| Friday Llyn Gwynant | • | Saturday Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir | • | Sunday Snowdon | • | Monday Canoeing | • | Tuesday Last Day |
22.30 to 23.30 Karen, Alan and Mark arrive and pitch tents in the dark! Drank some Vodka and crashed out in front of the tents until finally giving up and going to sleep.
Breakfast: Frosties to start, followed by sausages and bread. 
Started first walk (Llyn Gwynant Route) at approximately 10.00ish. Route planned by Mark 10 minutes before leaving (sounds a bit dodgy but we have walked this many times before!!). After the long drive and late night the previous day, four kilometres was our aim for the morning just to wake us up a bit. Unfortunately we forgot the camera.
<---- "Karen and Mark eating breakfast in the rain."
Notable Moments: Alan very cautious of the narrow paths with a steep drop on the side. At one point we had to turn round and go to a slightly different path.
The Waterfall by the footbridge on the Watkin Path was a lovely view. We were all quite tempted to get in as the water was crystal clear and very inviting. But as it was raining and we didn't have any dry clothes or towels we had to pass on that!
We were quite surprised at the 'keep off the verge - foot & mouth' notices all along the road, as there were no paths closed or any other sign of foot and mouth around!
Having done the Duke of Edinburgh award with school, Mark and I were keen to visit the people from Nantgwyant Post Office who kept us stocked up with Kendal Mint Cake and cans of Vimto for four years. We were quite upset to find the post office and the house next door abandoned! The nice people had my picture on the wall for four years so I was very keen to say hello seven years later.
The most unforgetable point of our four kilometre walk was that it was actually five miles!! Following this three hour 'short walk to wake us up' we headed to Beddgelert for food (as the idea of cooking in the rain at that point did seem quite depressing). Once in Beddgelert all three of us were immediately drawn to an inviting smell which turned out to be pizzas. In the pizza place we managed to do 'Cnicht' (ham and mushroom), 'Snowdon' (hot with chillis) and 'Colwyn' (ham and pineapple). We therefore felt that we deserved an afternoon off. Ask anybody who's climbed it - Cnicht is hard work!!!!!!!!
We managed to contact Claire and Kev who were just starting their journey from Hertfordshire. Unfortunately communication was a bit of a pain as we all had mobile phones but no signal could be obtained between Beddgelert and Capel Curig. Which is why instead of going back to campsite we had absolutely no choice but to stay in a pub for the evening in Beddgelert (obviously, against our will, honestly, not one of us was gagging for a pint!!). Being bank holiday weekend all the pubs in Beddgelert were full so we headed for Porthmadog where we found a hotel. The people were very friendly and they all got together and had a sing song which we enjoyed alot (although, don't forget that we were very upset at not being able to sit by our campfire in the pouring rain).
The weather got progressively worse throughout the evening and by the time we met Claire at Kev at Capel Curig at midnight we were all a bit miserable and wondering why did we come to Wales?!
Breakfast: Frosties to start, followed by sausages and bacon. 
Weather: Raining and cold, the fire won't burn!. We woke up very late due to the previous late night! Somehow it took two hours to eat breakfast (possibly due to trying to cook sausages and bacon on a gas burner). Eventually Claire saved the day with a tin of baked beans and sausages cooked on a trangia. Funnily enough, our ten mile walk that day did not take much longer than cooking breakfast!!
<---- "Kev, Alan, Mark, and Claire eating breakfast in the rain."
11.30 am: Finally arrived at Capel Curig, had trouble finding a place to park and then finally start the first proper walk (3 and a half hours late!!) in appalling weather! Half an hour later Claire stops for her first dump!
Luckily a depressing day all of a sudden turned to bright sunshine and we all felt much happier.
A seemingly easy day until we realised that we had entered the forest by the wrong path and were not quite sure where we were (We were NOT lost though!) We knew that we were supposed to be climbing a hill so we headed upwards and finally found our bearings (although we never did work out where we went wrong - must have been the map!).
<---- "The whole group together"
The forest was very muddy and we managed to get most of our booties here. Lots of wet wood on the floor which I think we all, at one time or another, managed to slip over on. Finally we exited the forest and then the path disappeared and we are on our own. Luckily our Duke of Edinburgh award training does us proud (we can see the lake we are heading for so we just all bundle down the hill towards it, regardless of holes, rivers etc).
