To the story:
I get terrible sleep due to the fact I am retarded and decided to watch more Youtube videos (1) and some episodes of Top Gear.
(1) Below is one of the videos I watched. Warning! It is extremely graphic and something I will never forget. I actually just watched this again for the first time since this very story commenced.
I am not a smart person.
Brilliant Idea
I check the weather (2) and it is not looking good. I am slightly happy inside because I really don't want to do this. I usually love these type of adventures but the websites continually warn to not do it if you are not properly equipped.
(2) Rain and Wind...ahhh What I am doing?
I had a T-Shirt, jeans, running shoes, and a cheesy smile. Some may say that won't cut it.
However, Jones is determined to do it and I don't have the heart (or balls) to stop him. George drives us up to the start of the hike after we make some sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. When he drops us off, we immediately see Crib Goch, yet we can't see the top of the mountain since it is in the clouds.
It's pretty windy and it rained last night.
Let the adventure begin.
As we start the hike, I see people on the mountain and it doesn't appear they are hiking at all. They are literally climbing. I look at Jones and he's a bit surprised as well. He has never done this either, but he claims his 78 year old grandpa did this 5 years ago. I will not be shown up by someone three times my age (3).
(3) I don't have an ego problem at all.
We press on and as we get closer, I stop and say to Jones "that mountain is unbelievably intimidating yet awe inspiring." My adventurous side is starting to take over which is a relief, but I am still very afraid.
I would also like to note I am afraid for one reason.
Lindsay Keogh
I love the girl with all my heart. I never would have imagined or conceptually ponder how much anybody can love anything as much as I love her. I am consistently thinking about her and as long as I have her, I must take care of it and putting my life in a bluntly stupid situation is a contradiction of those beliefs. If I was single, I truly wouldn't care and I would be all about this. I know that sounds unfair to the rest of my family and friends but their are honestly two people in my life.
Lindsay and everybody else.
We get to a point where we can take the pussy way out and take the beginner's trail up to Snowdon Mountain or continue our way up Crib Goch. Jones and I look at each other and press on.
There was no turning back now.
The further we climbed up the mountain, the tougher it became. There wasn't any clear cut path. You made it up as you go. We were with three other groups of people and all of us went up a different route. At one point, Jones and I stood for 15 minutes deciphering which path to go up.
This picture was taken while Jones and I were contemplating the correct route to get to the top of Crib Goch.
Jones then said something I will never forget:
"I have to be honest, I never would have thought there would be this much climbing."
I wanted to wring his neck.
All day he was saying that it's just a serious hike. Boy, was he wrong.
We were putting our lives in danger and we weren't even on the top yet. I couldn't show him my anger though, it would only exasperate things and that's the last thing we need at this point.
After a little more thinking, Jones finds a path of to start the climb up again. We start moving at a good pace and I see the top through the clouds, I then look to the right and saw only a white abyss (4). I almost lost my grip due to the immediate sense of vertigo. It was so intense.
(4) When the clouds cleared up for a quick second, a 3000 foot drop appeared. I was 3-4 feet away from the edge and didn't realize it. It is a good time to mention I have an extreme fear of heights.
Now to paint a better picture, the cliff came together in two ways. The one side was slanted, probably at a 45 degree angle. If you fall, you would have a solid chance to grab something and live. Unlikely, but at least there was a reasonable hope to get out alive. The other side was a straight free fall. You fall on that side, goodbye world. The safer side was on the left and death was on the right. Needless to say, I stayed to the left....to the best of my abilities.
After the vertigo took over my body, I yelled "Oh my God."
"What, what happened?!?" Jones replied with a sense of fear in his voice.
I tell him not to look to the right.
He does anyway and dittos my exact reaction but then gives awesome advice.
"Just look at the rocks"
Simple enough
It works terrifically.
To aid in the process, I start singing "Just keep swimming"from Finding Nemo. It's retarded how much this was helping. I was getting strangely comfortable ...well until we got to the top.
What a sense of accomplishment! However, this was just the beginning. It's hilarious now, but when we got to the top, I see one of the groups having a fucking picnic. I was in shock and then Jones says,
"Oh, what a good idea"
"Are you fucking kidding me man? I just want to get through this."
Jones completely ignores me and pulls out a sandwich he made in the morning and starts to eat it. So, I try and relax, look at the mountains and lakes in the distance and marvel at it's beauty. We were in the heavens as the clouds surrounded us. It was blissfully surreal in the most frightening way. I laid down on the rocks and looked up.
I was in disbelief where I was. Never would have thought I would be doing any of this...ever.
When Jones finished his freaking sandwich, we started our trek across the top of the mountain. I was petrified at first, but as I constantly was thinking of Jones advice and singing Finding Nemo, I slowly started to calm down again and get comfortable. I was moving at a good pace, but the wind was crazy.
It was blowing at a furious speed but fortunately, it was blowing from right to left so periodically, I would climbed down a little bit to guard myself against the 20-25 mph gusts. If it was blowing the other way, it would have been extremely dangerous.
After a few minutes, it appeared we were on the way down, but then, a second peak with a huge ridge immersed itself from the clouds. I started to become disheartened. I then looked to my left and saw a path way down and around the cliff.
Thank God!
I actually called Lindsay at this point just to hear her voice (5). It made me happy for the time being.
(5) I was legitimately scared at this point. I thought the hard part was over. A part of this story I left out when I initially wrote this journal was that the path I saw was off the beaten trail. It was about 1500-2000 feet below and we had to walk down some loose rocks and around some massive boulders to get there. It wasn't a marked trail or path at all but it was safe enough to get down the mountain to the specific path on the way back up to the top of Snowdon Mountain. I saw a lot of people walking and was so relieved to see civilization again. We had lost the other three groups we were hiking with. I was just wanted to get down and be around others. We were by ourselves and it appeared we had went as far as we could. Jones and I stood there for about 10 minutes and just when I started to walk down to the path, Jones found a way back up Crib Goch so we could finish the hike. I wanted to push him off the cliff at this point but knew I couldn't leave him. So this brings us back to the story...
Jones and I regrouped and completed the difficult portion of Crib Goch. We joined civilization again for the first time in about two-three hours. People were walking and it was splendid to see others again. Everyone exchanged greetings and pleasures. People were just happy to see others after a long, arduous climb.
Next, onto Snowdown Mountain.
To be completed in Part 3.
Thanks for Reading!
