Lunch in the mountains

I woke up Thursday morning to a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky! I knew it was going to be a great day of Outdoor Pursuits before we even got there. We got in the car and Sally asked us what we thought about going mountain climbing today...of course we said yes! So we drove to the Conway Centre got our gear and we were off to Tryfan Mountain to do our mountain climbing. There was a lot of gear we needed to ensure our safety and brought multiple layers to keep us warm as the temperatures dropped higher in the mountains. We began our journey up the mountain, fairly steady at first, but it increasingly got steeper. We took a quick break looking at how far we had climbed, the cars looking like ants in the distance and herds of wild sheep roaming far below us on the mountain sides. The sun was shinning and out of no where there were 2 jets that flew past us, in between the mountains. That was the first time I have ever been higher than a plane! The jets were practicing for the air force on Anglesey Island. As we continued up the mountain we made up games and songs to keep us all occupied and motivated. During our trek up we ran into multiple icy spots and had to take alternate paths to avoid those sections. After loosing the path for the remainder of the way up we got to a stopping point where we could either start our climb around the mountain or try climbing up further into the mountain peaks, where it was very jagged and rocky. We decided to climb to the top, with Sally, my outdoor pursuits instructor, as our leader. We went two different paths, trying to reach the top, but it was just too icy and dangerous, so we had to climb back down to the flat surface. We got to slid on a bit of snow/ice to get to our flat spot, in order to eat lunch. As we ate lunch, the sun kept us warm as we enjoyed the view of the other mountain peaks and the wild goats grazing below us. I could see for miles, all the way out to the Menai Strait, and you could see and hear the jets every so often when they flew past low between the mountains. Not many people can say that they had lunch on top of a mountain. It was such an unforgettable experience. After a peaceful lunch we continued around the mountain, but in order to get to a climbable section we had to slid down a long snowy slope on our butts. It was so fun with Annie, Molly, Ashley and I making a train down and colliding at the bottom. After our exciting slid down, Sally gave us a task to climb to the stone wall quite far ahead of us. We all had our pace, but all accomplished reaching the top of the wall and finding a beautiful view on the other side of the wall. We rested for a bit enjoying the scenery, and noticed a group of people at the top of the other mountain peak making their way down. Our next task was to make it down to the path below in order to make our way out of the mountain. For awhile I was leading the pack down to the stone path. I felt like I had a huge responsibility keeping my group safe and choosing the best path to get to where we needed to go. Sally gave us all a challenge as we were climbing down, telling us we could only climb on the rocks and couldn't walk on the heather (the grassy terrain within the mountain) or the ground. It was difficult, but it challenged us and kept us occupied, and before we knew it we were on the stone path. For the remainder of the climb down, we followed the path, seeing the tiny cars in the distance until they became life size when we finally made it down the mountain. We spent about 5 hours in the mountains and climbed about 1800 ft. that day, but it was an amazing experience I will never forget. We decided to make up a team name, called Peehs, which is sheep spelled backwards, and we made up a chant for when we finished the mountain. Our outdoor pursuits group is so supportive and motivating, I know we can do any activity thrown at us.

That night when we got back we showered quick and made dinner since all of us were hungry after a physically tiring day. It was our 1 month anniversary of being in Wales so we celebrated with ice cream cones thanks to Morrison Grocery Store. The rest of the night was lazy, watching movies and making up dances to music videos, mostly Annie and Megan...they are going to be famous on YouTube someday;)

I went to bed pretty early since I was battling a cold and just as I fell asleep a loud beeping noise was ringing in my room and in the halls. It was a fire drill at 2 in the morning! I scrambled to get any form of shoe on and some sort of coat and ran out the door as my other flat mates were coming out of their rooms too. We all just looked at each other, annoyed that it had to be this night that they did the fire drill. We hurried out the door to make the exit in less than 3 minutes, the deadline for getting out of the building, or else the whole dorm has to do it again, until its under 3 minutes. As we were all waiting outside, i noticed how embarrassing i must look...i was in my pajamas, with my hair in a fro, without my glasses, and a horrible cold. The Warden gathered all the members of the dorm and told us we had all made it out of the dorm in 2min 15sec...phew! So we all headed back inside to go back to sleep, relieved that we wouldn't have to have another fire drill this year.

Climbing a mountain and a fire drill on a Thursday!? ...that's just too much excitement for one day, but never-the-less it was a great day!