We were all ecstatic when we reached the dam at Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir. Claire, Mark and Kev bravely walk across the dam but Alan and I chickened out and used the path. At the shore of the lake we stopped for lunch.
Lunch 3.00pm: Rusks(?!!??), Soggy cheese and bread, vegetable soup and Mars bars with a lovely cup of tea. Lunch breaks are so nice but after an hour we must get going again.
Somewhere along the way, we have to stop for Claire's next dump. We carried on and left her to it, but after not seeing a living soul all day long, we spotted a runner coming and heading straight for Claire. We all stood around waiting for him to literally land on her as he crossed the style but luckily she stood up just in time. (Damn, that would have kept us laughing for weeks!).
6.00 pm: Finally reach Capel Curig and head back to camp site. Chilli Con Carni with pasta and garlic bread for tea. (Those Beanfeasts are actually pretty tasty!).
Kev and Claire take a trip to Beddgelert, unfortunately Claire's car is stuck in the mud. Kev gets out to help push, Mark and I come over to help push and finally the car gets going again. Unfortunately, Claire forgot that she started with a passenger so Kev the stuntman runs after the car, flings the door open and jumps in while still in motion. The whole campsite are very impressed.
Early night as it's Snowdon tomorrow.
I wake everyone at 6.00 to get an early start for Snowdon.
Breakfast: Frosties to start, followed by sausages and bacon. Weather: Sunny and hot, got a good fire going!. Still takes us two hours to have breakfast but at least we are still on schedule!
Walk up to Pen-y-pass and begin the ascent. The challenge for the day is Crib Goch, but we know one or two of the team will not make it. We did not have to decide straight away as we had to start on the Pyg track anyway to get to Crib Goch. I decided that Alan and I will do the Pyg track and the others can do Crib Goch, but unfortunately Alan was quite nervous of all the people pushing past and decided to go back to the car and forced me to carry on.
The four of us reached the point where the two paths split and I decided at the last minutes to be brave and head for Crib Goch.
<---- "The start of Crib Goch."
Being the weakest of the team, I agreed that Claire and Kev should carry on ahead of me and Mark as they both are a lot faster and used to climbing.
Mark and I quickly realised what we had let ourselves in for when we saw the "ants" climbing above us (are they really people???)We could see the top of our climb so kept going, but soon realised it was not the top of the climb, it is only the beginning.
I was scared out of my wits most of the way up. At any moment you could slip.... and that would be it. Luckily there was a couple who more or less stayed along side us most of the way who seemed to know what they were doing and helped us get over a few difficult spots (Thank You, whoever you are!).
It was quite exciting when we saw the RAF rescue helicoptor flying around, it hovered around for a bit, we got a great photo when we were actually above the helicoptor, then it swooped off and we thought nothing of it (You would have thought the Snowdon Rangers running backwards and forwards with radios would have given the game away). Five minutes later we were requested by a ranger to stay exactly where we were (perched on a high bit!!) as someone was injured and the helicoptor was coming back. Most people ignored the ranger and carried on climbing down anyway (some to have a look at the poor injured person and some were just in too much of a hurry to stop and wait for the rescue!).
The helicoptor came back to pick up the casualty, it was about ten feet from our heads and we were covered in dust and loose bit of rock, the draft nearly blew us off the top of the cliff! It was soon all over and we were able to continue. Apparently a young lady had fallen some 20 feet and landed on her head, we were assured by the rangers she was a lucky girl and not seriously hurt.
The climb continued for what seemed like about eight weeks (probably more like two hours)and finally Mark and I got off the ridge and onto the main path to the summit. When we finally made it to the restaurant we were ecstatic!! I headed straight for the busy restaurant to see if I could find Claire and Kev. Just in front of me was Kev sitting calmly at a table in the restaurant, I could have screamed with joy! It must have been about three hours since we left them but it felt like a lifetime, I then spotted Claire in the queue (which looked as if it might actually reach to the bottom of the mountain!) and she promised to buy hotdogs.
There was no hotdogs left, but I have never been so happy in all my life to be given a Cornetto! Mark and I had eaten nothing on our journey except a packet of Club biscuits and we had no energy to make up our cheese sandwiches.
