Snowdonia National Park is the most visited national park in Wales. It really is easy to see why!
As a short camping break last summer we decided to go to Wales & Snowdonia National Park. Yes I know that it would rain, I know it would be miserable & windy & cold. But, guess what? It wasn’t. We were really lucky that it was the hottest few days that we had last summer when we visited.
As most of you will have probably been to Wales on holiday maybe you’ve never been to Snowdonia. If you haven’t then please try at some point to get to the national park. The place is absolutely stunning. It’s one of the few places outside of Scotland that has spectacular mountains to explore.
We camped near to the coast so that if it was ‘hot’ we could get down to the beach and enjoy some ice cream. As it turned out we were drawn into the hills and valleys to walk & take in the grandeur that is this beautiful place.
We camped near Criccieth which is on the coast, whilst still being in the national park. I must admit we did venture into town to grab an ice cream and have a ‘paddle’ in the sea. It’s certainly worth a visit if you are in the area & has a traditional feel. This was also a handy place to stock up on supplies, namely wine.
Obviously our aim as ‘hikers’ was to go up Snowdon. It had been really hot weather and we picked a day when it would be a little cooler. Walking up Snowdon isn’t exactly a stroll in the park. The route we chose to go up the mountain is called the ‘Pyg Track’
This is one of the shortest routes up the mountain but isn’t the easiest as it is very steep & rocky. One of the hardest and most dangerous routes is across a ridge called Crib Goch. We will be using this route next year.
If you are terrified of heights then this is the scary route. Watch this video clip and you will see why!
We got to a car park early in the morning because in summer the mountain can become quite busy with day trippers traversing some of the lower routes and easier tracks. In fact, most people that go up Snowdon use the railway that goes all the way to the top. I call that cheating!
If you are reasonably fit then I would recommend going up Snowdon. As a sense of achievement it’s an amazing walk. Just make sure you have a very good pair of hiking boots with plenty of grip, drinking water & don’t forget your waterproofs because the weather can change very quickly on Snowdon.
It took us just short of 3 hours to reach the top where we gleefully sat in the cafe at the top sneering at everyone that had come up on the train. Alas. The mist had come in quite badly on this day that we went up. But it was an exhilarating day.
As a final note. If you think it’s hard walking up. It takes just as long coming down and is really hard on the old knee joints.
See below for a winters tale on Snowdon
A day in the life of... 