Our August trip was a visit to the hills of Snowdonia, or Eryri as it is in Welsh. It’s always a bit risky going to the mountains for August Bank Holiday and for us it was no different – unless you were Lynn. By some miracle wherever Lynn was the sun was shining, while the rest of us had drizzle or worse!
The Saturday had the best forecast, so a team left our base at Hendre Isaf early in order to ensure a parking space for an attempt on Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) itself. Lynn was the ringleader, and possibly the only veteran Snowdon climber? Sue, Alex, Debbie and Steve probably had some idea of what they were letting themselves in for, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing!
Meanwhile Mike, Colin and Judi were clawing their way up the side of Moel Siabod. A smaller mountain, but choosing to do it by the harder, scrambling route.
Dave led a more sedate party on the Hiraethog trail with expansive views of all the hills around, including the little puff of cloud resolutely settled on the summit of Snowdon. After a delightful walk in the sunshine with butterflies and wildflowers, we returned to base for relaxing tea and biscuits while we waited for the others to return.
The adventurers came back with rosy cheeks and tales of nailbiting ascents, wobbly legs and creaking knees. Luckily not too worn out to produce a delicious dinner and sumptuous pudding, but it was a relatively early night! Sunday saw Lynn, Sue and Alex head for the world’s fastest zip line, whilst Cress led a walk from Dolwyddelan castle and Dave and Ali got washed into a disused mine in the Moelwyns. With our waterproofs having been thoroughly tested, we had a stroke of luck at the village café where we managed a full Welsh cream tea just before they closed for the day. It turns out they’d only opened at all due to the mountain race up Cnicht – we wondered who all those skinny types in short were.
Bank Holiday Monday and the weather was not bad at all. Apart from Sue, whose feet were shot, we all met at the Ponderosa café for a fantastic ridge walk on Llantysilio Mountain. 7½ miles of excellent view-to-effort ratio, with a guaranteed cake at the end. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.
Ali
What’s in a mountain?
So why are there mountains in North Wales? Snowdonia (more correctly known us Eryri from the Welsh for Eagle) is the remains of ancient volcanoes which were created by the heat from continental collision.
This was in the Caledonian Orogeny when a bit of Laurentia (today’s North America and Greenland) smacked into Avalonia (today’s England/Wales and Scandanavia). This caused a lot of ruckling up of the crust, creating mountain ranges, plus the heat from the friction caused rock to melt and volcanoes to form. It’s why we have mountains in Scotland and volcanoes in the Lake District and North Wales. If you’d have been around at the time, it would probably have been rather life-limiting, but the shuffling of the continents during this period led to an explosion of life.
This was all a long time ago, yet Snowdon is still impressively pointy. For this we have glaciation about 18,000 years ago to thank. Huge glaciers formed on the flanks of the mountain with their classic steep back walls and carving steep arrets from the side ridges.
The first recorded ascent of Snowdon was in 1639, but since they were taken up by a guide, you can be pretty sure the locals had been up there regularly. However, it was the Victorians who made it truly popular. The Snowdon Ranger path was the earliest. The road from Cwm y Glo was completed in 1826, which opened up access to the Llanberis path and round the same time the Miner’s track was built for access to the Copper Mines. Following the Krakatoa eruption in 1883, the colder weather meant ice was staying on the mountain all year round. This awakened the Victorian love of the alpine aesthetic and in 1892 the Watkin path was opened by then Prime Minister, William Gladstone.
The trend for mountain challenges, such as the three peaks, took off in the 1930’s, but even that is nothing compared to the current popularity which sees a lengthy queue if, after struggling all that way, you actually want to touch the summit cairn!
Ali