Snowdonia Weekend – 12-14 February 1999
The last Snowdonia weekend trip of this year kicked off with the buses aiming at arrive at Llanberis before closing time. The cunning route taken by my bus (via Birmingham) meant we arrived just minutes after the pubs had shut, whilst the other group had made it just in time. They were all sitting inside the pub, and couldn't be convinced to join the little huddle of beer-less Explorers standing outside the pub - strange really! Eventually they emerged, and we headed off to our home for the weekend - a small hostel just outside Llanberis.
The first day of the weekend dawned clear and bright. Blue skies and mild temperatures promised of a good day to come. It was decided that Snowdon would be the main summit of the day, with various groups attacking the mountain from different directions. My group, led by Claudia and myself, took the Pyg Track from Pen-y-pass, up to Llyn Llydaw. The lake was glass flat, and spectacularly reflected the summit of Snowdon, giving rise to a great photo opportunity.
Walking up the Pyg Track
Snowdon, reflected in Llyn Llydaw
From the lake, we headed away from the main path, and took the Y-Lliwedd ridge up onto the summit. As we gained height, the wind picked up, and clouds began to roll in on us. The ground underfoot was thickly covered in snow in places, and made for interesting walking!
Climbing up to the summit
We arrived at the top, and met one of the other groups who had come up from the other direction. After swapping stories of our trek to the top over a rather cold lunch stop, our group headed off in the direction of the Allt Maenderyn ridge, and from here descended down into the waterfall laden valley of Cwm Llan.
At the top
On the descent, thick snow once again provided great amusement value, with several slopes lending themselves to the alternative sliding method of descent. Once at the base of the mountain, we walked along the shores of Llyn Gwynant, before slogging back up the hill to Pen-y-pass to pick up the bus.
Group photo in the Cmw Llan valley
That evening, whilst dinner was being cooked and served, Emily and Katja organised a Valentines poem competition. Everyone was given a little paper heart with the name of someone else on the trip written on the back of it. The idea was to come up with a romantic poem about the person, with the best poem winning a prize. The winning poem was written by my brother, Howard, about Ian P.
Doctor, how long I have waited
My eyes are dilated
My heart flutters like a dove
I'm having contractions
Can't control my reactions
Ian, could this be love?
The next day, the weather took a turn for the worst, with heavy rain greeting us on waking up. In addition, in order to mark the fact that it was Valentines day, the porridge was doctored with pink food colouring - something which can't really be said to improve its appearance! [unfortunately, the food colouring has since made guest appearances on other weekends]. The pink porridge didn't make much of an improvement to anyones spirits, and enthusiasm for doing a walk in the pouring rain seemed to be distinctly lacking. A small group of us decided to brave the elements and go walking on the Mynydds. These form a short ridge of hills running around the edge of Bedgellert forest. The top ridge is very rocky, and scrambling was the order of the day. Heavy rain damped the experience somewhat (in all senses of the word), but on the whole, it was an interesting day, and showed us a lesser known part of Snowdonia.
Snowdonia once again proved that it has a lot to offer. The first day, with the spectacular weather in the morning provided some great views, and some good walking. The second day, whilst wet and cold, showed that Snowdonia is THE place for scrambling fun! All in all, an enjoyable weekend.
Original page by Dan Towner.
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