Walk: 8 miles, 2700ft of ascent and 3450ft of descent
Ever since Danny Nicolaou did the Yorkshire 3-Peaks a few months ago he had contracted the hiking bug, and for quite a while been talking about where the next trip could be. He asked me whether Scafell Pike or Snowdon would be the best option? I told him both were good, but if it was to include an overnight stay then Snowdon might be the best as there are more places locally to stay; so the choice was made.
Danny planned to bring along a few friends, and from the office Malcolm and Colin, along with my good self, decided to join the trip.
So the weekend was here, Danny and his friends were booked in Llanberis and were setting of mid-afternoon, and we three were in Caernarfon and were intending to leave around mid-day; which we did.
Donna took me to Malcolm's and we picked Colin up in the Anvil pub in Stannington, to say he might have 'had a few' would be an understatement; his glazed eyes said it all. Our journey across was 5hrs due to all the traffic delays along the way, and Colin slept for most of the journey, often bent over in the back seat with his jacket over his head. In fact, it did look a little like we were carrying a dead body in the back seat! Thankfully we didn't get stopped.
We stopped off for a coffee near Chester, and at 5pm eventually arrived on the cobbled street close to our B&B, it was very basic but for only £35 per night it was clean and included a decent breakfast so you can't complain. After dropping our stuff in our rooms we headed out for a drink and some food. And by 9pm we were taking Colin back to the hotel, I had my arms on him stopping him from falling as he was "pissed as a fart" - we couldn't stop laughing about it. After dumping him on his bed we headed off for a 45 minute walk around Caernarfon to get some fresh air.
And to the morning of the walk.
Now this is where a few frustrations started to fester a little; for me that is. We had arranged a meeting point and agreed a route. But, we three ended up waiting 30 minutes for the others to meet us, and then the route changed as some of the others didn't want to do the path from Llanberis. So we had to get a bus up to the starting point for the other path which meant that we had been there for over 1.5hrs before even starting walking.
My next frustration came when we decided to do the Pyg Track; a steep ascent which included quite a bit of clambering up rocks. It was not something myself and Colin were expecting or prepared for, and we were the stragglers at the back. If I'm being honest I found it really hard, I was really struggling for energy and at one point slipped and fell down some rocks. On a number of occasions I just wanted to stop and miraculously spirit myself off the mountain, but in good old SAS style I took my time and eventually made it to the top.
The view from up there were stunning, it wasn't the clear day that we had hoped for but it was great to see cloud in the valleys below; an awesome sight. We had a hot drink in the cafe at the top with the throngs of people who had walked up, and those who had paid £22 each to come up on the train.
And the next couple of hours I was hacked off to say the least. As we left the summit I spent a couple of minutes taking advantage of the views and firing off shots with the camera, and the rest had set off. However I had expected that someone would have waited for me to catch up, but I walked from summit back to the car all on my own. I'd found it very strenuous on the way up, but the way down although a lot less difficult it was playing havoc with my left knee which has been getting worse over the last few months - time for the doctors me thinks.
At least walking alone meant that I could take lots of photos at my leisure as I knew our car was going nowhere until I got back there. And by a little after 4pm I rolled into the car-park and we set off home. Unfortunately due to the traffic I didn't get home until around 8:45pm, but que cera cera. So overall I won't say that I didn't enjoy the weekend as that would be lying, but, would I do it again knowing what I would experience?
Ever since Danny Nicolaou did the Yorkshire 3-Peaks a few months ago he had contracted the hiking bug, and for quite a while been talking about where the next trip could be. He asked me whether Scafell Pike or Snowdon would be the best option? I told him both were good, but if it was to include an overnight stay then Snowdon might be the best as there are more places locally to stay; so the choice was made.
Danny planned to bring along a few friends, and from the office Malcolm and Colin, along with my good self, decided to join the trip.
So the weekend was here, Danny and his friends were booked in Llanberis and were setting of mid-afternoon, and we three were in Caernarfon and were intending to leave around mid-day; which we did.
Donna took me to Malcolm's and we picked Colin up in the Anvil pub in Stannington, to say he might have 'had a few' would be an understatement; his glazed eyes said it all. Our journey across was 5hrs due to all the traffic delays along the way, and Colin slept for most of the journey, often bent over in the back seat with his jacket over his head. In fact, it did look a little like we were carrying a dead body in the back seat! Thankfully we didn't get stopped.
We stopped off for a coffee near Chester, and at 5pm eventually arrived on the cobbled street close to our B&B, it was very basic but for only £35 per night it was clean and included a decent breakfast so you can't complain. After dropping our stuff in our rooms we headed out for a drink and some food. And by 9pm we were taking Colin back to the hotel, I had my arms on him stopping him from falling as he was "pissed as a fart" - we couldn't stop laughing about it. After dumping him on his bed we headed off for a 45 minute walk around Caernarfon to get some fresh air.
And to the morning of the walk.
Now this is where a few frustrations started to fester a little; for me that is. We had arranged a meeting point and agreed a route. But, we three ended up waiting 30 minutes for the others to meet us, and then the route changed as some of the others didn't want to do the path from Llanberis. So we had to get a bus up to the starting point for the other path which meant that we had been there for over 1.5hrs before even starting walking.
My next frustration came when we decided to do the Pyg Track; a steep ascent which included quite a bit of clambering up rocks. It was not something myself and Colin were expecting or prepared for, and we were the stragglers at the back. If I'm being honest I found it really hard, I was really struggling for energy and at one point slipped and fell down some rocks. On a number of occasions I just wanted to stop and miraculously spirit myself off the mountain, but in good old SAS style I took my time and eventually made it to the top.
The view from up there were stunning, it wasn't the clear day that we had hoped for but it was great to see cloud in the valleys below; an awesome sight. We had a hot drink in the cafe at the top with the throngs of people who had walked up, and those who had paid £22 each to come up on the train.
And the next couple of hours I was hacked off to say the least. As we left the summit I spent a couple of minutes taking advantage of the views and firing off shots with the camera, and the rest had set off. However I had expected that someone would have waited for me to catch up, but I walked from summit back to the car all on my own. I'd found it very strenuous on the way up, but the way down although a lot less difficult it was playing havoc with my left knee which has been getting worse over the last few months - time for the doctors me thinks.
At least walking alone meant that I could take lots of photos at my leisure as I knew our car was going nowhere until I got back there. And by a little after 4pm I rolled into the car-park and we set off home. Unfortunately due to the traffic I didn't get home until around 8:45pm, but que cera cera. So overall I won't say that I didn't enjoy the weekend as that would be lying, but, would I do it again knowing what I would experience?
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