MARCH 4 - 6, 2011
It's hard to describe the modest British country of Wales in brief words. It is a world of stark contrasts, unbounded landscapes, royal history, national pride, and devastating beauty. The rolling green sheep-covered hills flow smoothly through the English countryside until suddenly a bold imposition of craggy mountains tear the horizon and toss their wasted boulders like seed in the wind down their sheer cliffs and onto the mossy pillows of surrounding valleys. The scattered remains of age-old stone huts are scattered almost as randomly as the strewn rocks (some larger than houses), while here and there signs that we haven't regressed to the middle ages during our journey remain: signs advertising Starbucks and Burger King adorn the sides of the highway that takes our coach on a 5-hour drive from London to Snowdonia, North Wales.
Granted, some of the amazing views that my eyes delighted upon while on our journey can be attributed to the fact that Snowdonia is a National Park of the U.K. Still, one cannot help but feel humbled as the coach weaves its way along narrow mountainside roads, where acuminous rocks jut out overhead and the tips of the surrounding rising cliffs cannot be seen amongst the clouds. Even the drive up was scenic, though, as the British countryside once again failed to disappoint with its lush, hearty landscape and vibrant green pastures, all the more realized and resplendent in the golden sunset of a beautiful Friday evening.
While the coach ride was indeed long, the restless passengers, myself included, helped pass the time by watching such movies as 'Anchorman', which still has me chuckling and quoting along to this day, and 'The Italian Job'. Although, I can't say I watched much of the latter, as I fought off the 'restless' tag and decided to catch up on lost sleep with a nice catnap.
Our journey through the scenic countryside saw us arrive at the quaint Welsh town of Llanberis - situated in a valley along Llyn Padarn (Llyn is Welsh for 'Lake'), and always in the shadow of the towering giant: Mt. Snowden. More on the mountain later..
I took some photos on the way up, but they're on my phone (camera was in my bag, sorry!), so I may update later with those. For now, I'll start with the hotel in Llanberis
The Royal Victoria Hotel! A pretty nice establishment that I would assumes caters mostly towards the influx of visitors to the Park and mountain.
We arrived around 6pm on Friday, were assigned to our respective rooms, and then were invited to a delicious dinner and pub quiz in the basement bar area. It was a fun time and though our team didn't win (we still did pretty well!), we got some chocolate eggs for having one of the best team names: "Lady Baa Baa and the Flock Ewes". Fantastic team effort on the name, so we were fine with the outcome!
'Can't-believe-I-didn't-know-that!' question of the night = Which American city takes its name from a British Prime Minister?
Wouldn't you know, it's Pittsburgh! I had no idea. Definitely a palm-to-the-forehead moment. Whoops.
--
Started off Saturday morning with an 8am traditional full breakfast of toast, some scrambled eggs, sausage, some mushrooms, some beans, and a tomato. Man, do the British know how to do breakfast.. and I'm not even a breakfast person! Definitely needed the energy for what lied ahead though: climbing to the top of Mt. Snowden, the second-highest peak in the U.K. with a height of around 3,500 feet. Certainly not a HUGE mountain by any means, but still makes you feel pretty small when you're looking up at it..
Seemed like it would be another beautiful day, but the clouds were beginning to roll in. This is view from the Hotel - I don't even think that's Snowden, just another mountain in the Range.
Our group of around 25 hikers were outfitted with some rucksacks, in which we placed our packed lunches, some rain-gear (just in case!), and some water, and strapped on for the long haul. There were a dozen different activities to choose from, but I had chosen to take the 'Full Day Hike' up Snowden, and I was pumped. There's nothing like conquering a mountain in a brand new country.. We split into three groups, and I of course went into the 'intense' group of around eight people that would be taking a pretty harsh path up the mountain. Our leader was Jim, a late-20-something Welsh adventurer who travels the world climbing mountains and leading tour groups either on his own or through adventure companies. He was a really cool dude, who had been all over the world and loved his job. I mean, you have to love it when you're climbing mountains in Wales one week, and heading to Kilimanjaro next week! His favorite place of all time was a surprise though: Iran. He cited the beautiful sites, the history, and the friendliness of the people, and I have to tell you that he made it sounds pretty awesome. What a human.
Beginning the journey. The fog was beginning to lie pretty thickly amongst the surrounding peaks, like here. Our destination of Snowden is actually on the other side of this mountain, so we had hopes that it would clear by the time we got over there.
Looking down into one of valleys along the first stretch
Oh man, what a peak.. Wait, THAT'S not Snowden either?! Snowden's higher?!?! Here we go.
Just really neat formations in the landscape. I think this was while walking across a cool stone bridge
A lake at the base of the mountains. You can see the ruins of an old slate-mining facility in that hillside on the right.
A view of one of the peaks as a stream winds it's way through the rocks
Up close to the slate-mining structure. Slate and copper made this a huge mining area many years ago, but relics like this are all that remain.
Getting higher.. Looking towards our destination, though you can't even see Snowden through that fog yet (at what point can it be considered a cloud?)
Hiking like a pro.
There it is. The peak of Snowden pokes out of the clouds for a few moments to show us just what was in store.
Enjoy my mountain shenanigans.
Getting closer. At this point, we were thinking we may luck out the clouds! And yes, those white spots are snow!
Looking back at the valley and the way we came. That's some of our path winding around the mountainside on the left.
