Having spent a non-refundable twenty-five quid to park at Pen y Pass, I was somewhat relieved to find that we’d lucked out with the weather again for another trip up Snowdon. We had a visiting Australian with us this time, so a trip across Crib Goch seemed to be in order for the full value Welsh mountain experience.

The tops were covered in a thick blob of cloud when I got up at 05:45, but by the time we neared the summit of the first scramble, the clouds had lifted clear, giving some super views.

We had a second breakfast on the summit of Crib Goch to prepare ourselves for the traverse. I was with a very able group and the winds were light but cold so it was easier to manage this time.

We went pretty fast really and had another rest at the far end, while we were sheltered from the northerly breeze. It’s always impressive to sit and look back at where you’ve come from on this route. A little further, and we reached the railway, and soon after, the summit.

We timed it badly reaching the top as 100 or so people got off the train just in front of us, meaning we had to queue for fifteen minutes before we could get a team photo on the summit marker.

We did however, get in front of Liverpool Uni netball team and various other sponsored groups! Bonkers!

Time to get down and go home!…

We chose the PyG track for our descent and on arrival at Pen y Pass, went straight to the YHA for a drink and an ice cream in the sunshine outside! The group were all fast asleep before we even reached Llanberis in the minibus!

The evening became even more stunning, without a cloud to be seen. I took a short walk along the track, but decided that I might be better off conserving a bit of energy rather than going back out again. After a 11.1km day with 850m of height gain, my bed was calling!