Climbin' a mountain

Who's up for a 4 hour car trip?? ME! That's who. In memory of my very best friend and former mountain climbing partner, I hiked mount Snowdon found in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales.

I stayed at a lovely, quiet place ~Oakfield House B&B late Friday night and was met by a friendly, smiling face. Across the road was a babbling brook which helped me fall asleep listening to the sounds of nature. In the morning, I shoveled in all the breakfast I could (full cooked AND cold buffet) to power up for the rest of the day's climbing activity. Oakfield House B&B review by Vawn

This B&B was only a mile from the beautiful Swallow Falls.Which I trekked up to, to start my glorious sun filled adventure. There is a fee of £1.00 to walk down to the bottom of the falls but it's well worth it! Plenty of parking across the road at the Swallow Falls Hotel and gift shop. (Fee is P&D for parking)

Onward to the mountain climb! Then, what is meant to be a 15 minute car ride to Snowdon (awkwardly more if you don't listen to your navigator - but enough said on that) turns out to be more like a 45 minute trek through the other parts of Snowdonia National Park.



The Majestic Peak of Snowdon reaches 3,560 feet high and is part of the Three Peak Challenge of the UK (I have two more to conquer it would seem). I travelled the Llanberis Path which is about nine miles. It's the longest and takes about six hours to hike up & down. Half way up the mountain a storm front moved in and I was engulfed by the clouds. Which had a very cool yet, very eerie feeling to it. Lots of folks get lost in the fog I was told, but I persevered and made it to the top!

Going down, now that's a different story! The mountain holds many trails to trek. The famous Miner's Trail (as you've probably guessed it) was the route the miner's took out of the mountain. Because of the dense fog, a stone was erected to show the miner's which trail would get them home.

Nine miles of treacherous rock climbing, I made it to back to the beginning where all good adventures start. Now I'm off in search of the next mountain to master!