Looking at the map the stone at first appears quite close to the road, no further than my house to my mums just a 10 minute stroll, however, Pen y Gadair Fawr stands between the carpark and the menhir and its 800metres high. The carpark is at 450m so only another 350 to go. A river must be crossed as well, but a handy bridge is nearby although it then forces you into Mynydd ddu forest criss crossed with good drivable paths, I took the direct route up a barely navigable sometime path through the deep and dark forest, in the end i'd had enough of the forest and came out on the north not far from the summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr. After passing the peak on its southern side I headed down the other side of the mountain 350m below I could just make out the stone by the trees, it seemed really far away and it was then I thought of giving up, but it was downhill all the way so I carried on.
Upon reaching the stone it all becomes worth it, 7-8 feet tall, aligned totally east-west, and is sited in a place of extreme beauty. The stone is thinner on one edge making it a very huggable shape and if you look at it too long it can look like a large woman with her hand on one hip, another hug was in order, one thing lead to another and it was suddenly time to go.
This stone is just about the furthest trek Iv'e ever endured for any single site, and I can't really recomend it had the stone been a tiddler or the view been crap I would have sobbed the whole way back, as it was the trek just built it up for me and the arrival at the journeys purpose was almost euphoric. Viva la Brecon Beacons