Practice Trek - 5th February - Moel Siabod

We set off for North Wales after a busy day for the little trekkers, it was about a 5 hour journey but the excitement got them through it! We arrived at our home for the weekend http://glanaberhotel.co.uk/  can I take this moment to thank all at Glan Aber for making us so welcome and looking after us so well...if you are ever in this area do stay here...the breakfast alone is worth it!!!

Saturday we were all up bright and early in good spirits with the girls in all their donated walking gear and raring to go! Trek Leader Mark had the route and GPS at the ready...off we go!

The weather was horrendous as we set off but this was what we were here to do and we knew we had to get this under the girls belt so they would be ok for the real thing in 5 weeks knowing what to expect....nothing could have prepared us for what was to come....

The weather got worse but we carried on getting higher and the wind and rain getting worse, writing this blog my tummy did a flip remembering quite how bad it was! The girls all reached their mental brick wall...at different times thank goodness and we had tears from all three but we tried to motivate and remind why we doing this and they carried on, can I say at this point that you will NEVER comprehend how proud I am of all three of those girls and how they handled Saturdays trek.

The weather continued to get worse but we were at the point where we had to get to the top and drop down as retracing our steps would take longer....the rocks were slippery now and visability was bad with the rain feeling like needles in your cheeks. Our kit was really struggling and the girls had wet feet, cold, numb hands and red raw cheeks from the wind and rain...but still they carried on. As we were reaching the top dispair started to creep in 'are we anywhere close?!' 'should we really have attempted this?' silence because none of us could speak for concentrating and making sure the girls were ok. Victorias mummy pulled a muscle so was slightly behind but we all stayed tight and kept going...

Painc then set in, the wind at the top was so strong it was close to lifting the girls off their feet...I will admit now that I was scared it was like nothing I had experienced before and I served for 5 years in the British Army seeing active service!!! holding onto a fence we kept low and scrambled into a ring shelter, the girls were frightened now this was so far out their comfort zone, the spare kit was wet and all the kit we were wearing was sodden...the only way was down.

The first third of the desent was tough, the wind and rain didn't ease at all and I fell into a bog to waist height...the ice cold water took my breath away! My only focus was getting down...it was steep, wet, rocky, boggy and we had all seperated somewhat as we got tired but after an hour or so we reached a woods. This provided some respite from the wind and we could grab some chocolate for energy and continue down the mountain.

Finally after 6 hours...7 adults, 3 amazing 7 year old girls and a dog reached the bottom...wet, tired, emotional, sore but what an achievement WE DID IT!

Moel Siabod is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, which sits isolated above the villages of Betws-y-Coed and Capel Curig. At 872m it is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. From the top of the mountain, it is reputedly possible to see 13 of the 14 highest peaks in Wales on a clear day without turning one's head. The words Moel Siabod translate from Welsh as Scabby Hill

Trek Leaders first post - the route the girls' will take....

Welcome to the mydaddyisasoldier trek 2011. We are hoping to set out on the 12^th March from the small town of Llanberis at the foot of Yr Wyddfa or Snowdon as we all know it. This mountain is the tallest in England and Wales and stands at an impressive 1085 metres above sea level. There are a variety of routes possible on the mountain and we will be approaching via the Llanberis path. This offers some of the best approach views of the mountain, and is a realistically achievable route for the girls to tackle in the daylight available to us on the day.

The route starts alongside the base station for the Snowdon mountain railway - one of the only ones in the UK and marks  the start of our ascent from the valley floor up towards the summit on well maintained paths  via the halfway house –a small ‘bothy’ cafe which is exactly half way up!

After this point the route gets steeper and a little more exposed – without being too dangerous it can be exciting if the wind picks up, unless there is snow cover, when it can form cornices of snow which we will need to avoid. We start to curve round to the right approaching the summit ridge. At this point we will rejoin the railway on its last push to the summit itself.

The last 50 metres of ascent to the very top are the best of the day, we will no doubt be tired by this point, but a little scramble over rocks and we’ve made it to the highest point. Photos, cheers and a quick drink with our lunches and we’ll make our way back down.

We obviously hope that the weather will be kind to us, but anything can happen with the weather on this mountain so we will need to be prepared for every eventuality.  We are undertaking training walks during February and I think everyone is raring to go!

Watch this space for more updates as our preparation continues.