Day 41 - Good Friday in Snowdonia

Ruins near start of the walk

You can clearly see the path we walked along on the way up

Cheats way up!

View from the top

Just to prove I made it

Maria and Julien

As I said, we were so lucky with the weather so we could see the spectacular views

Yes we must be absolutely mad!  Up really early on Good Friday and out the door at 7am.  We had a 2 hour drive ahead of us from Warrington into Northern Wales, then to Snowdonia National Park so we could hike up Mount Snowdon.  It took us 2 hours 45 min to walk up, most of the way it was quite steep so a very good workout!  The area was previously mined for slate.  The spectacular view made the tough walk worth it...it was a real sense of achievement when we arrived at the top (1085m).  We celebrated with a soft drink – could’ve bought a beer but none of us felt like it. 

After about a 45 min rest and lunch, we headed down.  I was amazed how many people were doing the hike, young, old, families, dogs...but then again the weather was amazing (24c) and it is a public holiday so people are getting out and about.  After about 1 hour 45 min we got back to the start.  Maria and I were definitely the worse for wear after the walk – both of us had sore knees, but Julien looked as if he could go for a run next!

We headed off to Llandudno, on the Great Orme Heritage Coast for fish and chips.  It was about 4pm by this stage and food was definitely needed.  Julien then drove us along the coast of Wales before heading to Warrington.  We had a great sing along on the way to the radio and hearing songs from Blues Brothers and Madness reminded me so much of when I lived in London 19 years ago and we use to go and see a band on Sundays that played the same music.  Memories!!

Back at Maria and Julien’s we had a relaxing night recovering.  A couple of beers, pavlova dessert and a movie later, it was an early night for all.