advice' we thought, and on we went knowing we would either see nothing or enjoy the summit and sit and wait. Yes! We waited for a while, but as the clouds cleared, the wait was worth it. More about that later, we still have to hike to the summit.

This is the first time Helen struggled to summit a mountain, after suffering for two weeks with the flu, she was not going to let the flu beat her. The hike wasn't too difficult; more strenuous than usual, struggling to breath and the fatigue set in much sooner than normal. Helen looked much happier than she felt!

The closer we got to the summit the less likely it seemed that we see anything beyond the end of our arms! Sadly we have nothing to prove this, let's face it no-one wants to look at a misty block of nothing! The only photos we did take had the bright sun shining through the mist and clouds. This gave us hope that we would be lucky when we summited.

We sat on the summit for about an hour, made a coffee and had breakfast while we waited for the clouds to disappear. It was a well needed break! By this point the clouds began to lift, we knew if we waited a little longer we would get the views we had earlier been told would not be possible.

As we said earlier the wait was definitely worth it. As the clouds cleared, the vibrant blue sky and bright shining sun became visible. The view was as stunning and beautiful as it was last time I visited.

The clouds began to roll down the mountain and through the valley, the sight was something we had never seen before, the volume of clouds was spectacular. Rolling over the top of the mountain down the steep descent continuing through the valley. This is why we love to wait at the summit even in bad weather because you never know what you could have seen if you turn around and start the descent before taking a break.

After a few hours on the summit, we decided to start descending Pen Y Fan. After packing up our stove, mugs, rubbish and jackets we started to pack up the camera equipment. Something caught our eye, something we have never seen before. We quickly set up the camera and tripod and witnessed this.....

We want to give a shout out to Print and Stitches a local supplier who we work with to produce our branded clothing. We are thrilled with the end product!

Check out what we have at the moment, we will be adding new products in the near future https://www.straighttothesummit.com/merchandise