Snowdon with Dean & Sophie
My good friends Dean and Sophie who I met during my time at Royal Mail had never been to the top of Snowdon before, something I was outraged to learn, so immediately decided we would arrange a trip!
Weather conditions can make or break someones first mountain hike so we booked a place to stay in LLanberis for a couple of nights, giving us options for which day to hike. Naturally Bo was coming too because she goes everywhere with me, as well as my Leica M4 and a couple of rolls of film!
We arrived in the evening, treated ourselves with the best pizza’s in Snowdonia - at Hangin Pizzeria in Bewts Y Coed, ready for our hike the next morning, the forecast was good!
The plan for the hike was to start at Pen Y Pass, going up the Pyg Track to the summit, then following the LLanberis Path back into town, to sanctuary.
8.6 miles according to Strava.
As we approached the bus stop in LLanberis the bus came past us, making it on board just in time our journey to the top had begun! Dean and Soph started in trousers - that soon changed as we started ascending, the sun was shining and weather was beautiful!
As you round the hill where the Pyg Track and Crib Goch trail splits , the views open up and we are rewarded with the beautiful views across Llyn Llydaw over to the dark, moody peaks of Y Lliwedd, our path continues along the Pyg Track, past the stone marker and along the fence - Crib Goch will have to wait for another day!
The clouds begin to slowly creep in as we gain height, shading us from the sun, and making the climb that little bit easier. As we make our way around the curve of Crib Goch’s flank, Snowdon begins to come into view with Glaslyn at its base - our destination is now in sight!
From here its a steady climb up the switchback staircase, with more steps than I care to count, you reach the saddle at the top, looking back towards the lakes you can trace your path, those following behind you looking like a trail of ants making their way up the mountain. To your right you have the summit of Snowdon, and to your left, Garnedd Ugain stretching back to Crib Goch.
Now there is just the gradual incline to the top. From here you can see the trig point, its on a raised plinth with a stone staircase and with the popularity of this peak, it is often busy with other hikers queueing to get a photograph at the top - we are no exception.
At the top I finish the last of my roll of Kodak colour film, and switch to Ilford Black & white for the descent!
The route back is along the LLanberis path, which follows Parallel to the mountain train line back into town. This line has a 3rd toothed rail in the centre and the train uses gears to drive itself up these very steep gradients, a very impressive feat when you see how steep it is at the top!
The views on the way back down are every bit as spectacular as those on the way up, and i’m very happy with how the black & white images have come out, these are the sort of conditions I love for black and white film, cloudy skies with soft contrasty light, it really brings out the textures that colour film can distract you from!
The way down brought us back into town to rest our tired feet, celebrate with a nice pub meal, and plan our second day in north Wales!