This is a bit embarrassing to admit but we have actually managed to get lost on Snowdon!  No really!!  It all started on a beautiful, calm, sunny day when we awoke to blue skies and sunshine.  We had decided to walk the classic Snowdon Horseshoe so we got up early, packs already sorted and jumped into little Shelia (that’s our car’s name! Sad but true!)  and off we went.   However, the closer to Llanberis we got the darker and murkier the skies became and we realised that the blanket of fog sat over Snowdonia was there to stay.  Never detered, we changed our plans and decided to climb trusty Snowdon.  However, we’ve climbed the Llanberis Path, Miners Path and Pyg Track that many times over the past few months that we simply couldn’t face them again.  We therefore decided to give the Watkin Path a bash as Steve had never climbed it and I hadn’t done so since I was in the Scouts, many, many years ago.

Pretty much as soon as we opened the car door the rain started to fall.  But hey, that’s why we spend so much on gore tex, so no problem, we shall not be defeated!  We easily located the start of the track (the car park and big sign certainly helped!) and we started the gradual climb through the serene woods.  It was nice and gentle and we soon found ourselves walking alongside the waterfalls which somehow seemed more impressive and powerful in the pouring rain and increasing winds.  I really started to enjoy myself, there’s something very liberating about being out in the mountains, battling the weather, man against nature…well these are the bits I like to focus on as opposed to the snotty nose production overdrive and achy limbs which are the less glamourous side to walking!  All in all it was an enjoyable ascent, particularly the steep, scree section at the top which added in a bit of variety.

By the time we reached the summit however we were freezing!  We had a bit of a giggle about the fact that one of the first things I did that morning was pack some sun cream, particularly as I had experienced mini chufties about the fact I had remembered an important yet often forgotten product!  The cafe on the top was also closed so no quick and easy warm up for us.  Instead we joined the groups of walkers and cyclists who were gathered around the edges trying to warm frozen fingers on thermos flasks and making comments about the amount of money spent on the cafe which never opens as how often do we get good weather in Wales!  (I would like to say that when open the cafe is actually excellant and definately an improvement!  No comment with regards the weather!)

After a quick bite to eat, a gulp of lukewarm coffee (can anyone recommend a thermos that actually keeps things hot?!) and a doubling in the amount of clothing worn, we turned to make our descent, back down the way we came.  Sounds simple enough right?  Well you’d think so, but no.  It was almost white out conditions and somehow we managed to lose the path whilst on the scree section.  See, although I had enjoyed coming up on the scree, I have a real dislike of coming down scree sections.  Unlike Steve, who has this really cool scree surfing technique, I spend most of the time falling over and getting back up again with the grace of an elephant.  This is a time consuming, exhausting and frustrating technique which I seem to have perfected over the years and am unable to break away from.  So not only was I quickly using up my energy reserves, we also suddenly found ourselves completely lost with no path in sight!  (This is of course a bit embarrasing considering our mountaineering aspirations!)

Anyway, still unperturbed we felt we knew the general direction and off we headed.  At this point we still couldn’t see anything, where we’d come from or where we were going thanks to the persistent fog! We were of course very careful as we were aware of the dangers in such conditions and certainly were not planning on having to call out the helicopters whilst on Snowdon!  And therefore, when we found ourselves at the top of a rather large drop, we realised it was time to head back up to try and rejoin the path.  Steve was thrilled at this prospect and expressed this in his usual manner of colourful languague and stomping bodily movements.  By the way, it was still blowing a gale and pouring down with rain and as we hadn’t bothered putting on our waterproof trousers (the old Army training of waterproof trousers are for wimps has got us into trouble many times!) we were experiencing the wet underwear phenomena which as you may or may not know is not very comfortable!  So having spent the best part of an hour going down, accross, up a bit, down a bit, and then another half hour slogging it back up vertically, find the path we did and it led us all the way back to our start point with no further incidents or drama (from Steve!)

So the moral of this story is, you can get lost on Snowdon (well we did!) despite the presence of numerous very well established paths!!  It is also wise to put on your waterproof trousers if you have them in your bag, before you get soaked right through and don’t get too cocky when you pack the sunscreen it seems this may be tempting fate!  And that completes the Patch guide to Snowdon!