Walk 10 out of 100
Walk #98 - Snowdon
Gwynedd
Overall Rating - ✪✪✪✪
Suggested Difficulty - Challenging
My Difficulty Rating - ✪✪✪✪
Suggested Time - 6h 30m
Actual Time Taken - 4h 40m
Distance in book - 13.7km
Map my walk Distance - 15.44km
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| Rhyd-Ddu station car park, start |
So I guess we can say this is the first 'BIG ONE' of the 100 walks as I took on Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales standing at 1,085 metres above sea level. This is actually the second time I have climbed Snowdon, I did it about 3 years ago as part of the 3 peaks challenge. The last time I did the walk I used the Pyg track for the route up, and the Miners' track coming down. This time I took Rhyd-Ddu path up and the Snowdon Ranger path down, this is apparently the quietest route up Snowdon with others such as the Llanberis path being very busy in the summer months.
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| Before the hill fog... |
I have given this walk a 4 star rating and to be honest it is a 5 star BUT, and it is a big but, the weather was awful. It is probably the reason for the quick completion time as I didn't stop much! My first top tip, make sure you choose a nice day for it. I have done Snowdon twice now and been rewarded with nothing but hill fog and strong winds at the summit, the last time the weather was great until we reached around 800m and the visibility just disappeared but this time it was rubbish most of the way up and about a third of the way down. I must apologise for the rubbish pictures and to be honest, if you just want to see pictures of beautiful views then you may as well stop reading now and search on Google!
As for the walk itself, it is a great route up the mountain, very quiet, some rough ground, and a bit of a challenge, if you do not walk much, the easier Llanberis (or the train!) might be your best choice to get to the top. The paths are very easy to follow which meant I barely used the map which was an added bonus as the wind would probably have just sent it flying! I imagine walking along the ridges the path had to offer would have been stunning, but well, as you can see the sheer drops into the abyss were hidden by fog...
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| Summit Cafe... CLOSED! |
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| We did it! |
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| Our first view on the way down as the clouds lifted |
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| Finally left the clouds behind us |
The journey down was very straight forward and would be another easy route up the mountain, we were rewarded with a few nice views when the cloud finally lifted (the celebrations were slightly over the top!). The Welsh Highland Railway which runs from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, does stop at the bottom of the Snowdon Ranger path and can take you back to the start in Rhyd-Ddu which would be a nice alternative to avoid road walking at the end.
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| Swallow Falls Hotel |
I would recommend this walk highly, just do it in good weather! I would also recommend staying the night in the beautiful Betws-Y-Coed after climbing Snowdon. I stayed in Swallow Falls Hotel, good food and most importantly a good bar!
Thanks to Jake and Neil for the company and as always, Thanks for reading,
Stef.
And follow me on Twitter @stefanvilla1991
