Snowdon

So yesterday, just for fun, a few of us decided to climb Mount Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in Wales. It was quite an adventure and we had a lot of fun. It first involved us getting to the mountain. None of us had used the bus system in northern Wales, so that was an adventure in itself. Friday night we all got together to map out our mission. We decided we needed to get on the #85 to Llanberis and then take another small bus to the base of Snowdon. No problem, right? Well, the first bus was no problem to get on. We weren't 100% sure where to get on the bus. Bright and early yesterday  morning we walked down to the closest bus stop and looked over the sign. If we were reading the sign correctly there would be a #85 stopping at 8:53; it was currently 8:23. We had plenty of time and while we waited there should have been 8 other buses stopping. The funny part was 8 other buses went by but none of them actually stopped. By creeping on other locals we figured out that you had to actually signal the bus to stop otherwise it would just fly on by. Good thing there were other people at this stop that were riding other buses. So as we saw #85 coming along we flagged the driver down like we knew exactly what we were doing. We paid our fair and we were golden, or so we thought.

Once we arrived in the small town of Llanberis, we realized we had no idea where we were supposed to get off. Luckily it wasn't hard for us to figure that one out. We eventually came to a huge bus stop where there were tons of people gathered around that all looked like mountain hikers; we assumed they had the same idea as us; climb Snowdon. As soon as we got off #85 another bus pulled up and everyone crammed onto it; we assumed it would take us where we needed to go; and sure enough it did! One more mission accomplished. We soon arrived at a parking lot at the base of Snowdon, now where? We went into the small shop and we must have looked like we didn't have a clue what we were doing because a guide came up to us asking if we needed any help. We told him we wanted to take the Pyg path up to the summit if he could just point us in the right direction we would be very thankful. After a long conversation he had us talked into needing a map. So we went to the gift shop and bought the 4.95 map... that we didn't really need but got it just in case.

We knew where we were going and we were off. We really wouldn't have had to ask directions at all. All we would have had to do was follow the giant mob up the mountain. There were tons of people who obviously had the same idea as us. The day was so beautiful. It was a perfect day to make the climb. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the top and the whole way all we had to do was stay on the path. It was a little bit boring especially considering there were so many people doing the same thing. Don't get me wrong it was a beautiful climb and we got a hell of a work out, its just in OP we don't normally stick to a path. So about 2 hours into it we decided (and when I say we I mean I decided) to get off the beaten path. The path took a big detour around the steep part of the mountain so we decided to climb straight up instead of going around. I don't know if it was the best decision but I felt accomplished after we got up it. It was like climbing on kitty litter which made it very challenging especially since it was like straight up. Oh well, we made it AND we were almost at the summit. It was about a 10 minute walk and we were there. There were so many people at the top, it was crazy.

After enjoying our lunch we headed back down. We didn't take the same path; we took one that would take us right back to Llanberis, no need to take another bus. The path we took was very boring; so to make it more interesting, about half way down we got off the path again. There was a peak off to side that had some huge boulders on it. So using some of our OP skills we did some bouldering. It was a lot of fun messing around. We even played lava; which made me feel like a kid again. If you have never played it is where we said we could only step on rocks because everything else was lava. If you stepped on the grass you were dead because you feel in the lava. We played that from the peak all the way back to the path. It was so much fun! Overall, the day was a huge accomplishment. We made it to the mountain on our own and we hiked over a mile high. Not to mention it was just a great day to enjoy the day outside AND I got sunburned! Imagine that, sunburn in Wales!

Until next time...

~Amy