Then we found an old mine shaft and decided to check it out. Had a total Lord of the Rings "The Way Is Shut" moment! Real neat cave - apparently it stretched pretty far in, though we didn't feel like getting lost under the mountain!
Another view of the top
Our winding path up the mountain. It's a pretty popular hiking destination, so all the different paths are pretty well-kept. But you could basically make your own path up the mountain, these rocky stairs still presented quite a challenge at some points!
I'd say 'almost there', but not going to lie - the real rough part was up ahead.
Another look back down into the valley. Beautiful.
.. and one more from a little higher. For good measure!
Looking down at the way we had come
Uh oh, staring to get up into the clouds!
On top of the main ridge! Now to find the peak amongst all this white!
I think it's up there! Here we go!
Finally at the top! Only took about 3 hours - not too shabby!
A compass of sorts marking the top - I think those lines pointed off in directions towards other cities in the U.K. or something like that..
How about grabbing a bite to eat amongst the clouds!?
On top of a mountain! Although you can't really tell..
Lots of hikers up on top! Pretty popular place
Looking back down the mountain. Pretty sheer drop from here!
We started back down on the other side of the mountain; another view of a valley stretching out far below us.
Our path down the other side
So pretty
Just an amazing landscape
Wish it was a clear day - they say you can see Ireland from the top of Snowden!
Back towards Llanberis!
Another look back at the mountains
Just liked this shot of a light beam breaking through the clouds and down onto this lone little farm cottage. Amazing.
A closer view of Llanberis
SO MANY SHEEP EVERYWHERE!
A final walk through a forest (love the mountain in the background) before heading towards the hotel
A quick stop around the corner to check out this ancient tower ruin. It was called 'The Keep' and was built in the 1200s by the Welsh (as opposed to the English, who built a TON of castles in Wales), probably as a sentry tower along the water since there's another Welsh castle down a ways. Very cool.
And that was pretty much it for the hike! About a 6.5-hour round trip up and back, with great views and tons of fun. My legs were feeling pretty great, but my body was starting to fade.. lack of sleep.. need.. a.. nappppp..
Woke up for dinner, where I ate two helpings of EVERYTHING - enough with the bagged lunch crap, when I see free food in huge quantities, I'm stocking up like a bear before winter-time. Later that night, we all danced it up and had a couple pints down in the basement bar again. Fun times!
--
Another early breakfast on Sunday (wasn't up for the full English, but went for some toast, scrambled eggs, and some pastries!). Then, after packing up and checking out, we all clambered onto the coaches to head towards the seaside town of Llandudno. A quick aside: what's up with all the double-'L's?!? How do you pronounce these words?!?! No but seriously, Welsh is an extremely old and difficult language. It's surprising that it's still so prevalent in Wales, though almost everyone knows English as well. My favorite Welsh word, per our guide: microwave = 'Poppity-ping', or something like that!
Anyway, it was shaping up to be another beautiful day, and we were heading to the shore!
From the bus; what a view.
A shot of Llandudno in the distance.
.. and then we were there!
Such a neat little seaside town. I bet this place is hopping in the summer, though now it was pretty quiet.
A look back into town
Just amazes me how the mountains and ocean make such an awesome landscape
More neat Welsh cliffs
Walking along the pier!
Looking back
Zoomed in - I love how they carved the town name into the grass! Very cool!
Ahh the Atlantic.. hey, I think I see America from here!
Some of the group!
Hey there, Llandudno
Walking back to the coaches.. a neat old church
.. and another!
We didn't have a lot of time to spend in Llandudno, which was kind of a bummer. But it was pretty, and such a quaint seaside town with beautiful scenery. I'm glad we got to check it out.
I grabbed some chips (fries) at a local fish 'n chips place before hopping back on the long bus to London! The trip home wasn't very exciting: did some studying while we all watched 'Mean Girls', then the DVD player broke and the rest of the trip was a combination of napping and more studying. Fun times!
--
Wales is a fantastic place, in both senses of the word: sometimes the sheer age of the things around you, coupled with the sublime and rugged beauty of a landscape that seemed to come right out of the pages of a book, made it feel as though you had stepped into another, older world. If we had run into a dragon or some hobbits smoking pipe-weed, I wouldn't have been all the surprised. There was just a feeling of magic in the air, reflected in the beautiful weather, the amazing landscape, the tall peaks, the green grass, and yes, even the sheep!
It's garnered this undeserved reputation of being England's less-popular little brother, when in fact it's more like an adventurous twin brother who prefers a life of excitement and fast friendship with everyone he meets versus the posh life of a city-dweller. Similar to Scotland, actually! And although I'd only seen parts of it (I would love to see Cardiff - I can only imagine it's like a smaller, quieter, seaside version of London, and probably really pretty), Wales surprised me in the best way. It offered quite the adventure for a wandering soul needing a break from the big city hustle and bustle. The only question now is: where next? Kilimanjaro? K2? Bring it on.
Good music to climb a mountain to:
Circa Survive - "Strange Terrain", off their album "Blue Sky Noise"
Great song, great album, great alternative band. What more can you say?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tried to get up this big post before Brittney arrived; T-minus 5 hours! Oh wait, I have to get up to go pick her up.. better get to bed! Who's up for a nap tomorrow? Haha should be a fun week, but you probably won't hear from me again until next week. Oh well!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment