Straight on to Mordor

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Lao-tzu

The day K2 thought I was going to keel over and die, about 1,500 feet up Snowdon.  Wouldn't have been so bad but the car park was full when we arrived just after 9am!  Had to drive back down the hill and hoof it up the hill another 20 minutes before we even started the walk...

Amazing walk though, several times I was reminded of The Lord of The Rings, and when we saw the crumbs of lammas bread I knew just how Sam felt.  Started off too quick of course so by the first break I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it to the top.  We'd been walking over an hour and a half under the ominous edge of Crib Goch when we rounded a bend in the track and there was this big lump ahead, it was as if we hadn't even started yet!  That was when it got really mind bending for me, realising just how short a distance we'd come, and seeing the track snake up the steep hillside ahead.

We'd been following the Pyg Track  and the estimated time  was 7 hours, so still plenty of walking to do.  Head down and just keep going, poor K2 was trying to encourage me, thinking I was about to pack up .  Warmer than I'd expected so our water supplies started to look inadequate as we made the final assault from "base camp".  It's amazing what goes through the mind at a time like that, mostly anything apart from the walk ahead.

Seriously out of condition though I am, we still reached the top before 1pm, which is still good going for me.  We'd been sitting having lunch when we met up with a couple we'd seen earlier, at the car park.  They were obviously more experienced than us, so I was surprised that they were only just arriving.  They explained they'd taken the Crib Goch route - aaaarrrggghhh!  No thanks.  Even on a good day like today I wasn't up for that.  Just Google video Crib Goch, that's why it's not for me.

Little innocent that I am I thought I'd be able to get a little train ride down to save my legs, still have a bit of driving to do afterwards.  No chance, trains up are full, and they'll be the same going down so no one way ticket down for me.  We take the Miners Path back, which follows part of our ascent route, then curves around the mountains back to the car park. On paper it takes the same time although it's a mile longer?  We take this route back, plus the extra 20 minutes down the hill, and make it back to the car in time to head off to Bodnant Welsh Food centre for dinner at 7.30.  Fitting end to a marvellous days walking, all 7 hours of it.