Scrambling in Snowdonia

And so, it came to be that 3 aging bears climbed again.

We gathered at Papa Bears house on the hill; Papa, me and Big Dave Bear, kissed goodbye to the kids, admired their dinosaur underpants and rocketed of to the wilds of Wales. Papa is having a bit of a mid-life crisis, and revelled in the velocity of his new car. I did not share his glee - the Ogwen valley was never designed to be seen at the start of a jump into hyperspace.

Big Dave just looked sick.

The car park arrived somewhat quicker than necessary and we shrugged our fur under further layers of fur whilst cursing the student mini buses and reminiscing about our own studying days. Avoiding the potential irony of this situation we quickly moved to a dicussion of espresso machines whilst trundling to the heald of the valley.

Caffeine doesn't agree with Big Dave Bear, so he looked sick again.

Its fair to say that the weather was not clement. In North Yorkshire, they call the penetrating mist and drizzle The Rauk. The capitals are definitely well earned and we were most certainly flat of fur by the time climbing started in earnest.


Still, hardy little bears that we are, the weather did not dampen our spirits and we revelled in the romance of the mountains. Well, Papa and Big Dave Bear did, I revelled in casual observations that "it was maybe time for lunch" and "mmm, I've got some lovely sandwiches and tea in my bag.












I was ignored until we reached about half way, when the view under the clouds was quite a reward. The other bears felt that it was still far too early for lunch, and pressed on upwards.

The clouds seemed overjoyed to see us and raced down in greeting, just as we scampered upwards with empty stomachs. Papa and Big Dave Bear finally succumbed to lunchtime pangs and called a halt in a wind tunnel with. I expressed my joy at this beautiful dinner setting by pouring tea in Papa's rucksack and showering Big Dave bear with cheese crumbs.

To ensure our fur was supplied with warmth we endeavoured to stock up on calories. A rather piquant mixture of bagels, onion baguettes, cheese, chicken, stuffing, cup a soup, crisps, crunchy bars, fuit and unsheathed bananas was consumed before we continued into the growing murk.


Papa had a little meander near the top and we thought we'd lost him. However this opportunity to wander around in the fog shouting failed to materialise as he bestrode the mountain like a colossal teddy bear.


And thus we arrived at the top. And began our descent.

Well no, that's not true.

And thus we arrived at the top. And fell in some unsuspected snowdrifts. And nearly lost each other again. And walked slowly looking for the path down. And walked slowly looking for the path down again. And again. Eventually we found it.

And began our descent.

Anyway, we blundered down, got in the car and drove home.

The End.