The 4 Waterfalls Walk
This week’s workouts were the most fun I’ve had in a long time and it was all down to the 4 Waterfalls Walk in the Brecon Beacons. Absolutely stunning views and I fancy myself as a bit of an amateur photographer so I’ve taken tons of photos to share with you.
The main attraction of the 4 Waterfalls Walk for me was that you get to actually walk behind a waterfall! How cool is that! Pretty darn cool.
What I ran this week
In a bid to kick start my running again after RED January I spontaneously decided to go out for a run!
It was a beautiful sunny lovely day and that’s just the best time to get your trainers on and out the door.
It wasn’t anything revolutionary, but running felt great! This is the reason I love running. You’ve got your best running tracks in your ears and the sun on your face and you’re living the running dream.
Yes it was awful in terms of feeling like I was the worst runner ever, but at least it happened.
I have a race at the end of March and it’s going to be an 8 mile trail run…. not sure how I feel about that to be honest but as long as I can stand up at the end I’ll be a happy camper.
I got sick on Thursday night so my plan of running on Friday when I got home from work was out the window but I did have something special planned for Sunday…
The 4 Waterfalls Walk
A couple of my work BFFs (best friends forever) and I decided we’d go on an adventure to the country of Wales to walk the 4 Waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons.
Before we headed off, I was advised that wellies were not appropriate footwear for the occasion due to the tricky underfoot conditions. I didn’t take that advice and I’ll share with you why I made the right decision later on in the post!
The morning started off a little foggy and we drove across the Severn Bridge in thick fog. What a day to go on an adventure when you can’t see anything…
We got to the top of the Brecon Beacons around lunchtime, armed ourselves with a map and a picnic and set off. We said ‘hi’ to some sheep and trotted into the woodland.
The weather had cleared up by now and it was glorious sunshine and around 14 degrees in February! We couldn’t quite believe our luck. We’d gone out jacket-less and feeling optimistic.
The First Waterfall
We arrived at our first waterfall which was a pretty sight with woodland trees all around. One waterfall down, 3 more to go!
The terrain was very trail-like and slippery in some places as we’d had a decent amount of rainfall in recent week. This also meant that the waterfalls were even more impressive so we couldn’t complain.
Waterfall #2
The most impressive of them all, the second waterfall was the one I’d seen photos of the night before and advised the group chat that if I didn’t get a picture of me standing in the water then I wasn’t going.
Luckily for me, I had chosen to wear my wellies and managed to get a pretty spectacular shot like this…
This was also the waterfall that you could stand behind and it was pretty amazing. I’d never been to a waterfall before and to be able to reach out and grab one with my hands was just the best feeling. THIS is the stuff that dreams are made of.
The steps leading down (and not forgetting back up) to the second waterfall were challenging. They were steep and slippery but the views at the bottom were totally worth it.
The person who left their spectacles half way down the steps probably didn’t think so though! I sure wouldn’t want to go back down and retrieve them that’s for sure.
We rewarded ourselves with a perfect picnic packed by Naomi. We needed some energy after all of those steps (I believe it was 160 or something like that!).
Third Waterfall
The third waterfall probably had the biggest drop from the edge and me being me, I decided I was going to sit on the edge and get a photo (I’m here for a good time not a long time). I set up my tripod and got down to the ledge and it was exhilarating!
I had to share my money shot with a couple of bananas that had been left. Perhaps this was where all the monkeys were hiding out when no-one was looking.
We then had tons of fun taking some photos near the shallow water and I decided that I wanted to go a little deeper and nearly fell in. It was okay though because Becky was filming me just in case I did.
Final Waterfall
The final waterfall was the most ‘insta worthy’ of them all as you could get close to the ledge without fear of a drop on the other side. It was really pretty on this one and we made sure to take lots of photos here.
The Long Walk Home
All 4 Waterfalls conquered, we headed back to the car and my gosh it was a long trek back! In total we walked around 7 miles according to my Garmin and it took us around 5 hours (bearing in mind we stopped to take lots of cool pics along the way).
We walked back the ‘scenic route’ along the river which was deserted and we never passed another person along this route.
By now our feet were tired and the sun was starting to go down and all that was keeping us going was the prospect of an ice cold McDonald’s coke and a bath when we got home.
Tips for The 4 Waterfalls
- Make sure you wear suitable footwear and more importantly that they’re comfortable. I wore my wellies because they’d been well broken in from walking the dog in them and the grip was sufficient on the bottom
- The terrain is particularly tricky in places so you need to be steady on your feet otherwise you could end up slipping onto a wet rock
- Take snacks and a picnic. We had the picnic queen with us so were well prepared for sustenance.
- Also, take water! Although we didn’t see any places for bathroom breaks along the route except for in the car park where we set off from so bear that in mind too
- You may want to consider your fitness levels as it’s no walk in the park. There are steep inclines to navigate both up and down and you certainly feel the leg burns during and in the days that follow (see below for elevation chart)
- If you aren’t sure about a 7-mile walk, head straight for the main waterfall and that will be more than enough to whet your waterfall appetite as it’s impressive
- Take tons of photos. You’ll enjoy looking back on them when you’re
home and you’ve got some lovely keepsakes
All in all, it was a brilliant day out and I’d highly recommend the 4 Waterfalls.
The Brecon Beacons are totally stunning and every time I’ve visited I haven’t been disappointed.
Total cost of the walk was £4 for parking and £1 for a map so it’s a cheap day out for tons of fun too.
If you’ve walked this trail before, have you got any tips you’d like to share?
