Let me tell you about my perspective as a lazy, semi-fat, scared of heights girl of walking up Snowdon and the path I took.
I thought I have done this before in school and it’s something people do right? Those outdoors people and I don’t need a map as there will be loads of people doing it too. Now from what I have seen of different paths, I did want a bit of a challenge. So we decided to take the Pyg path up and the Miners one down.
We planned to go on the Sunday of Easter weekend but it pissed it down and we decided it best to make the crazy decision on going on the Monday then driving back to London straight afterwards.
We get there and the main (very small) car park was obviously full so we needed to do the park and ride. Pointer- Make sure you take loads of change for the machine and the bus.
So it takes around 6 hours, and we started walking at 1, that was enough time to park and get bacon and egg butties at the café (it was ok, not the best I have had) before we made a start.
You can tell straight off the bat that the nice slopping path of the Miners track to the left looked a tad easier to start but hey hoe let’s go.
Instantly starting regretting my decision in the talking to myself kinda way. But the views from the start of the path where already nice looking down the valley. But basically, it’s like walking up some very large steps that are slightly uneven on the way around.
Then you come around the corner to a lovely sloping flat path of the mountain side where you look down to the lake where the Miners path is. Nice little brake from those ‘stairs’.
Then it goes back to being a bit of a walking up stairs to no stairs climbing (if only I had taken some photos!) And I say that but there are always places to put your foot and hand to grab onto stuff but it’s what you would expect a mountain side to be like. There was one part that was a pretty flat steep decline with a lot of water flowing down that you had to somehow find a way across for but there were places to steady yourself to get across.
For me, the person who hardly exercises anymore, I did get a little pink in places and I was rather slow. At the time you pass a lot of people on the way down as they started in the morning, including families with very small children which felt a bit mocking as I huff and slowly puff my way up. Then you get those people who find running through the mountains as fun and just sprint past you. Yep, that’s a thing. But then you do get loads of cute dogs, that are all a bit too wet to stoke but still, they are cute.
As you come further around its where you saw the steep uphill climb of Miners that joints the Pyg track. However on the way around the weather weren’t great and we starting entering into a lot of clouds. Oh, and of course for a short spell, it snowed on Snowdon. As it started getting higher and higher, visibility was very limited.
And let me fess up, I didn’t make it to the top this time. Am terrified of heights and the picture doesn’t do this justice but as it was so cloudy and there was quite a big drop right next to this rock I had to climb over. And nahhh, that was not happening. I made Elliot go up though as we were 10 mins form the top, and bless him he tried to get me to climb it, said it flatted out straight after. Then again there were some pretty sheer drops even after that and with the cloud cover, it was impossible to see anything. Furthermore, my brain did run away from me saying that I would be one slip away from sheer death. How joyous.
So I sat and waited a little while, and when you stop still in a cloud it gets cold quick, then he came back and he didn’t see anything because we were in a cloud. Figures. And it’s all about getting down from here.
I thought this would be the worse bit as there are some pretty big drops that we climbed up to get up there, but my arse became my friend and I just sat and slid down where I could. It did roughly take us 3 hours to get to the top, and I thought it might have been quicker on the way down as it was just the steep bit and then walking flat around the lake. We did stop here and there, and if you are not looking ahead enough, you find you are just looking for the next place to pop your foot and sometimes missing a very obvious path which is easier.
I remembered the rock being the point where the two paths cross and we made our way down the Miners path. As we left it quite late, I was irrationally worried as I saw no one walking up the same time as us, just loads of people walking down, but by the time I got to the bottom of the lake it was fine and still a very bright day. It was quite nice an peaceful as it was only us and another family and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
As you carry on walking around the lake, the sun came out and sod’s law that the peak was clear with no clouds, but there you go. As it winds around quite a lot and it was just us and this other family, for large portions of it, it really was just like it was me an Elliot. The flat walk around the lake was lovely in and of itself, wouldn’t even really need to start climbing the hard bits if you just fancied a nice walk out.
Then we get the car park and realise why it was so quite. Because the last bus we can get is at 7.30 and it’s now 7.45. Apparently, taxis cost £30 to come out and pick you up, and an hour to walk down a winding and dangerous road to the car park. Don’t forget, we had to drive back to London too.
We actually starting walking down but another group of people in the same situation as us hitch hiked with someone from that carpark down to pick his car up and then the rest of his friends. They kindly offered to give us a quick lift to as it was really very close in a car. And that my friend was the end of our Snowdon drama/experience. And it’s safe to say next time ill just get the train but cba doing all that again. 🙂
