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Our trip to Wales originally was designed to be a weekend trip to climb Mt Snowdon, but it eventually turned into a week-long tour of Wales, beginning in the south and ending in the north.

Day 4 8. Caernarfon Day 5 9. Conwy 10. Blenau Ffestiniog slate mine Day 6 11. Snowdonia

Day 4
Our trip from South to North Wales along the coast was ok. The roads were very windy, and Erin slept through most of it. After about four hours of driving we made it to Caernarfon and its famous castle. There isn't much left of it other than the basic structure, but we climbed the towers and learned some of its history. We decided to have a wild time in the town, which for us meant going to an Indian place for dinner. It was very different, but quite a nice change.

Day 5
For the nights of days 4 and 5 we stayed in a bed & breakfast in Betws-y-Coed, a town central to our activities of days 4, 5, and 6.
We planned to climb Mt Snowdon on one of our two final days in North Wales. Justin called the weather forecast for the mountain on Tuesday night; it said rain Wednesday and overcast but dry Thursday, so we left Snowdon for Thursday and headed to Conwy. We went right to the castle, which dominates the city from the entrance to the city. From our uneducated perspectives, it is little different from Caernarfon Castle - only the basic structure survives, and we were able to climb the towers and walk along the walls. We even saw the King's "throne". After the castle we wandered around the city, looking in stores and buying desserts from a bakery.

We stopped on the way from Conwy to Blenau Ffestiniog at McDonald's, a rare treat for us. Blenau Ffestiniog is the site of a major slate tour. Slate was the North's industry, just as coal was the South's. The slate mine tour was similar to the coal mine tour, although more expensive (£24 vs free). The story was the same: start at an early age; work 12 hour days, 6 days a week; endure dangerous, dirty, demanding work for very small wages. The presentation could have been better, but it was good enough. Although even the best the castles had to offer is rough compared to an average standard of living in the Western world today, the mines make even bleak castles appear warm and comfortable. With the early starts and long days, seeing daylight was a luxury for Sunday, their day off. Every job involved demanding physical labor, all day, every day; injuries did not result in workers' compensation.

Day 6
We will probably never forget our final day in Wales, hiking Mt Snowdon. We had much more of an experience than we planned on having.

Our guide book gave us a few options for paths to the top - everything from a long, easy gentle slope to a more challenging path with scrambling. Erin was leaning towards something in the middle, but Justin really wanted to try the "Snowdon Horseshoe", a long hike with many variations in terrain and scenery. Erin eventually gave in because he convinced her they could just see the Horseshoe, and if it looks too difficult, try another path.
The day started well - we were alone on the fairly easy to follow Pyg Track, visibility was decent, and there was no rain. Even after we left Pyg Track for the path to Crib Goch, it became a bit more difficult but still fun. As the path neared its end - the top of the ridge - it was no longer a hike or a scramble, but instead bordered on a rock climb. It was at that point Justin realized he had made a big mistake taking the Horseshoe, and sometime around then Erin announced that we were over our heads.

The car park is visible, in the middle of the picture.

We were getting too high, and the climb was getting more difficult, so we decided to back down and look for an alternate route. After another false start, we found a path which went to the top of the ridge, but at a lower point. It was still a challenging climb, with loose rocks at the top, but we made it to the spectular views.

Yes, we came up the steep side on the right. But we got to go down the nice side on the left.

We then had the option to climb up higher on the ridge, or walk through the valley and make a climb after the ridge descended a bit - after our stressful hike to that poinnt, we chose the latter. Again, it was difficult, but manageable. We followed the ridge path, confident that we were finally on a nice path.

Then the ridge path developed into another rock climb, which we did not want to attempt. So instead, we skirted along the steep side, sometimes following a path, sometimes making one ourselves. The thing that kept us going was being able to see the easier path far below us, running parallel, and gaining altitude to join us. We knew that as soon as our paths met, we had a nice easy trail the rest of the way.
Eventually we did get close enough and climbed down to meet it. It was only a short, relatively easy climb to the top, although we were both exhausted and very dirty. The top was extremely foggy - visibility around 20 feet - so we spent most of our time in the restaurant. We took the easy path down. Because of Erin's growing mid-section she has more of a problem with balance, so stepping down was difficult. By that time she was so tired that she needed Justin's help for every big step down. Although we would certainly not have planned the day as it happened, God kept us safe despite Justin's stupidity and gave us a more than memorable day.

Other items to note for the vacation:
-We did not have any accomodations reseerved when we started the trip. The first night we drove around until we found open lodging, after that we made our reservations in the morning after we planned our day.
-We were very glad that we had recentlyy purchased a car radio/CD player. We ended up listening to a total of 17 CDs.
-Wales is bilingual with everything in Welsh and English. But unlike other bilingual countries to which we've been, English is the primary language; it's the exoticness of hearing another language without the confusion. For those who have seen the movie Windtalkers, Welsh too was used as an unbreakable code. Example: Pwll Mawr yw amgueddfa mwyngloddio mwyaf blaenllaw'r DU. That translates to: Big Pit is the UK's leading mining museum. Or so they say.