Snowdonia (Eryri)

Day 1 - Glyder Fach and Fawr

Written by Jess Nowak

We were wonderfully serenaded awake by Peter the first morning of the trip, with most of us conscious enough to fully appreciate his singing as he ensured everyone was up. The Bryn Brethynau Barn had limited toilets (only two, to be exact) so the inevitable "Poo Queue" was reignited as everyone scrambled to be appropriately prepared for the morning. Once full of tea, toast, and an appropriate amount of porridge, everyone loaded into the mini buses to head off to the trailhead.

After a very short drive over, we all made our way to the trailhead, with an inevitable stop at the National Trust Ogwen snack bar and toilets (which were heated!). At this point, a bit of rumbling picked up as we tried to guess which mountain we were summiting, and suspicious were laid to rest as we started off. Scrambling was promised on this hike up Glyder Fawr, however I took often photo breaks to enjoy the scenery and catch my breath.

Upon reaching what I thought was the top, the rest of the view as well as the peak we were actually summiting came into view, along with the trail of bright Wayfarer coats dutifully climbing up its sheer side. The second leg of this hike included many loose rocks, which meant that we were serenaded by Peter once more, this time as he shouted as he occasionally slipped. We approached the dusty snow as everyone began to walk a bit more carefully, and we continued the upward trek to the proper peak.

Obligatory photos standing on the spiky rocks were taken to show that we did in fact make it, and then settled down for lunch on the side of a rock which provided limited protection from the cold wind. Here, I was able to witness (with a bit of jealousy I might add) as Ethan procured a gas stove to cook his pasta and meatballs and reheat his coffee, using the leftover heat to crisp up Kieran's sad crêpe. Once lunches were finished and bodies adequately cooled off, we packed up and continued along the mountain top.

At this point I am unsure if we were lost or admiring the hazy view, but we got a wonderful trip with occasional views of what we assumed was the Irish Sea. We did pass by the Cantilever Stone, which I just learned is the most photographed rock in all of Snowdonia. From here, with sore legs and cold hands, we began our interesting descent with a mix of loose rocks (once again!), muddy paths (which claimed a few falls) and fences to climb over.

An accidental detour led us down what appeared to be either a dried riverbed or landslide site as many Wayfarers opted to sit and partially slide down as opposed to accidentally fall down, and as we grew closer to our initial parking spot, we reconnected to a path. This one had quite a few new rocks to enjoy stepping down to, but the collective agreed that we were done for the day with ups and downs. We all climbed back into the mini buses, opting for a trip to Bethesda's very own Tesco Express for drinks and additional snacks.

While the Barn does not have the largest kitchen and common room space, everyone settled back in quite nicely as Anna headed the dinner-making process. Many hands helped cut, peel, and open things for the delicious vegan sausage casserole that we all were fed, and washing up was done once again by a small but efficient crew. I found myself by the small wood stove most of the night though, choosing the old-fashioned way to heat my "old" bones. In typical Wayfarer fashion, the compulsory fun was a series of quizzes regarding the Welsh names of what we had hiked during the day, Aldi's names for items and Colin the Caterpillar dupes, footpaths through historic British locations, and facts about present committee members. With a long day now past and full stomachs, sleepy Wayfarers bumbled off to bed after the great fun, settling down for a much welcomed rest.

Day 2 - Moel Siabod

Written by Holly O'Meara

With an early rise again thanks to Peter's wonderful singing. It was a busy start to the day with the frantic cleaning of the barn and packing up of food and luggage. With multiple trips up and down to the van we eventually had everything packed up and soon set off on our hike up Moel Siabod at roughly 9:30, an hour later than the 2022 trip to Snowdonia, which was exactly a year since they had all climbed Moel Siabod.

The hike started off with an immediate incline and a quick pace. We stopped at a small Lake with a beautiful view to allow everyone to regroup. At this precise moment BeReal went off which subsequently resulted in a flurry of photos being taken. Once we had scoffed down some snacks and water, we set off once again going around the bog, after being told of previous stories of Wayfarers who had lost shoes to them.

Teller then led the way with the scramble with the committee scattered between us to help guide the way. Before reaching cloud cover, we stopped for lunch which gave us all a deserving break. A variety of lunches were brought out ranging from Tom's entire Pork Pie to Ethan's luxury heated up meal. Then we set off again for some more scrambling, and after little to no time we had reached the top which was covered in snow and ice.

When taking the obligatory flag photo, with Ethan standing up on the trig point it was a race against time to get a photo with a good view. As the clouds moved towards us, Martin rushed to get his drone out but to our dismay the cloud was too quick, and the view was obstructed by the time the photo was taken.

We then promptly set off down the mountain which was one long straight path so no one could get lost. Despite being able to see our final destination the walk down went on for quite a while, until we finally reached the end. While waiting for the minibuses to collect us, there was a confusing walk to the toilet, a pit stop for some beverages both alcoholic and warm. At this point the sun finally appeared and the sunglasses which we had been told to bring were finally useful, which was surprising for Wales.

And with that the weekend trip was over, all that was left was to get back to Birmingham. With the majority of the Wayfarers looking forward to a good rest on the minibus, it was up to Harry and Peter to drive back the mini buses. With a short pit stop at McDonalds for both the facilities and the food, we set off once again finally leaving Wales.

In Harry's Minibus the tunes were top notch ranging from ABBA to musicals, which pleased me but not so much Cam, who to my dismay doesn’t like musicals. Finally, we reached the Birmingham dropping off exhausted Wayfarers both at the Vale and Selly Oak.

Surprisingly some of the Wayfarers were not sick of each other's company yet and went to Dilshads for some well-deserved curry.