And all without a sherpa

May 14th, 2008

by Dan.

Despite putting in a fair bit of training for the Dales Walk my natural laziness has meant I’ve avoided hiking up too many hills. Kerry and the kids absence is a perfect opportunity to get a bit of walking done, and so yesterday I decided it was time for me to tackle a few slopes.

Obviously the sensible thing would be to start off small. But being sensible is for big girls blouses, I wanted to do something big.

So yesterday found me driving three hours in order to walk up the highest mountain in England and Wales, Mount Snowdon. Admittedly, at 3560ft above sea level it is relatively small by international standards. But it’s the same hight as Table Mountain in South Africa, and is about an eighth the size of Everest. Have you walked up an eighth of Everest? No? Shut up then.

I chose to go up the Ranger Path. The main reason for this was that I couldn’t even pronounce any of the other routes. I mean, come on: Over Y Lliwedd, Pyg Track, Crib Goch route, Rhyd Ddu path, Llanberis path? If I fell down a cliff face and broke my legs I wouldn’t be able to call out mountain rescue, I’d be too embarrassed about saying where I was in case I got it wrong.

According to the mighty Wikipedia:

The Ranger path rises gently to Bwlch Cwm Brwynog, between Moel Cynghorion and Snowdon, and then along the top of the Clogwyn Du’r Arddu cliff face to Bwlch Glas between Snowdon and Garnedd Ugain.

What it doesn’t mention is that “along the top of the Clogwyn Du’r Arddu cliff face” is bloody steep. I was alright going up it (although I certainly didn’t break any land speed records and had to stop every three or four minutes to stave off a heart attack), but coming back down really buggered my knees up. Perhaps I should have just rolled.

But still, I’ve done it. And despite my knees hurting when I go up and down the stairs I feel pretty alright today, I might even go on another walk this afternoon.

Ben Nevis anyone?

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Who am I?

My name's Dan and I live near Huddersfield in the North of England. I’m a 34 years old part time stay at home dad. For three days a week I'm also a community mental health nurse but you won’t find me blogging about that here. I’m married to Kerry and we have two children - Amy (6) and Evan (3). I keep chickens, grow veg, and take the occasional long walk. If you want to know how other's describe me then take a look here. If you haven't been here before feel free to say hello in the comments.

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www.virusstompers.com. Jeff from View From the Cloud and his son have just set up a new business. If you have a computer virus in need of stomping then Jeff's your man.

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Congratulations to Xbox4NappyRash. Now he has to think of something else to write about.

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17 Comments on “And all without a sherpa”

#1 gail
on May 14th, 2008 at 9:46 am

I did the Ranger path too when I was young and full of life and energy (and because we were told we had to by the instructor.) I ‘think’ I enjoyed the day, it was lovely and sunny and you could see for miles, we had a laugh and a few stops along the way but when we got to the top, it was a real pea souper. Couldn’t see your hand infront of your face. Bummer. I do have a photo of me and someone else wearing very fetching day-glo orange kagoules and strange bobble hats standing right on the top of the top thing.

Did you wear a kagoule by the way? for safety reasons of course?

Bet you are suffering today though – eh?

gail’s last blog post..The Great, the Good, the Hilarious.

#2 Oli
on May 14th, 2008 at 9:55 am

I went up Ben Nevis a couple of years back. Couldn’t walk for three days afterwards (it’s the coming down that does it).

Also caught the sun, and was thoroughly mocked at work for the following week because of it.

Did I learn? Nope.

#3 Oli
on May 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am

From looking at your pics, it seems like you picked the right day to do it – glorious!

I admire your new blue suede boots (I presume that photo was taken at the start?), but I couldn’t help but smirk at your posey “good day to you sir” doffing the hat photo!

Good work Dan!

#4 Dan
on May 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am

Gail – No kagoule, just shorts and a T-shirt. It was lovely and warm.

Oli – i’m very tempted by Ben Nevis. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

#5 Ed (zoesdad)
on May 14th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Looks like a fantastic trek. And the shoes—spiffy!

Ed (zoesdad)’s last blog post..What About Tomorrow?

#6 PG
on May 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

Nice work! And also thanks for putting The Lemonheads in my mind. I just put on “Car Button Cloth”. Hadn’t listened in AGES!

PG’s last blog post..Project 365 // Day 102

#7 Penelope
on May 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

I walked up Helvelyn when I was about 15, it would kill me now. I just can’t understand the concept of a walk up a mountain, (an eighth of the height of Everest) being a good idea!
Bloody well done for doing it though :o)

Penelope’s last blog post..Chasing rainbows…

#8 CamiKaos
on May 14th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

Good for you.

I like a little hike but not 1/8th of the way up Everest. Mr. Kaos has climbed mountains… but they had snow at the top… not lovely grassy rocky view

Loved the vid.

CamiKaos’s last blog post..for dad…

#9 Kristina
on May 14th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

Brings me back to my childhood hiking up the mountains of Colorado. Too bad I can’t scamper up the cliffs like a baby mountain goat anymore. Great pics as usual. The outdoors suit you :)

Kristina’s last blog post..busy busy busy

#10 Xbox4NappyRash
on May 14th, 2008 at 7:06 pm

You would SO get a part in ‘take the high road’

Nice video, nice sights, nice tune and you know what, I actually think you’re going to do it with absolutely no hassle come July.

Xbox4NappyRash’s last blog post..I said ‘Nappy’, dammit

#11 (un)relaxeddad
on May 14th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

I’m not sure if that was the one I did when I was 18 or not. But I still remember the clouds closing in and the site of them boiling over the edge of the knife-like arrete we were hiking along. The then abruptly clearly for a few minutes once we reached the summit. Must go back again.

(un)relaxeddad’s last blog post..Carnival, May 3

#12 Bec
on May 14th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

I can’t wait to get back into the walking again – health must be here soon! I applaud you.

Bec’s last blog post..The Day After

#13 Craig
on May 14th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

I’m more jealous that I thought I’d be of that achievement. Doubly so since I was actually off work yesterday and could have come along. My knee and ankle are knackered though so it would probably have killed me :)

#14 Nat
on May 15th, 2008 at 2:20 am

Well done.
IF you do it 8 times does it count as climbing Everest?

Nat’s last blog post..Me runner! You police officer!

#15 Deb
on May 15th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Love the hat, Dan! It’s also cool how the trail seems to go very quickly from relatively flat to Oh-my-god-look-at-how-high-I-am.

Beautiful scenery. Good job!

#16 sandip
on May 15th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

It looked cold out there. Why didn’t you wear a hoodie?

#17 Baseball Regulation
on Feb 4th, 2009 at 9:49 am

You fell? You’d better be careful next time. =) My friend had an injured knee due to a fall while playing baseball. Now we lost a player :(

And all without a sherpa

17 Comments on “And all without a sherpa”

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