Mountains, Mist and More Mint Cake

Day Nineteen – Nantmor Wales

Today was our last full day in Wales. Even if we wished for better weather it was our last chance to get the train up Snowdon to the Summit. We'll miss Wales as a place but certainly not from a meteorological viewpoint.

We got up early for a change as the train left Llanberis at 9:00am. Unfortunately the early trains were all deisels so no more steam railways for us. At least it was a rack and pinion system and interesting from that viewpoint. The carriage was pretty basic with hard seat and room for about 30 people. The windows were nice and big though and we were right up the front.

It takes about an hour to reach the top station at the summit. For the first 40 minutes or so we could see quite a lot and enjoyed the commentary about the sights and places we could see. By the 700 metre mark the weather started to close in and visibility dropped right off. We couldn't see anything past about 20 metres and often less than that. It was a real pity but at least this time I was getting right to the top, unlike as a child where the wind prevented it.

At the top we went straight inside into the new(ish) and pretty flash visitor centre and cafe. We bought a cuppa as we had all got pretty cold on the way up. Nobody was very keen to go outside, us inlcuded. Eventually a few of us succumbed to temporary madness and made a dash for the summit. The cold was mental, the wind going right through you and the damp from the clouds adding on top. The kids stayed behind and Jenni and I lasted about 5 minutes, just long enough to snap some photos. You can see how cold it is just by looking at us. At least I made it – 1085m up even if you felt like it was a nothing because there was no view.

View from the top ;-)

The trip back down was quieter as the weather was really closing in and there was very little to see until we neared the bottom. James was dozing with his mum and Anna and I just stared out the window. We reached Llanberis again about 11:15am.

As we got off the train I managed to get some decent pics of the loco and carriage we had gone up in, plus other services getting ready to run. There was a couple of steam locos working up pressure as well. While we were in the gift shop (buying more Mint Cake, the rest having *mysteriously* vanished) one of the steam locos blew something and started spewing a LOT more smoke that was normal, much of it a nasty yellow colour. I doubt that loco went up the mountain.

We made a few stops on the way home to buy lunch and take some photos of the Aberglaslyn Pass from the highest point. We also took some pics of where Snowdon apparently is, but they just look like photos of hills with clouds on them ;-)

Back home and we spent the rest of the day relaxing out of the weather and getting ready to head to Liverpool. We'll be staying with Wyn, Gareth and Rebecca, who also stayed with my folks when they visited Australia recently. It will be nice to see them, talk to someone new and maybe enjoy a few more civilized comforts again. I must be going soft...

Cheers,

Millsy