Snowdon Summit – This was the beginning of the 3 peak challenge!
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and the third highest in the United Kingdom. We have never thought about climbing a mountain before but as we was forced to explore our own back yards due to Covid-19 and Wales is famous for the Snowdonia National Park, this was a great opportunity to try something new and out of our comfort zone.
Route – Miners Track
Reaching and Elevation of 1085 meter this took us around 7 hours to hike via the Miners Path. The Miners Path is 8 miles there and back, starting and finishing at Pen-y-Pass car park. This has got to be one of the most scenic route by passing 3 beautiful lakes you can stop of at and have a swim on a hot day. This is not the hardest route but not the easiest. If your lucky enough to get a parking space at Pen-y-Pass great but most times it is packed. So if that’s the case on the day you can park at Nant Peris car park and catch the bus down, its a 10 minute bus ride and the bus comes every 20 minutes. Our best advise is to start early so you can get the best parking spot and give yourself enough time to do this hike and be back down before dark.
Snowdon Summit
Other Routes
Here are some of the other route you could take.
- Llanberis Path – is the easiest but longest of the six main paths to the summit of Snowdon. 9 miles (there and back)
- Pyg Track – 7 miles (there and back)
- Watkin Path – 8 miles (there and back)
- Rhyd Ddu Path – 8.5 miles (there and back)
- Snowdon Ranger – 8 miles (there and back)
- South Ridge – 7.9 mile (there and back)
- Crib Goch – The most dangerous of the main paths, Crib Goch is the site of many accidents, many unfortunately fatal. 8.3 miles (there and back)
There is another option to get to the top, you can catch the Snowdon Mountain Railway. This will take you right to the top outside the café. unfortunately the train railway and café was closed due to Covid-19.
What to pack
An early start means a cold start so dress warm and if you get hot you can take your layers off. Take a face mask so you can shield your face from the wind as is can get really windy at times. Most importantly wear a good pair of hiking shoes, your going to need good foot support as your going to be hiking for many hours and the surface is not always smooth.
What we packed in our rucksack?
- Plenty of water
- A victory drink
- Food – sandwich
- Snacks – apples, protein bars
- Touch
- Tissue
- Portable charger
- Camera
- Sunglasses
- First aid kit / Medication
Summery
I can’t complain about the weather, we couldn’t have chosen a better time of year to go, August was just right. We will definitely hike to Snowdon summit again, we would prefer to go in a group next time so we can share this experience with others an we defiantly want to hop on the mountain railway just for the fun of it.
