Entirely by coincidence, we are visiting the three Welsh National Parks first, followed by the ten English ones and finishing off with the two Scottish Parks. So, having visited the Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast in January and February respectively, we are heading to Snowdonia next. In fact, we are planning a double Park visit this time and will be spending a few days in the Peak District after Snowdonia.
Snowdonia National Park is the largest National Park in Wales and lies in the north-west corner of the country. There are nine mountain ranges which cover 52% of the Park and one of the peaks, Snowdon, is the highest mountain in England and Wales (at 1,085m above sea level). Unusually, you can travel to the top by the Snowdon Mountain Railway (www.snowdonrailway.co.uk/) from Llanberis, although it only travels to Clogwyn (about 1 mile and an hour's hike from the summit ) from mid-March to May and only goes all the way to the top from May to October (and assuming it is not too windy). We've decided to stay at another YHA hostel and I am looking forward to a couple of nights at the YHA Snowdon Ranger (www.yha.org.uk/hostel/snowdon-ranger) - but in a private room rather than a camping pod this time. It is conveniently located at the base of Mount Snowdon, with a hiking route to the summit right from the doorway. The Snowdon Ranger Path (www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/visiting/walking/mountain-walks/snowdon-ranger) is one of the easier routes up to the top of Mount Snowdon and our plan is to attempt that. I'm still a little nervous about Jay's capability, as this would be a longer, high walk than he has ever undertaken before (at 6 hours +), but I have high hopes that having tackled Pen y Fan in the snow (taking 4.5 hours), he would be able to climb up Snowdon on a fairweather day. I'm assuming, of course, that the weather will be good when we are there and I know that is not a given in the spring! To be honest, I am not necessarily wedded to the idea of reaching the summit. The point is to enjoy a day outdoors and I don't want to ruin a good day out by forcing the kids to walk further than they are comfortable with. The resulting grumpiness is no fun for anyone! The YHA Snowdon Ranger is also based by the side of a lake - Llyn Cwellyn - and I am super excited by the prospect of getting out in our canoes again. We haven't been paddling since last summer and I am itching to be on the water, hopefully in a peaceful location. I am making another assumption here - this time that we will be able to fit all of our canoeing, hiking and other stuff into the boot of our car. Our two canoes are the inflatable type and fold up into bags the size of large suitcases and our buoyancy aids are also quite bulky. I'm not entirely sure what we will sacrifice if it doesn't all fit!
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