Slippery Snowdon

I am very happy, relieved and pleased to say that I climbed Snowdon on Saturday!

Ryan and I set off around 7am as it's a 4(ish) hour drive and we needed to make a quick stop in Gloucester. We knew exactly when we reached Snowdonia National Park! The surroundings were absolutely stunning and the drive to Snowdon was spectacular. There is something very therapeutic about being surrounded by mountains and peaks.

When I first saw Snowdon, I'm not going to lie, I thought "What the hell have I agreed to do?". It was very striking on the landscape!

You can see the anxious expression on my face below...

We set off around 12:30, raring to get our Snowdon adventure started. 30 minutes into the walk, this was the view we were confronted with...

Absolutely breathtaking!

We met an avid bird-watcher on the way, and although he was as lovely as lovely can be, he did make us feel slightly disappointed. He told us that he didn't think we'd reach the summit because of the conditions at the top. We said our goodbyes, and although we had a slightly heavy heart knowing we might not reach the top, we carried on determined.

We had a stop with a slightly chilly view of Snowdon before we started the zig-zag path. I did NOT like this part of the path one bit!!!

The snow started to appear on this path the further we went up. We also had to look out for the ice as well. Didn't want any injuries on the 3rd highest peak in the UK!!!

I do recall saying to Ryan, "just go on without me!". Whoops...

I reached the top of the zig-zag path and was welcomed with this view. You can see in my face how much in awe I was. Then, as I turned to my right, I was confronted with fog, snow and ice. Not ideal when you're trying to reach the summit of a mountain.

The cloud was so thick, we couldn't see the railway until we were on top of it. Clearly it wasn't running (so I couldn't cheat by getting the train back down!). However, knowing we were on the railway meant that the summit was close. It began to feel in sight now!

 You can see from this photo that the train was definitely NOT running...

After 3.5 hours, we finally made it to the top. It was a shame that it was pretty cloudy, but it was still an amazing achievement!

 And... I still had a smile on my face!!

A big thank you has to go to Ryan who really kept me motivated along the whole walk. He even kept my energy up with apricots. What a treat!

The walk back down was a completely different story. The sun began to shine through the clouds and created a serene setting. I wouldn't have left if it wasn't for my fingers turning into icicles and my face going numb. It was also quite windy, and I could see lots of people with wind-burn. I slipped a few times, which caused massive hilarity to Ryan. I'll do anything for a laugh, hey?

It took 2 hours to get back down and it was pretty dark by the time we reached the car. We did actually see people's lights still on the mountain when we were near to the car. I wouldn't have liked to be them knowing what the terrain was like.

I was so happy to reach the summit, and even more happy to know that I did it in pretty difficult conditions. And after all that, I still had a smile!

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me and a big thanks to Ryan for joining me on this little adventure. Hopefully, this has been more than enough to prepare me for Nepal. Everest next anyone?

If you would like to donate to my fundraising for VSO, you can do so by visiting my JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/Alice-Garland-90/

Don't forget that I'm also hosting an Art Auction next Wednesday from 18:30 at Racks Bar & Kitchen, Bristol. There's some great looking pieces, so hope to see you there!

Alice x