Snowdon - steep, wet and very, very windy

Last weekend we spent the weekend in Snowdonia, North Wales.  The scenery was amazing but the weather was pretty grotty which meant we didn't get to see much.  We were really only there for one reason - to climb Mount Snowdon.

Snowdonia was formed approximately 450-400 million years ago (the Alps are 60 million years old in Comparison) as an oceanic plate, lapetus, slid under the continent of Laurentia.  At the time Wales would have been the site of huge amounts of volcanic activity.  As well as volcanic rock, you will also find lots of sedimentary rock in Snowdonia as the formation of the mountains was underwater.

It felt like we were underwater as the drive though the mountains to our hotel was through sideways rain and high winds.  We stayed in a lovely little hotel well hidden half way up a very, very steep hill.   I knew we were in proper Welsh Wales when we sat having a drink in to the hotel bar and a sheep casually wondered past the window as it was eating the grass.  It mowed the lawn of the hotel gardens and then wondered back up the hill.

A rare sight of some blue sky.

The weather didn't improve overnight so the likelihood of reaching the summit was looking slim.  This became even clearer when we arrived at the car park to a long speech by the car park attendant about the conditions on Snowdon and setting our expectation about how high we should go.  The advice was heard loud and clear - do not attempt to reach the summit today.

There are seven routes up to the summit of snowdon.  We opted to take the Llanberis Path.  The total walk was nine miles long, 3200 ft high and a six hour walk.  The Llanberis path is the gentlest and longest route up Snowdon.  The path is well defined and easy to follow with cafe midway.

The first 20 minutes or so of the climb was by far the worse.  Whilst the surface was the best (a nice cement road) it was by far the steepest part.  Every time you got to a bend and thought it was over, there was another section, and another, and another.  

Once we were off the road and on to rougher terrain I'd got a bit more in to the swing of things.  We had managed to lose the crowd that were following us up and had got into a rhythm - whilst still stopping for breath a lot!   As we got higher and higher the conditions got worse and worse.

I had every layer on I had with me, it was a great day for trying out my hiking gear.  But, it was truly awful.  I'm not going to lie, I hated every step.  The rain was getting heavier meaning the path was getting slippy.  And the wind....... it was blowing my clothes so much that I literally looked like I was wearing clingfilm!   I was not a happy girl!!

Strike a pose.

We finally made it to the halfway house.  A little cafe exactly half way up the route.....a VERY welcome break and mentally a massive boost.  We took full advantage of the facilities and stopped for a cuppa and a Welsh cake, and of course a toilet break before assessing the weather.

X marks the spot of the halfway house.

I wasn't the only one who wasn't exactly enjoying the day.  The lady sitting next to us in the cafe sent a text that simply said "words can not describe how awful this is".  It was such a shame as it was clearly the weather making conditions difficult for everyone.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse so rather than continue a little further up and risk getting caught, we decided to head back down so we had the rest of the day to explore a bit of the area in the dry car with heated seats.  Any views we had on the way up had disappeared and been replaced with thick cloud, with nothing to see it was really was "head down and get off this mountain as quick as we can".

Although I didn't make it to the top, fitness wise I could tell that I had it on me.  Had mother nature (and mountain rescue!) been on our side we would have made it to the top, I'm sure.  So the weekend wasn't a complete waste - I got an idea of what lies ahead of me, I got try out my walking poles and I got to eat Welsh cake!!

Here's hoping the tropics of Africa are kinder to us.

#goingbeyond

It wouldn't be right not to post today.  Four months today we start the climb.

We will have completed more training than I ever thought I would do in my lifetime.  We will have raised as many pennies as we can for worthy causes.  We will have collected donations of books, clothes and stationery for a school in need and shipped to Tanzania with laptops donated from work.  We will have packed and unpacked our bags a million times.  We will have waved goodbye to our families and friends and arrived in Tanzania.  And we will have probably laughed and cried about what is lying ahead of us.

Four months is nothing.  Its no time at all - and it shows, we have both switched in to panic mode and have suddenly become very, VERY focused on the task at hand.

