Yr Wyddfa

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October 28th 2007

Published: October 29th 2007

emak

Yr Wyddfa

View from the train

On Sunday we got an extra hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings time! We ate another carb-filled breakfast in hopes that we would be climbing Mount Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa as it is called in Welsh. If the clouds were going to be low and obscuring the view, or the path, there really was no point in climbing. In that case we were going to visit Penrhyn Castle. 7 of us really wanted to climb the mountain - the highest point in Wales. I was really interested because Yr Wyddfa plays into many of the King Arthur legends or at least serves as a backdrop for the stories. Storm wasn't sure if we were going to climb or not. It had rained almost all night and the clouds were low. When we got out there, though, it was petty nice although windy, so we decided to do it. All of us took the train a little over halfway up and the views from the train were gorgeous! We could see an open slate mine on the side of one mountain, and waterfalls and streams. 8 of us, me, Storm, Carrie, Joy, Alex, Kate, Siri, and Andrea decided to keep climbing

Yr Wyddfa

View from the train

after the train stopped. As I said before it was windy and the wind got stronger as we went up. It was also pretty cloudy. There were times when we could see about 20 or 30 meters, but then the clouds would lift and the views were spectacular. There would be clouds all around us and then it was like the hand of God drew back a curtain and we saw lakes and other mountains. The veil lifted more and green hillsides and villages came into view. Higher yet the clouds rose and we could see Bangor, Anglesey Island, and the Irish Sea. It was breathtaking. There was one point when Carrie pointed out the fact that through the clouds we could see nothing. Storm answered "Or everything" and as he gestured to where the scenery would be the clouds parted and lifted as if on cue. However, at times when we were all breathing hard and we couldn't see anything, the line from the Fellowship of the Ring, "If the mountain defeats you. . .", kept going through my head. The views up there also reminded my of something from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If I

Chapel

A chapel on the mountain last used in 1952

hadn't known that both of these movies were filmed in New Zealand, I would have said that they were filmed in Wales. We got to the summit at 1:00 and started down shortly after. We stopped for lunch at about 2:30 in a sheltered little place that had a rock perfect for sitting. Than began the muddy part of our trek. Since it had rained the previous night, the trail was more like a stream than a trail and the surrounding area was rather muddy. Then, about 200 meters from the end, it started to sprinkle. Luckily, it was just a sprinkle. We also ran into a sheep road block, so we took pictures before shooing them out of the way.
When we got back in the coach, I changed shoes and then attempted to read Dracula and fell asleep. We stopped at another service station for dinner and most of us went to McDonald's. It tasted pretty much like at home - it even said "fries" on the menu instead of "chips". They did not have condiments out like they do at home which was the only major difference. The rest of the ride back to the flat was