The wind is gentle and the silence calming, as I sit on the shore of my favourite lake within the Brecon Beacons. My heart rate slows from our fast hike across the hillside to ensure we beat the rising sun. With the pre dawn glow granting us enough light to see that the hills have a dusting of snow, I sit for a minute listening to the gentle ebb of moving water and realise this was going to be a special morning..
Some morning adventures are not planned, often a text message comes though late at night or a flick through the weather forecast at midnight makes you rush out and throw your kit in the car in readiness for an early morning rise. This trip was no different, my friend Kris mentioned that himself and Amy were heading up to a favourite spot of ours for sunrise. After a quick flick through the weather app on my phone I messaged back agreeing to met them in a few hours.
The three of us set of with a sense of urgency to get to the lake before sunrise, crossing streams and trying our best to bypass the boggy areas, we soon reached the edge of the lake. Excitement could be felt throughout the trio as we traversed around the shoreline to the point where we wanted to set up our kit. For me this was going to be a sunrise first at this lake, no working out a composition, no rushing around to bag a couple of shots I have in mind and no dropping my filters on the ground whilst trying to wipe the wet grass from them.
The morning’s silence was soon broken with the booming sound of two SUP’s being rapidly inflated. I say two, Amy was on the water before I had even opened my bag. Kris however continued with his morning ritual of a few expletives, massive amounts of faffing and laughs aplenty. I smuggly pulled out my feather pump, inflated my kokapeli packraft and glided out on to the surface of the lake leaving Kris to faff a little more.
Very soon we were all out in the middle of the lake with time to spare before the sun rose over the horizon. I sat back in my raft taking in the surroundings and enjoying the changing colours of the sky in-front of me as the cold air froze the water around my raft.
Before long the sun joined us and provided some additional warmth and along with it changed the atmosphere instantly. The day had started and yet we had already been on the lake for 30 minute and put an hours hike into our legs. Is this not the best way to start a day?
After a couple of hours filled with smiles and laughs I can safely say this was one of the finest mornings I have spent in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Roll on the next impromptu morning adventure.