Pyg track

          This stone represents quite an achievement (probably to a lot more people than just me).  It’s the stone marking the top of both the Pyg track and the Miner’s track just a short hike from the summit of Snowdon.  The path which is easily visible around the lake is the Miner’s track which comes in from the right, but if you look slightly higher up to the left you can see the Pyg track snaking its way out of sight behind the stone.  They both meet at a point just below the picture and climb the last steep climb together.

          I had climbed Snowdon via the Llanberris path a long time ago, when I had a lot more energy, and a lot less aches and pains, but since my husband had taken all three of our girls to the summit via the Pyg track on several different occasions I eventually agreed to go myself.

          I’m often laughed at for going into “plod mode”, just putting one foot in front of the other at a pace comfortable to me but far too slow for everyone else, but I was determined to make it to the top so plod mode it was.  I was assured it didn’t matter how long it took, there would be plenty of patience on hand, and to be fair there was.

          I didn’t see much of the views on the way up, I was concentrating on where I put my feet and stopping now and again to point and press the camera, I’ve enjoyed the views since though, from the comfort of the settee with the laptop plugged in.

          One fellow “struggler” in particular sticks in my memory with a smile; a granddad with a walking stick.  He was climbing with who I’m assuming was his daughter, and his grandson.  The daughter was very concerned, trying to convince him to go back and his grandson was reassuring her, “nonsense, it gets easier over the hill”.

          The granddad, very shaky, and relying heavily on his walking stick was probably the only person to take longer than me to climb Snowdon on that day.  He did make it to the top, as did I, but I often wonder who took longer to recover over the next few days, him, or me.

           Follow the walk with photos in two of my later posts … “Going up ...” and “… Coming down“.

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