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Published: April 12th 2008
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We have officially commenced a career of hiking...None of this pussy-footing around, straight to the big guns for us! To Snowden and beyond!!! It was with such enthusiasm we headed to Wales for a weekend in the glorious Snowdonia National Park. It was a last minute decision really-a product of a 5-day weekend thanks to Easter and our mutual employers' policies of an aditional 'Easter Tuesday' holiday day..no complaints from us!
So it was that we set off on the coldest Easter Saturday on record for several decades. Where just weeks ago we'd been reacquainted with the sun, basking in early Spring sunlight, snow had now descended upon us...and descend it did. It was fortunate we set off quite early as we later learned many roads in Yorkshire had to be closed due to the bad weather.
Instead though, oblivious to all this, we were happily gliding past snow-covered fields enroute to Llundudno (a place name we're still unable to pronounce despite having spent the whole weekend there!) As we entered Wales, it was not hard to see exactly why the Welsh are so proud of their little pocket of the world. It is indeed a beautiful landscape from
the coast to mountain country, with many spectaular castles and quaint traditional towns at every turn!
We visited two of the best castles we're every likely to see in the course of the weekend...the magnificent Caernarfon Castle with its 7 grand towers, and the awe-inspiring Conway Castle with its myriad of twisting passageways that are sure to ignite the imagination. The real highlight (and at times, lowlight) of our time here though was hiking Snowdon. This is the biggest mountain in Wales (sounds impressive when said like that-in reality its actually only alittle over 1100 metres but still...we're amateurs after all!) The fact that we are true novices became unquestionably evident when I now look back upon our attempts at climbing the mountain that weekend.
We set off early on Easter Sunday for our 'big hike'. It took us quite awhile to actually reach the spot from where we could realistically begin the climb (even armed with our recently-purchased sat nav, we still managed to get lost enroute! Apparently we're novice navigators also). Once safely arrived, we set off with enormous enthusiasm. I smile wryly now as I write this because here we were, heading off to climb
our first mountain...a mountain that was visibly coated in snow in every direction...and yet we did not pause once to consider whether we were kitted out for the adventure ahead. After walking for well over an hour, we began the ascension up the mountain side where it quickly became apparent that my poor old sneakers and fleece were simply not going to cut it, nor was Adam's general casual attire (although points to him as he was at least wearing footwear that was hiking friendly!) So with much disappointment we concluded it was useless to push on. We needed to be better prepared (at the very least I required some hiking boots!) and so we left, vowing to return the next day fully kitted out and rearing to go.
And return we did, fully kitted out and feeling decidedly pleased with ourselves . However, the process of getting fed, watered and sorted with boots and rain jackets and approprate mid-layers took a huge chunk of the day. So alas we found ourselves commencing the 5 1/2 hour climb at 230 in the afternoon. Really not wise in retrospect as it became increasingly clear the higher we hiked that the
snow and wind were picking up, with visibility falling with the fading light of the day. Alas, we were defeated by the mountain (and our own poor preparation) for a second time!!! We were quite sad as we descended after 2 1/2 hours of climbing up, but a tiny sensible voice inside my head knew we were doing the right thing. The mountan was basically empty barr one couple we met descending mid way through our climbing time.
Despite the fact our two (albeit misplanned) attempts at conquering the 'mountain' failed, and I discoered I have an intense loathing of squelchy, thick mud-puddles (with considerable complaint on my behalf I confess), we also discovered how incredible it felt to be out in the great outdoors, directing all one's resources to breathing in the cool fresh air as we moved closer and closer to the end goal. This could be the begniing of a life-long love affair....
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