Snowden

Kath's 26th birthday today, Sunday. I had been keeping an eye open on the weather as we wanted to climb Snowden. The forecast looked really good for today although when we woke up it had changed for the worse. However it was still meant to clear at lunchtime so we decided to go for it. Glad we did as the weather has certainly deteriorated since then.

At the start of the walk in Llanberis there was a very steep hill which certainly warmed us up and when we returned 5 hours later some of us walked backwards as our toes were hurting.

The path was quite steady after that and I think we were all pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as difficult as expected. I especially was nervous as I remember the last time I had been up Snowden, when I was 15, but I had used a much more difficult path round the other side.

As we neared the summit I started to chat to a chap who was climbing the mountain for a charity in St Helens. He had terrible vertigo and his legs were wobbly. I kept him talking and made sure I walked on the side of the drop. He made it but absolutely could not walk up the steps to the cairn although I can't blame him as even I went up that bit on my hands and knees.

The weather was so good and we had amazing views all day.

The end is in sight

We had been complaining about the amount of litter along the path - even an empty champagne bottle had been left at the summit. Then at lunchtime Kath's plastic bag flew off in a gust of wind. We tried to spot it but couldn't. On the way further down Kath thought she could see it so diverted off the path. Martin and I decided to collect litter to make up for the bag but when we caught up with the girls it transpired that Kath had got her bag - 20/20 vision. We kept on with the litter collection and met a couple coming up who were doing the same. We had quite a full bag by the time we finished.

Back in the village we stopped at The Heights for a pint. We had planned to eat here tonight but there were several drinks we asked for that they didn't stock, Kath's glass had lipstick on it and the menu folder was really tatty. So plan B but most of the other eateries were closed or had limited menus (our party had a vegetarian and a vegan). In the end we got an Indian takeaway which was delicious.