On Friday 14th June 2019, 8 Scouts and 7 Explorers from across Newcastle District travelled to Snowdonia, North Wales. Their aim was to climb Mount Snowdon; at 1085m (3560 ft) Snowdon is the highest mountain in England and Wales.
We had a relaxed Friday evening, discussing our proposed route, kit and emergency scenarios.
At 6 am on Saturday morning we were woken by the smell of coffee and bacon, a full English breakfast is always a good way to prepare for a long day on the hills. Particularly when looking out of the window it was looking extremely wet.
Never the less we jumped in the minibus and drove around to the Pen-y-pas car park to start our climb.
Splitting into two groups we started walking up the Pyg track. As the first group broke away they headed up to Garnedd Ugain to bag the 1050m (3494ft) summit. Both groups then converged on the Llanberis path where we made our final ascent to the summit of Yr-Wyddfa (Snowdon).
With visibility down to about 20 metres we gathered at the summit for a group photo before descending down the Llanberis path to Halfway House for some lunch in the sun. With the low clouds lifting we were treated to some stunning views across the valley and down into the town of Llanberis. We then continued down the path into Llanberis where we explored the area and relaxed with some ice creams.
After a long successful day on the hills we were treated to a fantastic sunset and chilli for tea back at our cottage in the Ogwen valley.
The following morning the smell of home wafted through the building as cheesy oatcakes were warming up in the oven. We then headed for the beach in Llandudno, some of the Explorers went for a swim in the sea whilst the Scouts explored the town and the arcades.
We then headed back to Stoke where the weather was even worse than it was in Wales.
All in all a challenging yet fantastic weekend was had by all, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders.
Thanks must go to all of the Leaders who helped to plan and run this weekend.
The Scouts expressed an interest in climbing more mountains in the future, this is something that this team has already started to plan for 2020. Watch this space..
If you’d like to go on the next adventure , please contact us.
Jon Mycock