yr-Wyddfa – then and now  - Heong (June 1995/ July 2003)

Going up in Chris's car, I mentioned that some NKHC stalwarts spent a night up on Snowdon summit 8 years ago (on 24/6/95 to be precise) & that was my first outing with the club. We were young & innocent then (at least, some of us were). Tony M thought it a great idea, but first we had to find the Tan-yr-Wyddfa hut. We cornered a bloke & his two dogs in Rhyd-Ddu. He first corrected our pronunciation: Wyddfa is pronounced 'woof-fa'. From then on I'd associate Snowdon summit (Yr Wyddfa) with a dog.

We walked up the Rhyd-Ddu path on Saturday, very pleasant in the sunny weather. Kim decided to return early to get an early start on the BBQ while the rest of us joined the hoi polloi at the summit. Steps have recently been built to allow high heelers to walk all the way up to the top without stumbling(what next - an escalator?).

Chris suggested we descend via Crib Goch. There was a Sherpa bus to take us back from Pen-y-Pass at 1715, so we wouldn't be stranded. Alison and Nick returned via the Snowdon Ranger path while the rest of us took the ridge. Going down CG is rather more tricky than going up (and the wind made it even more interesting), but 3 hours later we were having ice cream at Pen-y-Pass, none the worse for wear except perhaps a few frayed nerves.

Nick & co. conjured up an excellent BBQ, but the two Tonys had to go easy on the booze because they'd decided to bivvy up on Snowdon also. This time there were no half measures-we brought sleeping bags, Therm-a-Rests and, in my case, a Rab waterproof bivvy bag and a stove (remembering how I spent the night shivering in a plastic bag last time). We set off at 2300.

Based on my maxim that one should always let one's companions do the hard work, Tony L and I sensibly left it to Tony M to take the lead almost all the way. (His long legs allowed him to move swiftly over rough terrain when others less well endowed would be stumbling over loose rocks in the dark). It certainly helped that we'd covered the same ground just a few hours before, in terms of route finding, but we still missed the left turn to the gate and had to retrace our steps. The full moon was very bright but I had to bring my headtorch into play from halfway up whereas Tony was able to leave his off till later (he probably eats more carrots than me). Later he said he wasn't sure whether my LEDs was the moon or vice versa.

On the last stretch on Bwlch Main, I took over the lead as we finally pulled up to the lights from the cafe (which had been visible from the hut below) and immediately crashed out on the balcony, reasonably sheltered from the wind.

As Tony L said, every stretch of the route seemed much longer in the dark, but in fact we took only 2 hours to ascend, faster than on the earlier one.

Tony L set his alarm for 0400 but nobody heard it - however something woke him up at 0430. Luckily, cloud on the horizon meant the sun wasn't yet visible. We got up in time to see the spectacular sunrise, with mists still covering the low ground.

Apart from a few people doing the 3 Peaks, there was hardly anybody else there to see the sight (unlike the previous occasion). Several photos later, we went back to bed at 0515 and slept soundly till 0800, when one of the six people staying in the cafe came out to bring us bed tea (really!). What more could one ask for in life?

We started our descent after the first train came up to take the rubbish & sewage down - we'd undoubtedly have become a tourist attraction if there had been passengers on it. We took a slight detour to the South ridge before rejoining the Rhyd-Ddu path back to the hut-just in time for a late breakfast.

The others planned to do the Nantlle Ridge (Alison & Nick) or go to the beach. Already overheating on the descent, I wimped out of any further walking in the 30 deg temperature and elected to follow Derek, Ann, Chris, Kim and Tony L to Pwllheli where we had a lovely time sunbathing, swimming & eating ice-cream.

Tony L assured me this was the warmest water he'd ever experienced in a British sea. I had to believe him, as I didn't suffer frostbite even after 20 minutes of immersion.