Members of Explorer and Scout Network Units in 1st Hinchley Wood, 1st Weston Green and 1st Claygate, travelled to the Brecon Beacons in early February for their annual winter weekend. The general programme was for a main walk on Saturday with caving in the evening and either rock climbing on Sunday or another day hike depending on preference.
On Saturday morning at 10:00 three hiking groups set off. Two were to ascend Pen-y-Fan from the south (roughly 16 km), they met on the Pen-y-Fan summit resulting in a brief and bitter snowball fight! The other group were to take a longer, trickier course (roughly 18 km). Lunch was eaten on the mountainside and groups were back by 5 pm to go out again caving. After two hours of caving the cavers returned back to the hostel for a dinner of the finest shepherd's pie around.
After a night's sleep and breakfast the party was divided into two groups one for rock climbing and the other group for another gruelling day of hill hiking. The climbers spent the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon rock climbing on the site of an old quarry.
The hill hikers returned back at 4pm and were met by the remainder of the climbers who had not already set off home. Everybody was home by 8pm and ready for work on the ensuing Monday morning.