Always nice to be based at The Cottage during a heatwave! Very lucky indeed to have both rivers and lakes in close proximity. While building up a bit of strength and energy from the energy-sapping Moroccan illness, I’ve at least been able to have a few nice dips in some idyllic swimming spots with Clare.

My final trip up Tryfan for this season was an early one – so early that I slept in the van, so that I could be ‘onsite’ ready to meet the student group at 03:15am on Tuesday morning.

After such a spell of incredible weather, it was a little disappointing not to be bathed in the warm glow of morning light as we made our ascent. Instead, we had a slightly damp and misty gloom as we set out by headtorch. No glorious sunrise either – it just got a bit lighter! But on the plus side, the temperatures were cool enough to need jackets rather than what would have been cripping heat, if we’d set out a few days ago!

I even pulled on a light duvet jacket to keep warm on the top! We had the summit to ourselves, which, given that it was only 6am, was not surprising!

Things started to perk up on the descent…

Although it wasn’t without drama – one student had a catasptohic boot failure – on both boots! It was too much for my repair kit to handle, so a slow and steady descent ensued!…

As we dropped height, the clouds began to lift.

We were back at the A5 just after 8am, where John and Aled had arrived with a new set of boots! The team then continued on with their challenge of climbing Cader and Snowdon in a day.

I returned home for a quick snooze, before heading out to pick up some gear for the next days, activities, and had a quick dip in Padarn – to keep me awake as much as anything!

After watching a nice sunset at The Cottage with Clare, I went back out to Llanberis at 22:30 to be the welcome comittiee for the team as they staggered down Snowdon. I greeted them with a fresh hot pizza which seemed to go down well and for once, there were no complaints about the minibus seats being uncomfortable! A long day for staff and students!