Snowdon

The weather forecast was looking promising so I felt a hike coming on. There has been a bit of snow recently so I thought that Snowdon would be the place to go.

I haven't been there since October and decided it was about time I did.

I had no intention of climbing to the top, conditions and fitness levels won't allow that yet.

I followed the Miners Track which is a fabulous, tarmac'd path. It is also very forgiving. You have a bit of a steep climb, then it levels out for a bit, giving the unfit a chance to recover, before it heads up again.

I had the tripod with me, but found that as it was quite bright, I didn't actually need it. All the photos were taken with my standard lens. I tried with the telephoto, but somehow completely lost the scale of where I was.

Again, there was barely a soul around apart from 2 wardens who trundled past in a small truck. You think they'd offer a girl a lift!

I climbed up to Llyn Llydaw which is the first lake on the journey and it is beautiful and serene.

There is something so amazing about standing beside a crystal clear lake with mountains looking down on you. At that moment, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

I started the climb up to Llyn Glaslyn but it started to get really icy as I got higher and so decided that this maybe wasn't something that I should be doing as I was not really dressed appropriately for the ice. So I followed the path back down again. An 11,485 step round trip. Yep, still got the Fitbug going.

I am going to get to the top of Snowdon one day soon, and not by train. A year ago the thought would not have been allowed into my head but things change. I am not the middle aged overweight couch potato I was then. Ok so I am still middle aged and a tad overweight, but couch potato no longer!

I am finding the hiking getting gradually easier the more I do and my fitness levels are improving slowly. This is with just being out and enjoying myself, rather than any pre-determined fitness regime. So I will be fit enough to conquer Snowdon before the end of the Summer. And that's a really scary thought!

Lessons Learned: Wise words, change what you can (size, fitness, state of mind), accept what you can't (age).

If they built a Cadwaladers on the summit, I'd be up there like a shot!