I mounted Snowdon.

Before I start this week, I should say that when I say I mounted Snowdon, I am refering the 1085m high mountain in Snowdonia, not my friend Louise (who's surname is also Snowdon)...

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my little video last week. Although I was a little miffed at it not being on YouTube on time (I uploaded it on Tuesday week before last!), I did enjoy the week off. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see last week's post.

My reason for the video last week, was of course so that I could swan off to Snowdonia at last (hurrah!) to do some Mountaineering. Once again, Ernie prooved himself invaluable, and went all 730 miles to the mountains and back. Once again, we skyrocketed along the motorways (at nearly 90), and we got there in a little over 6 hours.

Ernie parked up at the Campsite near Trefan (in the background).

The weather was absolutly brilliant. Friday, we went to Llanberis (pronounced Clan-) lake, had dinner at Pete's Eats (the BEST cafe in the world - a whole pint of Ribena!), and finished up in a packed small pub. Saturday was also pretty good, which was convenient, as we wanted to do some more serious climbing.The 'crew'. From right to left: Bec, Phil, Kez, Me.

Some of you may remember that last year, I went to Snowdonia, and almost died falling off a mountain called Trefan (the perilous East face, known as the most difficult, and the most committing). Well, I almost died, but I definatly needed a new pair of pants when we reached the top. This year, we climbed it again, but up a different face, and it was brilliant. Fairly sunny, and nice and warm. Well, warm until we climbed over a ridge, and got hit by a very strong ice-cold wind. Oh yes, that was cold.
Climbs on the North face that we climbed. This looks really friendly and easy compared with last year's attempt on the East Face...

I wore a T-Shirt all the way to the top. As I said it was cold, and Phil did accuse me of 'smuggling peanuts'. When we reached the top though, it was far too cold, and I had to put a jacket on.

The next day, we decided it would be silly to go to Snowdonia, and not climb Snowdon (I guess we were pretty silly last year then). So we did.Ernie parked at the bottom of Mount Snowdon (just above all that cloud...)

When we woke up on the Sunday morning (bearing in mind how warm and sunny the weather had been) I was mildly shocked to see alot of cloud. ALOT of cloud. No sunshine anywhere. But we climbed Snowdon anyway. The view was spectacular. I have an artists impression below...

Yep, that's what the inside of a cloud looks like. The visibilty at the top was about 5 metres. In fact, from the top of the mountain at the 'Trig point' (monument if you like), you couldn't see the bottom of the steps that lead down from the Trig! There was definatly a need for some very good navigation skills there.


The path we took up, is called the Watkins Trail. At the bottom, there was a sign telling visitors about the trail, and it's history. Bec decided to read it aloud for us, while I took a photo to read later. According to what she read out, you used to be able to go up this track with a Horse and Cart. So naturally, we all thought 'great'. If horse and cart could get up it, we'd have no trouble. At first, it was pretty easy going (bearing in mind that I have never climbed Snowdon before). But once we got past a slate mine, the path got particularly steep, and we started to believe that it was bloomin' strong horse that used this track, and the cart must have been an early fore-runner to the Land Rover.

Horse and Cart stories - this is the info at the bottom of the trail.


The final 200 metres to the summit was like climbing a ladder, and if a horse had ever made it up this bit of the trail, it was probably one of the most talented mountaineers to ever grace the planet. When I returned home, I read what I had on my photo that I had taken. It turns out that Bec didn't read enough. Unsuprisngly, Horse and Cart only went as high up as the slate mine.


During this past week, I have finally returned to Chesswood Middle School (I didn't realise I had missed teaching so much), where I volunteer as a classroom assistant. I was really glad I went in this week, because I got to disect a pig!


Jez (the teacher I work with) thought it would help the kids understand biology if they could see the organs. Lovely. There would be two sessions, for two classes, and Jez took his class first. So Jez cut up 'Barry' the pig for these 10 year olds to see. Most of the boys were really into it (blood and guts and all that). The girls tended to be in two groups: there were those that were looking a little green, but very interested; and there were those that just thought it was disgusting (although only one threw up... lol).

For the second session, the teacher was a bit squeamish about cutting up 'Barry'. So I got to do it!!! I showed the pig to the class. Jez had put a tube down the throat, and into the lung, so he could blow it up. Easy. I went to do the same, but my tube couldn't get into the right bit of lung, because the tube was too wide! So instead, I was inspired by all the scenes from Casualty (I would say Tracheotomy but I don't know how to spell that), and took a Biro, and stuck it in the lung.


My plan had been to stick the tube on the end of the Biro, and then blow the lung up. Unfortunatly, the tube didn't fit, so I had to almost 'cuddle' the organs of this pig to get my mouth on the end of the Biro. Lovely. At least it worked, and the kids got to see the lungs go. The things I do in the name of education...

For more pictures from my trip, go to CATCOUK2 at catcouk.bebo.com, where you can also see last week's video.

I don't know whether you can tell this from reading it, but I am very tired (you may have noticed, fewer bad jokes). If you'd like to know why I'm tired, don't miss next week's post (what a link....)!

If you think I should have thought of something to write here, why not leave a comment telling me how much you hate me.


If you think that I need to get a life, rather than writing my blog, why not leave a comment suggesting I get a life.


Quote of the Week: 'Do you need an R [for the Treasure Hunt]?' asked Louise, pointing at what she thought was a rubber glove, but was actually a used condom. Bless.