Just over three years ago I set myself the challenge of completing all the Nuttalls in the Brecon Beacons - last weekend I finally did it! And my sons (aged 15 and 11) completed the Hewitts, having missed the odd Nuttall along the way.
My sons and I planned to visit Craig Gwaun Taf and Cribyn using the Beacons Horseshoe route from the reservoirs. The weather forecast promised a fine, if chilly, afternoon but we'd barely left the car park before we had to don waterproofs.
The cloud never really came down though, so route finding was easy, especially as there was a string of other people going the same way. Along Graig Fan Ddu and Craig Gwaun Taf we had rain, hail, sleet and a couple of beautiful rainbows when the sun came out.
As I was completing the Nuttalls as well as the Hewitts, I got one of my sons to take my photo on the little rocky outcrop on Craig Gwaun Taf. It wasn't considered a Nuttall when I first set myself this challenge - let's hope no others get added now we think we've finished!
The wind was pretty fierce at this point and my youngest decided he didn't fancy Corn Du. We've been there before (more than once for some of us) so after a brief stop for warming soup or hot chocolate and a bite to eat we headed straight for Pen y Fan. Thankfully by this time the sun was well and truly out.
While it was, as always, busy, we didn't have to queue for summit photos and we had fantastic views, including of yet another rainbow.
There's a big drop before you ascend Cribyn and my legs turned to jelly as we started the steep climb. It took me an age to catch up with the boys at the summit but we'd done it.
Thankfully after that it was all pretty much downhill back to the car, as with nightfall looming we decided to skip Fan y Big too. The sun set while we were walking but there was a full moon and our eyes adjusted. We may have missed the odd nail or two of the horseshoe but it was a fitting finale to our challenge. You can see the route
here.