The last four months of training is booked in the diary.  I'm not sure I'm going to have a social life now until its all over but I know my body will be in as good a shape as it can be.

There is still a lot to do.  Insurance, visa's, injections, school donations - the list that seems to get longer no matter how much I tick off each week.

At work we have a #goingbeyond hashtag, so that's what we're doing - in 3 months, 30 days, 8 hours and 24 minutes (its less than four months already!!)

Odzala-Kokoua National Park - Congo

Odzala-Kokoua totals 13,500 KM2 and has been an African Parks project since 2010.  It is situated in the heart of the second largest tropical rainforest in the world (after the Amazon), and harbours some of the rarest and most enigmatic species on the planet.  The park is home to the Critically Endangered western lowland gorilla, forest elephant, at lest 444 bird species, and an almost unparalleled floral diversity.

The stats....

• 22,000 gorillas confirmed in 2015 census;
• Over 106 eco-guards employed;
• Established in 1935, Odzala is one of Africa's oldest national parks.

The Highlights

• The "poacher to protector" programme, which permits poachers to become rangers in exchange for their firearm and full disclosure, has led to 56 confiscated firearms and improved park intelligence;
• A gorilla habituation programme is being implemented to improve tourism for local communities;
• Over 100 jobs have been created within park management;
• Since 2012, 5% of commercial revenue has gone into a Community Fund channeling US$82,000 in support of local projects;
• A mobile health clinic established serving 400 people in 39 villages around the park.

What next for Odzala-Kokoua?

• Provide new income streams for local communities, including planting 40,000 cocoa saplings outside of the park in rehabilitated cocoa fields;
• Following formal training from agricultural experts, communities are planting trees that are expected to start bearing fruit in two to three years;
• Continue with gorilla habituation at multiple sites within the park to aid tourism to deliver needed local benefits;
• Survey transects to evaluate wildlife population trends in order to better protect them;
• Implement a tourism development plan to increase tourism numbers and revenue.

All of this information has been taken from the African Parks website.  If you want to find out even more about Odzala-Kokoua National Park then why not grab a cuppa and click on the link below - happy browsing!

Odzala-Kokoua National Park 

PS - here is a link to my just giving page - click here to sponsor me 😘

The Thames Path Challenge

Yesterday I stepped up the training with a light 25k stroll along the Thames.  It was an organised walk by Action Challenge that took us along the Thames from Bishops Park to Southwark Park.  The 'Thames Bridges Trek' followed the Thames Path crossing 16 bridges and taking us right through the heart of London.

This was the longest I had walked in one sitting and I knew it would be a challenge but the scenery as well as the camaraderie with the other hundreds of people completing the walk made the time pass a lot quicker than I thought.

For those data geeks among you, here are the highlights:

• 25 kilometers walked
• 16 bridges crossed
• 43,254 steps stepped
• 1,043 calories burned
• 2 sore feet
• and the worlds largest blister

We started the walk at Bishops Park where we registered, warmed up and made the most of the free tea and toilets.  Then we were on our way - heading east.

Bridge One - Putney Bridge
Originally known as Fulham Bridge it was the second bridge to cross the Thames and was first built in 1729 out of wood.  It originally has 26 arches as opposed to the current five.  The replacement bridge was built in 1886.

Bridge Two - Fulham Railway Bridge
This bridge was opened in 1889 and is 418 meters long.  It was designed by Brunel's former assistant William Jacob.

Bridge Three - Wandsworth Bridge and the 4k mark
Opened in 1940 and is 200m long.  The steel panels on the side of the bridge were painted different shades of blue in an attempt to camouflage the bridge from air raids.

Bridge Four - Battersea Bridge
Build in 1890 it is the narrowest surviving road bridge over the Thames in London, it is one of London's least busy bridges.  The location on a bend in the river makes the bridge a hazard to shipping, and it has been closed many times due to collisions.

Bridge Five - Albert Bridge, reaching 7k along the way
Opened in 1873 it was known as the 'Trembling Lady' because it shook when being used by soldiers from the Chelsea barracks.  It is one of two road bridges over the Thames that have never been replaced.

