Sunday 17 September 2017

The Snowdon Circus - Form an orderly queue!

I've been up Snowdon more times than I can remember, in all seasons and by all the main routes. Today, however, was a new experience for me....



What I soon came to realise, was that I'd never been up Snowdon on a summers weekend! It was literally like being on some sort of pilgrimage and from Llanberis to the summit, my group and I virtually followed a line of people!



It was the most bizarre mountain experience that I've ever had! As we neared the summit in the mist, we came upon a queue of nearly a hundred people. At first I thought there had been some sort of incident, but it turned out that they were just patiently waiting for their turn to ascend the final steps up to the summit cairn! I'd never seen anything like it! Mountain madness!



We didn't bother waiting the twenty minutes or so that it took to reach the actual 'summit' and declared our ascent to be complete, a few metres lower. After a bite to eat at the equally busy summit cafe, we were pleased to be rewarded with some views as we began our descent.



We followed, overtook, got overtaken, dodged dogs, avoided bikes, chatted to sponsored events and eventually made it down to Llanberis. It's the first time I've been up in the Welsh mountains for a few months and the whole experience was a bit of a shock!



Ah, the solitude of the mountaineer!....next time maybe....

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