Saturday, 13 May 2023

The Snowdon Circus



I don’t normally venture up Snowdon in the summer, especially not on a sunny Saturday, but for various reason, I got to experience the madness first hand today!



I managed to take a few photos of the views without the hoards of people which make it look all rather tranquil, but the photos don’t give the full picture!



Having reserved a parking space (for a meer £18.00), the drive to Pen y Pass was congested but not stressful, as we knew we’d be able to park. Our space was empty as promised, but a trail running race was coming down the PYG track, meaning that there wasn’t much room for ascending hikers!



Eventually the thousands of runners eased and we were just left to contend with the thousands of hikers instead!! I’ve literally never see anything quite like it. Last time I was around that many people, I was on Regent Street in London! Music from portable speakers, and a steady line of people, dogs and runners, fancy dress, shopping bags, we saw it all! 



At 10:30, I met someone returning from the summit who’d ‘only’ had to queue for 45min to touch the summit marker. As the wait involved a lot of aggro and shouting from ‘the mob’ as he described it, to prevent any queue jumping, we decided to not even bother trying and descended the Miners Path, enjoying the views as we did. 



Clare was on a nearby peak at the same time. Completely alone…



A hot shower, a bite to eat and a few moments in the garden afterwards, recharged me enough before heading back out to meet another group who had just arrived into camp on a DofE expedition. Thankfully they looked even more tired than me and did not stay up too late and I was in my sleeping bag before midnight, happy to be horizontal!

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