…to the Highest Heights

Continued from the previous post…

Our taste of Wales’ natural beauty left us wanting more, so the next morning, we were again awake early and were again blessed by the incredible generosity of Pete, who drove us this time to the foot of Mount Snowdon in Snowdonia National Park. Although we ended up on the “advanced” trail (we were only following Pete’s instructions!), the first half of the climb was relaxing, offering sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and the lakes below.

Then, we climbed into clouds. Suddenly, the world disappeared, covering us with mist and obscuring all but the next few feet in front of us. The path that had seemed luxuriously wide and almost painfully gentle suddenly shot straight upwards, with no markers in sight.

We climbed on for a few more meters until we realised that we were completely turned around and making up our own path in the middle of suffocating cloud cover, which did not seem like a good idea. Thankfully, voices came our way: although we couldn’t see them, we managed to talk to two other hikers, who assured us that the path was just below us.

Back on track, we continued on up, finally reaching the summit of Mount Snowdon… or at least what we could vaguely see of it! The winds at the peak were ferocious and the mist was so thick that objects even a few steps ahead of us on the trail disappeared into vague shadows. The temperature had dropped 15°C as we climbed, and every exposed hair on our body was covered with droplets of mist and ice. This is apparently not unusual for Mt. Snowdon: a local who arrived at the summit moments after us took one look at the white void and sighed. “Oh well,” she muttered to herself, “perhaps one of these days I’ll actually see the view.”

However, just a few meters down the mountain, a whole new world reappeared!

Thinking back to the original three elements that had brought us to Wales, all three proved true. The uniqueness of Welsh culture is evident not only in the raw, magnificent beauty that composes the landscape, but also in the earthy language that garnishes every interaction, from the post office to a scenic drive with a local. There is something magical about Wales, where myth and reality live side by side, where mountains disappear into the mist and ancient castles sit cooly beside play structures.

And finally, the Welsh really do scramble off cliffs. And now, so have we.