Snowdon, cream scones and wimbledon

Day 2 of our Welsh weekender and Snowdon was the target for today.  Tent all packed up and away in the car we headed to the Ranger station where we knew  the path started for the Snowdon Ranger route up the impressive hill.

From the minute you set foot on the path you can see the summit and that’s quite rare when climbing a mountain.  Although it takes a while before it actually appears to be closer you can see it all the way up the walk.

The first part of the walk was familiar as it was the same route as we’d come down from yesterday but instead of heading off the path to Llanberis we kept on walking towards the first steep part of the walk up the zig zags on the lower flanks of Snowdon.  There were a few people on the path with us, some passed us, we passed some but all in all it was a fairly quiet walk.  About 2 hrs in we decided to stop for first lunch and settled on a little patch of grass to tuck into crackers and pate yet again, a much needed rest stop and fuel for the walking ahead.

 It was at this point that the cloud started to come in obscuring our view of the summit for the first time.  The cloud got lower and lower and soon surrounded us blocking out views on all sides.  It was a pleasant reprieve walking in the mist and not having the hot sun seering down. On this part of the walk we started to see people descending who had obviously set off early doors.   One man that passed us remarked on how the summit was covered in midges and even worse, people.  Aggghhhh the downside of having a train to the summit of a mountain.   Hoards and hoards of day trippers.   

At the top of the Ranger route the path meets up with the mountain railway and through the mist we could hear the whistle of the train before we could see it.  There it was emerging from the mist packed with people all having their own Snowdon experience.  The better views were to the left where the impressive Crib Coch emerged proudly from the mist.  A blanket of cloud still nestled at the far end gave it the impression that it was volcanic and looked incredibly dramatic.  The cloud above had cleared and showed us the views from all directions and the sun was out again beating down and attracting all those blooming midges, grrrrrr!

Only a few more steps to the summit and after a quick touch of the trig it was down, out of the midge infested air and into the café where we had a nice cup of tea and a cream scone.  Such a delight and incredibly refreshing and a funny overheard conversation by a man who had a PHD in making stuff gave us another giggle moment of the day..   Water replenished and packs back on we headed back out where the cloud and mist had descended yet again.   A signal on our phone meant we could tag ourselves at the top and then we headed down onto the Bwlch Main ridge to meet with the Rhyd Ddu path that would take us back towards the direction of the campsite and where the car was parked.

 This route took us over some nice scrambly bits and down to the valley between Snowdon and Yr Aran.  We turned right here down through the old slate mine and realized that we’d missed the Rhyd Ddu path (most likely in the mist) and we’d gone a fair bit further left than we’d intended to.  It meant further to walk back to the car but we were down and we’d had fun coming down so that was a good thing, right?

Time for 2^nd lunch and the last of the pate.  We were passed by an unusual family who I’m now convinced were Pennsylvanian Dutch / Amish. The woman spoke with a sort of American accent but the rest of the family were accented.  They were very conservatively dressed (socks with sandals eeek!)  apart from the daughter who was dressed like a teenager.  So who knows!

The path was quite clear from here and we saw where the Rhyd Ddu path met up with ours and could clearly see the route we’d intended to be on but we’d have missed out on all the lovely scrambling so I’m not complaining.  Over the train track for the last time and it was a pint of soda water and lime at the pub……and a chance to see Andy Murray win Wimbledon whilst we were there.

Its late in the day by this point and time to head for home but what a great weekend in Wales.  Snowdon you never fail to please me x