Peak 4 | Snowdon, Wales | 1085m

The highest point in Wales was the only peak on the list that I had done before this challenge started. So, I decided to make it a little more exciting and aim to get to the summit for sunrise. What a spectacular morning it was!

Quick Summary

• Starting point - Pen-y-Pass Car Park

• Route taken - Pyg Trail up, Miners down

• Total ascent - 700 m

• Total length - 11.8 km round trip

• Total time for the climb - 5¼ hours

• Expense category - #Low

• Equipment - #StandardHike

• Difficulty - #Level2 of 5

• Enjoyment - #5stars of 5*

As Snowdon is my local high point, I had planned to do this a bit later on in the challenge to make a bit of a fuss about it and invite friends and family along. However, on the return from Scotland after Ben Nevis, we found out that the car we had purchased for the journey around Europe was still not ready for us to pick up. So, after a day of sitting around the house, I became restless and wanted to get on with something. As Snowdonia is only about an hour and a half drive from my hometown Chester. It became apparent for me to get on with this so I could continue ticking some peaks off the list.

I still wanted to do something a bit special for this one, though, so I decided to go up for a sunrise hike. I had done a sunrise walk here once before, but it had a lot of cloud cover on that particular morning, which took a bit away from the experience. The weather forecast this time looked ideal - completely clear skies.

Getting there for sunrise meant that I set the alarm for 2:45 am to leave the house by 3:00 am. I aimed to get to the Pen-Y-Pass carpark by no later than 4:30 am. This would give me about 2 hours to get to the top before the 6:27 am sunrise via the Pyg track.

I didn't see anyone for the first 45-60 mins of the hike but I could tell that there were others ahead of me as their footprints made from some of the puddles along the trail. As I came round one of the bends of the hike the silhouette of Snowdon could be made out. On it, I could identify three or four head torches from other hikers descending on the summit.

The sky was beginning to get lighter by the minute. I remember, at some points, thinking I was going to miss reaching the summit by sunrise. I kept checking my phone for the time. The last bit looked like it was quite far away, but this turned out to be a bit deceiving as I ended up getting there pretty quickly.

Upon reaching the summit, there were probably around half a dozen other hikers up there waiting inanimate sunrise. I had about 10 mins or so to spare, so I sat down and got a timelapse on the GoPro set up and focused on the horizon.

Then up it came. The early alarm and the lack of sleep were well worth the reward. The sky was virtually cloud-free. I stayed up there for an hour at -6°C just to take it all in.

On the hike down, I really took my time. It was such a beautiful morning. I went off trail and did a little exploring along the river and in some of the local ruined miner's buildings. I ended up getting back to the car at 9:45 am - where it was now completely packed full of vehicles and walkers.