Bridge Six - Chelsea Bridge, marking the 10k point

The bridge is self-anchored so there is no 'abutment' support at either end of the bridge.  The original bridge was built in 1858 with the replacement bridge being put in place in 1937.

Bridge Seven - Vauxhall bridge, the last bridge before the halfway rest point, at 13k

Opened in 1906, Vauxhall bridge is unique - attached to the bridge's piers are eight colossal (they're twice life size) statues of allegorical figures, the 2nd of which is is a figure of St Paul's Cathedral.

The halfway point at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens was a very welcome sight.  We got 'scanned' in before being presented with a vast array of treats.  Crisps, chocolate bars, fruit, sweets - and the largest pastries I have ever seen!  We sat down for our only break of the day and enjoyed a quick toilet break and a refuelling before setting off again.

Bridge Eight - Lambeth Bridge

It was opened in 1932 and is 237 long.  Supposedly the red colour of the bridge represents the colour of the seats of the House of Lords.  Members of the house of parliament would walk along this bridge while those of the house of commons would use the Westminster Bridge.

Bridge Nine - Westminster Bridge, 15k

Opened in 1862 it is the oldest road bridge across the Thames in central London.  The detailing of the bridge was done by Charles Barry the architect of the Palace of Westminster.

Bridge Ten - Golden Jubilee Bridges

The first bridge was opened in 1845 as a suspension footbridge.  The two 4 meter wide foot bridges were completed in 2002 and were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession.

Bridge Eleven - Waterloo Bridge
Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott who also designed the red telephone box who was not an engineer making the plans very difficult to build, however once it was opened it became London's first concrete bridge across the river Thames.  Opened in 1945 it is also know as the Ladies bridge - as whilst designed by a man, it was largely built by a female workforce during the war, after over 500 men were called to fight.

Bridge Twelve - Blackfriars Bridge
The original bridge was opened in 1769 with the replacement being opened in 1869 and is 281m long.  The piers of the bridge are decorated with stone carvings of birds, with the carvings of freshwater lords reflecting the role of Blackfriars as the tidal turning point of the Thames.  On the north side of the bridge is a statue of Queen Elizabeth, to whom the bridge is dedicated.

Bridge Thirteen - Millennium Bridge, 19k point half way across the bridge
The first bridge built and opened in over 100 years, in 2000 and named 'the wobbly bridge' after it wobbled alarmingly on the opening.  It was then repaired and opened again in 2002 - said to cost £18.2m.  Today there are over 400 different pieces of art on the bridge - which is the work of street artist Ben Wilson who paints scenes, shapes and figures on the trodden, dropped chewing gum of passersby.

Bridge Fourteen - Southwark Bridge
Over 13,000 litres of paint were used on the restoration in 2010.  It was originally built in 1921 - today Southwark bridge has its own website.  Check it out here.

Bridge Fifteen - London Bridge
This was the first bridge in central London crossing the Thames.  The first stone version was built in 1176.  there used to be buildings and shops on the bridge, but in 1758 all of them were removed.  The London Bridge that we refer to now was opened in 1973.

Bridge Sixteen - Tower Bridge, 22k, the last bridge!
The bridge was opened in 1894 and was considered the most sophisticated of its type in the world.  In 1952 while the bridge was opening the number 78 double decker bus was still on it so had to accelerate and it managed to jump the gap.

Once we had crossed the final bridge we passed through some beautiful streets - where apparently Pink Panther lives!  We also came across some quite dramatic weather but somehow managed to stay dry all day.

If I thought the half way point was a welcome sight, that was nothing compared to the end, where toilets, food, chairs and FREE PROSECCO was waiting.  Once we had rested up we needed to get home but my feet were having none of it.  Thankfully I had packed a change of shoes, they bought some relief for me feet but I was still struggling to walk by this point - but I did it!!

I need to get my feet back to walking fit soon as in a couple of weeks I'm at it again, but this time uphill on rough terrain.  Words can not describe how big the blister is on my little toe!

So, if you fancy a challenge, why not give its go yourself.  The route is below, green pin to red pin - I dare you.