The prologue:
Back in January, with the status of Old Age Pensioner looming ahead of me, I decided that I’d need to mark that milestone with some sort of modest challenge. Hiking the Welsh 3000s (the recognised 15 mountains in Snowdonia that exceed 3000 feet) felt like a worthy challenge. The route that links them all, plus the first ascent from Pen-y-Pass and the long descent off the final mountain down to the tiny parking space above the village of Abergwyngregyn is about 30 miles and has a total ascent of approx 12000 feet. Quickly dismissing the idea that I could cover it in a single day, I initially worked out a two day plan and invited the “usual suspects” who I thought would be up for it, to join me. Namely; brother Andrew ( a Franciscan monk of my acquaintance ), my elder son Jack, and two great friends of many years, Iain Presnell and Andy Howey. Unsurprisingly, they all immediately agreed to come along, and with a combined experience of 300 years it was game on !
A date of July 18th was set and I booked some good air B’n’B accommodation in the small town of Llanberis at the foot of mount Snowdon. The only cloud on the horizon being the increasingly painful problem with my right knee, which by early May had put a complete stop to any running and was beginning to make walking and everyday movement uncomfortable. With five weeks to go, Andrew and I went for what should have been an easy 15 mile walk, to test how the knee might stand up to a challenge. After only a couple of miles it had become painful and deteriorated quite quickly. Route finding errors made the final distance 18 miles, most of which was a slow painful limp. The knee took a week to recover to any sort of normality, and the mountain trip looked in some sort of jeopardy. A daily routine of ice packs, and some regular cycling definitely improved the situation, but unfortunately, Iain was experiencing even more debilitating pain to his left knee – which wasn’t responding to any treatment.
Aiming to make the trip enjoyable and achievable, the plan was changed to spread the hike over 3 days – the Snowdon range on day 1, the Glyderau section on day 2 and the Carneddau section on day 3, but with each section being a point-to-point route that required transport at the start and finish points, a bit of logistical planning was essential.
Day 1 meant a 5.30am start, before a 300 mile drive, positioning 2 cars in the right place, and then the first 3 mountains. It sounded tough, but the reality was much worse…..
Tune in tomorrow for the misery of Crib Goch, Carnedd Ugain and Snowdon in absolutely atrocious weather conditions !!!
I’ve posted a few video shorts on youtube, which you can find by putting this into the youtube “search” feature:
@KimStanley-wf6ti
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