h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi folks

A while back, I decided that I wanted to complete the 3 Peaks Challenge. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is to climb the highest mountains in England (Scafell Pike), Wales (Mt Snowdon) and Scotland (Ben Nevis).

A few friends were interested so we set about booking a youth hostel.

We arrived last Tuesday. The hostel was in a gorgeous spot, right next to a lake and with a mountain backdrop.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elentari86/4799527016/

We'd booked a private room for the three of us rather than sleeping in dorms, and our room was in a converted coachhouse, not the main building. It had 2 bunk beds and a sink. The only downside was that the pillows were very flat and quite uncomfortable, because they'd been lain on so many times there was practically no stuffing left in the middle. Next time I'll do as my friend Chris did and take my own.

We headed to the nearest town by village by car to buy food for lunch the next day and to eat dinner. Lunch sorted (after escaping from the shop following a long chat with the friendly, talkative owner ) we went next door to the pub he recommended.

As soon as I saw 'Welsh lamb' on the menu I knew what I was having! Welsh lamb tagine

Back at the hostel, we poured over the map and route directions. There are 6 main paths up Snowdon and we decided to stick with the one nearest the hostel, the Watkin Path, which was supposed to be the most difficult. We wanted a challenge, after all!

The next morning, fuelled up on cereal and a cooked breakfast, we set off. The start of the route was three quarters of a mile down the road, which was fine at the start of the walk but not so much on the way back!

The weather was extremely poor for much of the walk - heavy cloud, rain, even thunder and lightening and (briefly) hail! The final section of the walk was what we dubbed 'the Mt Doom section', because it looked exactly like the bits in The Lord of the Rings when they climb Mt Doom. It entailed scrambling up a steep section of scree where the path was often unclear - and this in the rain! At one point, the cloud was so heavy I could see no more than about 5 metres on either side of me, so when it then cleared very suddenly to reveal the valley, it was stunning!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elentari86/4798887407

At another point, we took a slight detour for a view of the Snowdon Horseshoe, which we couldn't see from our path.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elentari86/4798884535/

At the top we could see nothing through the cloud, which was disappointing, but following the ritual touching of the trig point marking the summit and obligatory photographs, we headed into the new cafe there for a well-earned hot chocolate and lunch!

We decided to head back on one of the other paths before cutting across and joining our original route as we didn't much fancy heading back down the Mt Doom section in heavy rain. Still, the thunder and lightening that greeted us on the other path probably wasn't much better!

Arriving back, we were obviously quite tired so stayed in the hostel for food and a welcome drink.

Next up - Scafell Pike, probably in September, then Ben Nevis next year.

If anyone would like to see more pictures, if you are a facebook friend of mine there is a large album there, otherwise select shots (mostly from the brief intervals of clear weather!) can be found, as ever, on flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/elentari86/.

Sorry about the bad weather. I'm not sure 38°C in scorching sunshine would have been much better, though (except for the photos).

That sounded as if you had a good time. A friend of mine has done the three peaks in a weekend several years in a row for charity. Have you ever thought of doing that, or is this just a trial run?

Off to look at pix.

Websailor

Yes, I meant to explain that a lot of people do the three peaks in a day as a challenge. That, however, is extremely hardcore, and involves climbing at night, exhaustion and many hours of driving. We're not that good.

We just want to climb them, we're not particularly bothered about doing it in a certain time period. My cousin wants to do the 24 hour challenge. Good luck to him, but you won't catch me doing it!

Wise woman to know your own limits

Got a message this morning, my friend and associates raised £2,000. Personally I would want a lot more for doing that

Websailor

That's very impressive!

To do the 3 peaks challenge in 24 or 48 hrs takes a lot of planning and needs plenty of back-up and support. I did back-up a few times in my early hill-walking/climbing days, mainly driving, it can be as hard as doing the climbs themselves.
My personal goal was to climb all 284 Munros in Scotland. Munros being mountains of 3000 plus feet. From 1989 to 1999 I 'bagged' 184 Munros, sadly the ticker gave out August 1999 so doubt I'll bag the remaining 100 now.
It was fun while it lasted, we didn't always use the 'prescribed routes' which made for some interesting and difficult climbs though.

Sorry BMT, only just read your message. I am very impressed with your record!