The Three Peaks Challenge...

   Snowdon  

We set off from the centre of Bristol at 1pm on Friday 14th July with if nothing else, the intention to complete the challenge, or at least to have a damn good time trying. After the usual traffic jousting we squirmed our way onto the M5 and headed towards Worcester. Once there we pulled in at a restaurant called The Three Pears, and swarmed into the bar for food'n'refreshment. Several burgers, chicken pies, baked potatoes and a lake of orange & lemonade later and we were back on the A54 and heading for Shrewsbury and North West Wales in general.   

After a few hours we were alerted to the fact we could be getting close to our goal by the fact that the surrounding hills were tableaux of ovine desperation as demonstrated by the various sheep hanging on to near-vertical slopes by dint of a firm bite on a choice clump of grass. A quick stop for fuel for the van at Betwys-y-Coed and a ceremonial passing round of "Aunty Gail's Crackerjack Flapper jacks" (click to get the recipe!) to fuel us and it was off to Rhyd Ddu and the day's first challenge. 

We arrived at the car park at 6:45 pm. The next 20 minutes were spent doing final kit checks and generally warming up, followed by a 10 minute photo-call for the 'Before...' look (and also because we are a bunch of tarts!)  Then with a quick wave to Pete, we were off.

Snowdon starts out easily enough with gentle slopes and a well marked and laid path onto the lower slopes above the fields. This gradually peters out however and you then need to keep an eye on the path up and through the two clapper gates onto the higher slopes. Once you get above the second gate the views start getting spectacular as you start to ascend the path which zigzags up to the ridge path and onwards up towards the summit. We had a couple of concerns clambering up over the last 200 meters of elevation. Firstly, the summit had disappeared into mist so we could not see our goal. Secondly, there was a strong north-westerly breeze gusting which made getting a sure footing a must. Occasionally we would get a glimpse of the topography which consisted of some seriously steep 'down' on two sides...something which tends to focus the mind! Finally, after 1 hour and 50 minutes the hilltop cafe came eerily into view, it's light somewhat muted by the ever-present mist. A quick burst up to the trig point...a few photographs, and the first peak was ours!

 OK, so we didn't have a view but the boost of getting over the first hurdle more than compensated for this. Also surprising was the number of other walkers who suddenly started to appear wraith-like out of the mist. Having seen no-one during the whole ascent we were now in the middle of Snowdon central so we took the opportunity to swap pace notes and info with  the other groups. Once they had all de-materialised we took a few moments to re-check equipment, conditions, ourselves, took a quick bite to eat and drink and headed back the way we had came. The mist had turned a little damp so extra care was taken on the way down over the rocks but the fact the we still had good light meant we could maintain a fair pace. We took a few more photographs on the way down and stopped briefly now and then to admire the view and fuel up. Once again we were strangely alone going down that side of the mountain. Apart from the odd sleepy sheep (who uncharacteristically refused to budge once they had curled up for the night) and a quick jog through a field of shadowy, inquisitive but above all, large cows the descent was without incident. By the time we arrived back at the van at 10:45 pm the light was just about fading, as was our somnambulant driver who having just managed to drift of to sleep, was then rudely awakened by the returning wanderers.

The next 20 minutes was spent snacking, changing wet T-shirts, stowing equipment, discussing the next leg and generally getting comfortable for what we viewed as the toughest challenge of the weekend...the journey to and climbing up of Scafell Pike.  Read on...    

The Prologue....	To Scafell Pike...

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