I do believe that Glastonbury was worth taking the time over, hopefully you agree and didn't get too bored along the way.
I was back at work on Tuesday 29th July. I purposefully kept that morning free, but needn't really have bothered. I felt surprisingly good to be honest. However, as is always the case after a break from work, there was plenty to catch up on. That week passed rather quickly.
The following week had a "Team Building Event" planned. Basically, it was the Agriculture teams from Wissington & Cantley getting together for a few days (totalling about 20 of us). The peak (excuse the pun) of the few days was to be a climb up Snowdon. All in aid of charity, but more of the money side later.
We set off on the Thursday morning, meeting on the outskirts of Shrewsbury mid-morning. After all meeting up and having a coffee, we travelled in convoy to a "surprise destination". This turned out to be a warm up climb taking on The Wrekin. No, I hadn't heard of it either. Here's a link.... CLICK ME.
It was quite a nice day, if anything a little warm so off we went. Not too long to get us to the top and here's the proof...
That out of the way, off we went again to a nearby hotel.
I shan't bore you with the rest of the day, as it involved work stuff. It did finish with a good fun quiz in the evening mind.
Friday saw an early start, 6am, as we had to get to Snowdon from where we were. A couple of coffee to wash down bacon sandwich and away. I can't remember how far it was, but I'm guessing at just under two hours.
Hands up who's climbed Snowdon? Yep, me too. It's a pretty popular mountain to climb. Last time I did it was in 2005. We did the Llanberis path. There are quite a few ways up the mountain and that path is probably the easiest, it's even tarmaced a lot of the way. Me and H did it fairly comfortably in about 4-4.5 hours. It was nice and bright although still misty on the summit. This time was to be somewhat different. Oh yes.
So here is Snowdon in all its glory (not my pic)...
Now, take your hand and cover up the top three quarters of that photo. That's what we arrived to find, and remember that this is the height of summer!
Behold the car park.
Never mind. We were doing it no matter what. Everyone had gathered within half an hour. We were also joined by a couple of the mountain rescue team, just 'cos they fancied it! Roly, their dog, came along too. He was a seasoned rescue hound, now retired.
I had a good choice of clothes, I would have loved to have started in shorts and t-shirt, but it wasn't to be. Everyone donned full waterproofs. I choose against leggings and stuck with 3/4 trousers. Someone had even ignored all advice and worn jeans! You never, ever wear jeans for climbing/walking. Ever! Doh!
Right, off we go.
Here are quite a few pics, the final one being well on the way down.
We went up the Pyg Track and down the Miners Track. It started with some walking and then gradually got steeper... then steeper. Lots of stepping, and plenty of using one's hands. The wind was really blowing a bit of a gale. The rain never stopped.... at all. At times, it seemed to be coming down horizontally.
Within 30 minutes, everyone (including the pros) were totally drenched. Waterproofs were totally beaten.
I have never, ever been so wet without actually being submerged. We couldn't stand still for long, as being soaked combined with the strong wind soon caused you to get damn cold!
But, we all made it. A welcome thirty minutes were had in the café at the summit. I took my coat off and realised it weighed about five times more than normal. I hung it over a table and it didn't stop dripping for the whole thirty minutes.
Got the message about how wet it was?
The trek down was a bit easier and took maybe half an hour less. Pyg Track is a bit of a trek all the way up, the Miners Track is steeper near the top, but for the lower section, it's fairly easy walking.
So here we all are back at the car park...
The "Gears" thing is to do with work.
The afternoon and evening were spent relaxing, eating some good nosh and having a few beers. Needless to say that we all about ready for bed by about 10pm!!!
So that was Snowdon. ANd the money raised? Well totally, over £15,000. Not too shabby, eh?
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