Snowdon via Rhyd Ddu path - 7.7 miles Snowdonia

Our second day of our weekend away in North Wales over the bank holiday was reserved for Snowdon. We ummed and ahhed because the forecast was meant to be shit and by all accounts, heavy rain was meant to be [supposedly] sweeping in in full force come the afternoon. We had a back up plan and were going to walk in Anglesey if all went to pot but we decided to go hard or go home and headed to Snowdon regardless!

I've only actually walked Snowdon once and that was via the Watkin path - which is long but very scenic and enjoyable. We were camping pretty close to most of the route starts so decided to start in Rhyd Ddu which isn't far from Beddgelert. There's a pay and display car park by the mountain railway although the ticket machine was out of order, so we left a polite note on the windscreen and parked on the side of the road (it was full) and said a little prayer the traffic officers operating in the area were off on Sunday and not likely to target us.

The path is signposted but we were following the route on OS maps with GPS anyway although it was a pretty clear path from the get go. We headed up a track and started the climb up the mountain. Almost immediately, we were hit by pretty strong winds which rendered most of our conversation useless although it died down almost as soon as it started.

It's steady continual climbing although it didn't feel overwhelming. We had a few jelly baby eating and water drinking stops but mostly just ploughed on. The warden passed us on the way up and told us the rain would be coming in within an hour...but luckily, it held off almost completely and the majority of the walk was just cloudy but still clear enough to take in the views with a bit of a breeze.

After what felt like forever, we saw the summit in the distance, and the long ridge walk up to it that we still had to conquer - which was much steeper.

We began slogging up the winding track towards the summit. As we got closer to the ridge, a few walkers warned us it was really windy up there. Fi asked if it was windier than the summit and they said yes. I stopped to put my Rab jacket on anticipating it would get much colder but not quite expecting what hit us next.

We got onto the ridge and got hit by relentless 60mph winds. I don't think I've ever walked through so much wind. Part of me wondered if we'd even make it across to the summit 'cos it was such an effort just to stay standing up and the wind threatened to throw us over or into the rocks for the duration of the ridge walk.

I was ahead with Nerys following quite close behind. I stopped to wait for the others in the shelter of a few rocks.

Dexter trying to enjoy the view while his ears battle the gale force winds.

Multiple layers at the ready...and a trusty buff!

Tina and Fi were taking ages to catch up and Nerys began to wonder where they were. They arrived shortly after and Tina looked a bit paler than usual and Fi had taken the dog off her. Tina's never done a ridge walk before and certainly has never experienced such high winds and the sheer drop and walking along the narrow path on the ridge had made her freak out and want to crawl on her hands and knees just to get past it (this seems to be a recurring theme with my friends). To be fair, I know where she's coming from, it was absolutely terrifying, I guess I'm just used to the exposure from rock climbing and insisting on hill walking and heading into the mountains in all weathers. You should never underestimate the mountains though.

We got out of the wind and carried on a slightly wider path to scramble up the last section to the summit. Fi regaled us with a tale of when Tim made her ascend Snowdon via Crib Goch (this is a pretty daunting ridge which can be formidable in poor weather and has claimed a few lives of some experienced mountaineers). On that happy note, and grateful to be alive and not claimed by the mountain, we finally arrived at the summit which was swarming with people (I can't imagine it's ever quiet).

I thought the guy behind was falling off when I first looked back on the photos but he is also taking a photo!

We ducked down behind the café out of the wind to have some lunch. It got cold very fast now we weren't moving so we scoffed down what we could and fought off some competition from the beagles who were trying to stick their noses in every lunchbox despite having had a bite of a sandwich! We headed back down the same path and the wind was a little less than on the way up. I told Tina to just look in front and not down but she made it through with less anxiety and we carried on back down to the car park. It was picking to rain but held off until we got back to the campsite.

We said goodbye to Fi at the car park as she was heading home to Rhyl for the weekend and we all went back for some well deserved prosecco and food! We had aching legs but slept soundly and didn't feel guilty getting the calories in because we'd had such a good weekend of walking in the hills. Snowdon is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area and haven't been. I enjoyed doing a route I haven't done before although there are so many mountains in the nearby area that are a lot quieter to walk and just as enjoyable with incredible views. It's important to remember that just because you can walk it in trainers, never underestimate the mountains. Take a torch and compass and have a map, be prepared to turn back if weather worsens because it's surprising how quickly you can get disorientated and that kind of dread is terrifying.

View from the tent the night before - freezing cold but totally clear, moonlit and starry sky.