Snowdon 30th April 2009

The whole group on the steps to Hotel Eryri.

Ascending the Snowdon Ranger path to Snowdon. At the trig point on Yr Wyddfa.

The group outside Hotel Eryri (still not open) on Yr Wyddfa summit.
Descending the South Ridge on the Rydd Ddu path.

The first view of the day!

Walk stats:Distance:8.2 miles; Climb:2918'.

Time:6 hours 2 minutes; On the move walking average:1.7m.p.h.;Overall walk average:1.3m.p.h.

Group:Martyn, Richard, Gordon, Dave J., Sylvia, Fran and Tito, Sue and Michel and friends from Arradon.
The predicted light rain turned out to be much more than just showers and it rained continuously until we reached the summit. However the strong winds died out much quicker than expected, making it feel much warmer when the rain stopped.

Views were very limited, but glimpses started to appear towards the end of the day, along with our first sight of the Sun and blue skies.

We celebrated reaching the summit trig point with some French red wine kindly provided by John-Louise.
Although still in cloud we lunched outside Hotel Eryri, apparently due to open to the public in a couple of weeks time.

The birds seen or heard today were few and far between but included:Meadow pipit, Skylark, Wheatear, Carrion crow, Swallow and Chough.

After walk drinks were celebrate at the Cwellyn Arms at Rhyd Ddu where the Bragdy Conwy brew was excellent (sampled by some of our French friends too!).

The Chester contingent also sampled J.W.Lees bitter at the Britannia Inn at Pentre Halkyn, but it wasn't quite at its best on this occasion. six of the group also had a meal where Rabbit pie was the main tempter!

Overall a very enjoyable day, despite the cloud cover and lack of views which must have been a been a disappointment to our friends from Arradon.