Pen-y-Pass has been transformed into a regulated car
park. 9am and it is full, with vehicles of all sorts queuing outside - the £10
charge does not seem to put people off. Once upon a time, I used to have this
free spot for my own.
The ranger recommends driving to Llanberis and taking a
bus ride. But I naively give away my secret spot 2-3 miles down the road. He
smiles and says: "Okay, if you want to hike all the way up from there...”.
On arrival I realise that, what was not more than an off-road hard shoulder,
has also been converted into parking bays. A parking-meter asks for £4 or a £120 fine.
Doubtful, I leave all of this behind and start my trek.
300+ people on the normal route, and it is not even a sunny day... A handful of
us on the ridge and 2 fell runners. Well done! I shout at them. Eventually I
step on the top of Snowdon, but the crowd promptly move me away - they all are
after a portrait that proves their presence at the highest point in Wales. No
photos for me.
Reluctantly, I decide to pop my head in the Visitors Centre
– once its porch acted as bivouac for me and one of my best friends during The
Welsh 3000s Challenge. The Centre is open today, it feels completely different
from what we experienced that night.
On the way down I stop to check from the distance the
Central Trinity, a winter route that I read about in a mountaineering magazine.
There seems to be no way up in the summer, but I can visualise in my mind the
route through the gully if covered with snow. It brings some hope - maybe next
time, with less people and a different mind-set.
I have been on Snowdon today, or so my GPS says... My
heart could not tell.
David
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