Jasmijn's birthday destination proved a bit of a mystery. I asked her to pack her passport, Euros and bathers, and dropped hints about Spain, Geneva, Ireland, Iceland, Scotland and the Swiss Alps... Even on the train along the Welsh coast she remained convinced we were en route to the Irish ferry terminal. But somehow we ended up in ... Snowdonia!!! How the heck did that happen I wonder?
Valley view, Snowdonia 2005
Beddgelert, Snowdonia 2005
Beddgelert river, Snowdonia 2005
Slate cavern sluice channel, Snowdonia 2005
Alpine view, Snowdonia 2005
Horseshoe ridge west, Snowdonia 2005
Mountain lake wide, Snowdonia 2005
Mountain lake tall, Snowdonia 2005
Jasmijn on the Miners' Track, Snowdonia 2005
Andrew on the Miners' Track, Snowdonia 2005
Twin lakes, Snowdonia 2005
Steep lake view, Snowdonia 2005
Andrew on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), Snowdonia 2005
Mountain party, Snowdonia 2005
The family, Snowdonia 2005
Chopper rescue 1, Snowdonia 2005
Chopper rescue 2, Snowdonia 2005
Horseshoe Ridge 1, Snowdonia 2005
Horseshoe Ridge 2, Snowdonia 2005
Jasmijn on the Horseshoe Trail, Snowdonia 2005
Ignomious descent from the Horseshoe Ridge, Snowdonia 2005
Horseshoe Ridge escape, Snowdonia 2005
That Irish ferry terminal must surely be just ahead now ...
Named in honour of a heroic dog, this stunning alpine town boasts a large campground in which we stayed the first two nights.
Walking trails abound.
I'd been down the slate caverns when I was 7 (?) and was keen to find the same cavern, so we took an underground tour. It was a different cavern; I'll keep looking.
This was the start point for our ascent of Snowdon, Wales' tallest peak, out of sight to the right.
Snowdon is on the top, to the right.
According to legend, King Arthur was taken away here by the ladies of the lake .... We had to climb that cliff by the way. Snowdon is up and left.
Ever onwards and upwards, we hiked. We felt pretty cool, until we were overtaken by joggers! We even saw a (very puffed) looking team of 3 women running down the mountainside. They were possibly competing in the famous 3 peaks race: in 24 hrs they have to scale the highest peaks in Wales, Scotland and England. Wild fun!!!
The west side of the famous Horseshoe Trail is clearly visible. We were on the east side here, hanging out over a massive scree slope to get this shot. Snowdon is in the centre of the Trail, to the right, above the lake.
From the heights of Snowdon. In the other direction you can see clear to Ireland on a fine day.
At a bit over 1,000m, this is the highest point in Wales.
After making me lug litres of water up the mountain (despite discovering the cafe-restuarant on the top I'd previously predicted, fed with lazy tourists by the mountain train that climbs the back of mountain), Jasmijn also discovered an extra bottle of cider and birthday pressies all around her! She hasn't yet discovered her two childhood friends from home, to her left and right, who stowed aboard at the last moment ...
... but she discovered them ... eventually!
A fellow climber (we presume) had something like a heart attack (his girlfriend doubtless also made him carry litres of water up the mountain), and was rescued by naval chopper, during the middle of our birthday celebrations. The wind and noise was unbelievable!
Finally, it was time to start the descent. But Wales' second-highest peak was only a little way along the east side of the famous Horseshoe Ridge (you can faintly see it here), which in any case was almost in the right direction towards home. It was a little steep, but hey, we're men! Right Jasmijn?
And a wee bit rugged, here and there ...
Note the setting sun. Once it set, temperatures were likely to plunge below freezing. A certain person was pretending to be a wee bit terrified at this point, but I knew she was just kidding. Right??? I knew that if we just ran along the ridge, we'd be out before dark ... easy!
But unbelievably, I suffered a mutiny! Despite being unable to see down the mountainside, so steep was the incline and so precipitous the rocks, and despite the clear risk of being stranded part-way, unable to move down or even back up, Jasmijn decided it was safer than the easy Horseshoe Trail, and plunged on down. I had no choice but to follow ... the mountain goats were very surprised.
Just on dusk, we made it out to the road. The owner of the B&B to which we treated our exhausted bodies informed us that the infamous Horseshoe Trail narrowed to a single bootwidth in places, and had reduced many an army cadet to tears during nighttime character-building exercises. Errr ... sorry Jasmijn!!! It looked easy at first ...!
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Valley view, Snowdonia 2005
That Irish ferry terminal must surely be just ahead now ...