Woke up to a cold morning at ten past seven and got dressed. Then we went down to a breakfast of sausages, spaghetti and eggy bread. We were then informed that the task for the day was to climb Snowdon. We then got our equipment ready and set off. After 15 minutes in the min bus we arrived at the bottom of the mountain (350ft above sea level) and started to walk up Snowdon. We were left to navigate with only a map. After we had walked for about 10 minutes, mike started telling us about the legends of Snowdon and the lakes around us .As we reached the first lake mike pointed out a pipe that was in the James Bond film “the world is not enough.” A couple of minutes later he started to talk to us about the plants in the area such as a weird type of moss which soaked up the water from the streams and when dry, served as an natural antiseptic for the people in the dark ages and the mines from the 1800s . Then about a mile later we sat down and mike talked about the copper crusher. This was a ruined factory that would have removed waste from the copper by crushing it. They did this to make the copper easier to move. We then continued to the second lake where we sat down and had our lunch. Then we continued on up a steep slope were people started to moan and groan. The weather started to turn bad and both the rain and the wind started to pick up. We then had a quick rest and climbed to the blue lake. We were told the lake was called this because the miners mined copper in that area so the copper reacted with the lake to make copper sulphate which is a blue colour therefore affecting the colour of the lake. We then did another ascent. On the way up we saw a wooden pole with hundreds of copper and silver coins placed in the pole. This was supposed to fend off dragons because the coins would shine in the dragon’s eyes. We then made the finale ascent to the peak of the mountain where every body started to fall over because of the snow and ice on the path. About 30minutes later we bumped into Mr Whites group who were hiding from the wind under a wall by the train that went to the summit. As we approached the peak the wind grew very strong and started to push us about the place. Katie got worried by this as she was afraid of blowing down the mountain. We reached the top and took a group photo before making a hasty retreat and had a quick break before starting our descent from the summit…
We went down the mountain following the rail track. As we made our way down the mountain we passed sheep. The sheep were friendly especially towards Wednesday, who ended up talking to them. By this time we were all aching and feeling ill. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and waited for Lou to arrive with the mini bus. We got bored and cold so we got out the emergency tent and huddled in it. Lou arrived an hour later. We arrived home safely yet tired and had dinner.
By Fraser Bore and Jack Laffargue
Hi guys! It’s Maddie and Caroline here!
It’s our second full day here and in our group today we did some gorge walking. It was an early start as normal, at about 7.30am today. We had a warming breakfast, then began getting ready for the day. We had a group meeting with our leader – Jez, and he told us the equipment we’d need for the day.
It was about a 30 minute drive to the gorge, called ‘Afon Ddu Gorge’ which in English translates to ‘The Black River’. When we arrived, we were lead outside and were geared up with harnesses and safety equipment which we attempted to put on ourselves. One of these pieces was called ‘the bum strap’ and we all needed help putting these on. –Not everyone was offering help though!
Once we finally entered the gorge, we were told a few safety instructions, and then set off. The first thing we noticed when we started were the numerous rocks and gushing waterfalls. We all agreed to help each other along, heaving ourselves and others up steep, slippery crevices. A little while into the walk, it started raining, and despite developing what we thought was hypothermia, we didn’t stop! We carried on, and after a short while the rain started to calm down and finally came to a halt.
The first main obstacle we came to was a curved wall that we had to climb across to get to the other side. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, Maddie (me:D) was first to topple into the very deep and muddy water… But with the saviour of Caroline, (who could walk on water; much like a god) I was saved from the man-eating rocks! We were all smiling though, because as soon as we all approached the other side, Gabriel decided he wanted a quick swim too!
We then clambered onto the next group of slimy rocks nearby a beautiful waterfall. Jez was leading us, and he quickly strolled across the middle of the waterfall, with the water gushing down on him whilst he gripped a few rocks to heave himself across. We then all repeated this step, except it was much less smooth, and not as easy, and much noisier with screams, and generally much worse when we did it!
We soon came to our first break, and we all had a delicious homemade cookie and a Kit-Kat. -Apart from the few that weren’t very hungry. After a few minutes of rest, we soon continued our trek through the gorge.
We then came to the infamous ‘Elephant’s Bum’. Which to be honest, most of us didn’t see any resemblance at all towards an elephants bum…not that we had seen one. Gabriel was first to climb up the ‘lip’, then crawl onto his knees and squeeze through the small crevice. He was then followed by me (Maddie), Miss Hodgitt, Libby, Georgia, Alex, Caroline, Maxine, Kirstie and Morgocia. We then were all instructed to walk towards the steps, on a steep slope, which we then sat down on for a few minutes before moving on.
By Maddie Kear and Caroline Stanco
On Sunday we arrived at least an hour earlier than expected however the journey still took 7 hours! When we arrived we took our cases up to our rooms, got our kit and went down to have some dinner. We had chicken fillet burgers and chips and peas and for pudding we had a choc-ice. Then we went for a nice long walk through the woods to a “haunted” castle. Group 1 got there first and scared group 2 by jumping out at them.
Then we walked back home and had a hot drink and went to bed.
The next day (Wednesday’s birthday) we had a sausage, beans and hash browns for breakfast. Then we got ready to climb a mountain called y Garn. When we got there we realized how high it was (about 974 ft above sea level.) and started walking. At the bottom it was quite flat but rocky ridges made it hard to walk. When it started inclining there were steps in the ridge which were again hard to walk up it made your legs ache like crazy! It took about an hour to get halfway because we made good time; we ate a sandwich and had a hot chocolate which was sorely needed. The majority of the rest of the way was snow and ice. It was very treacherous and there was an awkward black cloud lingering which made it hail for a few second and then blew away. The first person to fall over was Wednesday because she is a butter brain. Then everyone was falling over at the top of the mountain. We got to the top and sat down and ate the rest of our lunch then sang happy birthday to Wednesday and it started snowing! We had a massive snowball fight and we made snow angels, contrary to what you may think it wasn’t cold at all. Getting down the mountain was fun we slid almost all the way down but near the end it became rocky and slippery and it was hard to walk. By the end everyone was muddy and wet but we could all agree that it was an outstanding day out!
By Wednesday Barber and Katie Hatt
