Of Climbing in Wales

In Rogers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," the Mother Superior says to a lovestruck, yet doubtful Maria that she must "climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every river, until you find your dream!" And as I was trudging up Mount Snowdon in Northern Wales - ascending towards a meager, yet handsome 3000 feet and the highest point in the UK - the song kept repeating itself in my head.

What was also nagging at me was the desire to collapse and sleep for a thousand years.

But in my head, I heard my own Mother Superior telling me to "climb every mountain," not because of any intangible dream, but rather, "you've already been doing this for the last 3 hours, what's 1 more?" It was 1PM and the sun was beating down on us in what would turn out (coincidentally) to be the hottest day of the season. And I had forgotten to apply sunscreen (having forgotten that foreign method of protection). So onward...



How did I get myself into this situation with no sunscreen, no tissues for my sniffling nose, and the sun beating down on me? Well, the whole point of going to Wales was two-folds: Welsh castles and Snowdonia National Park. We were going to go back in February but according to the websites, Mount Snowdon was a "death trap" during the winter season. So we decided to go to Paris instead. And I was trudging up a particularly steep slope, it was a good choice to wait until now. Though I do wish we could have done it a couple of days ago when it was cloudy and misting. At least then I would not be sweating rivulets, wanting to dive into the nearest pool of water, and getting a horrible sunburn to boost (and future skin cancer).



We could have taken the steam train, which had its base in the town of Llanberis. But we decided that as young, athletic, strong walkers that we were, we would just save that 15 pounds round trip and do it the old fashion way.


Every...single...step

And 4 hours later, we were at the top.



A quick stop for lunch at the top of the world, where my ham sandwich and orange juice tasted like the most amazing meal I had ever had. An hour to enjoy the breeze. And what followed was the way down. And the fight continues...



I did soak my tired feet in the cold and clear mountain lake water at the bottom. And it felt amazing. In that needles and potential frost-bite kind of way.

P.S. And about that Welsh Castle? Big, stony, and filled with mysterious dark corridors. What else can you expect from a castle?


Caernarfon Castle. Built by King Edward I to suppress Welsh rebels and inspired by the Roman ruins at Constantinople.

Wales, the photo album