Our next problem was that we couldn't face (or have time to do) the last few miles of our planned route. It was getting late by the time we reached the top and none of us wanted to walk any further. We decided to take the shortest route down (The Miners Track) and try to contact Alan to meet us at Pen-y-pass. We managed to get a signal from a mobile right at the summit, but Alan's phone was out of area, so all we could do was get down as quick as we could and pray that Alan would go to somewhere he could get our message.
Luckily on reaching the end of the miners track we saw Alan walking towards us and were so relieved! I was in agony, my ankle injury from the previous day had swollen so huge I could hardly walk at the end. Alan looked just like an angel when we saw him, and he came bearing gifts (Lucozade and Mars bars).
That night we were all tired and smelly so Claire, Kev and I went in the car to Beddgelert to have another pizza while Mark and Alan were brave and cooked tinned sweet and sour chicken on the fire. Not much partying going on that night as we were all so tired and quite shaken by our climb.
Weather: Sunny and hot, got a good fire going! I woke up surprisingly early at 8.00 and decided I couldn't bear the dirty greasy hair and BO any more. I woke up everyone else (don't you just hate people who do that!) and announced that it was bath day! Kev was the only person to get up and go with me down to the stream on the campsite. I was desparate to get into the water and wash that I actually stripped to my underwear for my dip.
Kev was the first in, the water was freezing but it was a lovely hot day. I then got in and couldn't get back out quick enough!! Next stage was to wash, so Kev and I stood on the bank and covered ourselves from head to foot in soap and shampoo and then made a quick dash back in and then out of the water to rinse. This is the major drawback in having long thick hair! I had to go back in to my waist and dunk my head in (with help from Kev) until all the shampoo was out. We then dried in the hot sun and felt immediately refreshed and clean. Just as we were about to leave I realised that we had dropped the shampoo bottle into the water and neither Kev or I wanted to undress and get back in. Luckily for us there was some little girls playing fishing in the river and I went and asked one little girl if I could borrow her net (she gave it over but she did look as if she thought I would eat her or something!) We rescued the shampoo and gave the poor little girl her net back.
Next I had to convince the others to go and wash. Claire was dead to the world and could not be stirred for a bath! Mark, although hard to wake up, was convinced in the end and then Alan joined in too. The boys had their baths and we all agreed that we felt good for it!
<---- "Shaving at Llyn Gwynant Campsite."
We decided to treat ourselves after our hard day before and went to have breakfast in a cafe at Capel Curig. The food was excellent! By the time we had got Claire up it was a bit late for breakfast so we all had a full meal. We then decided it was about time to start the last day's walking.
The route started in Beddgelert and went through the old disused train tunnels. After a couple of miles we found the start of a tunnel but it had been closed off and there was safety warnings. What do we do now?? None of us felt like starting to plan another walk so Claire and Kev suggested canoeing.
So we headed back to Llyn Gwynant campsite where they hire canoes. Claire and Kev shared a Canadian, Alan and I shared a Canadian and Mark went solo in a canoe. It took Alan and I a while to work out how to steer and that, Claire and Kev were real pros! Poor old Mark just kept going round in circles. In the end Mark ended up in the Canadian on his own??? whilst Claire and Kev got in the one man canoe?!!??! Somehow we all managed to make it back to the dock, except the canoe came back with only Claire on it, where was Kev? 
It seemed after getting a soaking Claire ditched Kev and made him swim back. He made it at last and then it was time for Claire and Kev to get going on their way home as they had work the next day.
<---- "Cooking Supper at Llyn Gwynant Campsite."
Our dinner that night was the rest of the tins of sweet and sour chicken with pasta and garlic bread. Washed down with large amounts of red wine followed by Vodka & Dr Pepper (we didn't have tonic or any other Vodka mixer!)
The evening was spent drinking Vodka and reminiscing about our little 'expedition' by the fire and then as the night got really cold the three of us snuggled into one tent and passed out.
Weather: A bit cloudy to start, but potential to be sunny and hot!
We head down to the river for our second bath. Karen is forced to go first against her will.
The water was absolutely freezing and the sun hadn't made it up high enough yet to feel nice when I got out! Mark was next and then Alan. But once again we were all clean and ready for the day.
<---- "Having a bath."
That's it then, we have to go back to the camp site, pack up all of our stuff and head for home. It was a very sad moment, we had all had a fantastic time and done some great stuff, we were very sad to leave and continue our 'real lives'.