Wales is home to some precious gems, and Snowdon is definitely one of them.
I wanted to start off September by accomplishing something big on my wish list, it just so happened that Snowdon wasn’t too far from me. So, on the 1st of September I decided to take my family to hike the Rhyd ddu path up to summit Wales’ biggest mountain.
We started quite late in the day at around 4pm, which meant we didn’t reach the peak until dusk (I don’t recommend hiking in the dark unless you are somewhat experienced).
The journey up was truly breath taking; beautiful lakes, mountains, and dense forests surrounded us as we climbed, you don’t think the view could possibly get better but then you get higher and you see so much more!
As we worked our way up the mountain we encountered beautiful native plants, like Hawthorn and Heather which is known to bloom all year round, along with grazing sheep and cows. I am always cautious of cows, but these guys were friendly and kept to themselves as the munched on grass along the path edges.
Similarly to the cows and sheep, I made it a priority to bring plenty of energising snacks, Bombay mix is definitely the way to go (shoutout to Chloe who put me on to this budget delicacy). You use a lot of energy when hiking so it’s vital to replenish with nutritious snacks, that’ll keep your energy levels high.
By the time we reached the summit the fog had moved in and we couldn’t see much of anything, but although we lacked the spectacular view at the top it still felt quite magical. I felt accomplished and connected to the land around me. I showed gratitude for where my two feet stood, rather than what my eyes could see, I tried to visualise all that this mountain had seen through the ages, and how the landscape had changed throughout history. It’s an incredible place. I felt very quiet, and very still.
As we began to descend the mountain the sun was setting and we witnessed the most gorgeous sunset. The sky was ablaze with oranges and reds, nature is truly magnificent. On our journey back through the sunset we met three people who were trekking around North Wales, they were all studying law in London and were such lovely people. We walked about half way down together, and during our conversations the coincidences kept coming. Now I don’t really believe in coincidences, so this was truly bizarre… it turns out that one of the people was from the same place as me and my family. That was weird but not completely unheard of, we also had people in common, but what was really crazy is that they used to live in the house next door to where I currently live. Imagine the chances of meeting someone at the top of a mountain that you’d never heard of before and they happened to live in the house next door at one point. It blew my mind, it almost felt like fate!
Unpacking these coincidences made the journey down the mountain go surprisingly fast, an hour flew by without us really noticing. Then we had to pull out the torches, it was about 9pm at this point and it had suddenly gotten very dark. We spent the rest of the time scrambling over rocks until we finally reached the car park. It was a magical day, and I’m grateful that I got to experience the climb up and down Snowdon.
Sidenote: If you decide to climb up Snowdon, please be respectful towards the land and the animals. Don’t litter, don’t try and pet the cows. We’re just visitors, this is their home.
Lauryn Iris 