28/05/16 - Lee and Cragg Quarry [mtb] (me, Steve)

I'd dropped Dani and the boys off at Manchester airport at about 4am and had arranged to meet Steve for an early ride in a couple of slate quarries in Lancashire.
Lot of run again - we rode through to Cragg Quarry first, across non-technical, but pleasant moorland. There was no particular trail in Cragg Quarry, but lots of options, from the simple, to the suicidal. I opted for the simple end a bit more that Steve, but even he seemed quite intimidated by much of the options.
Lee Quarry had more specific, but quite short trails, all of which were good fun and provided the opportunity to try stuff again if it felt a bit too much at first.
I started to really long for a dual suspension bike in the hope that it might help with some of the technical ascents.
Good breakfast in a local cafe - with a really cleverly designed single teapot. Still looking to buy one of those if ever I see one....

14/05/16 - Snowdon Horseshoe (me, Steve, Mark)

Steve and I had talked about doing this route for some time and getting Crib Goch done was definitely something I wanted to do to give me some confidence in doing the Scottish scrambling routes which I'd booked for this year. Mark had also put his name in the hat to join in,so we booked a date and crossed our fingers for the weather - there was no way I was doing this route in bad weather. In practice, the forecast was mixed, but the worst of the weather (thunder storms), wasn't predicted till about 3pm - so we set off early.

First obstacle to overcome was parking - Steve and I ended up parking at the bottom of the hill, but managed to get a lift up with a taxi driver who gave us a lift up for a couple of quid each. Bargain. Luckily we found Mark, who'd had more success at finding a space.

We set off, initially sharing the track with everyone doing the Pyg Track. Mark clearly liked to go at a pace....

Before long we separated from the crowd and started ascending the route which would lead to Crib Goch. The weather was damp, but not raining and the wind was low. So not ideal, but good enough.

The initial scramble was steep and fairly exposed, but nerve tingling fun. As started the traverse of Crib Goch I soon ended up at the back. My nerves were holding and I felt reasonably comfortable as long as I kept moving and using my hands as well as my feet. But Mark was more of a mountain goat and just seemed to be skipping along. Steve was also going at a stronger pace than I'd expected given the nerves which he'd shown in Scotland. Overall, it was exposed, but didn't feel particularly risky. There were a number of other people doing the route, some had clearly done it on many occasions before, some seemed less sure. 

Before too long we were on more even ground and not long after that we were on the top of Snowdon and again joined by the crowds. The experience had been fun and left me wanting to do it again - next time I'd enjoy it more and would take in the pinnacles that we'd gone round this time. The experience had given me some confidence for the upcoming Scottish sorties.

There was a lot of banter, particularly between Mark and me - I'd pay the price for being slower than him....

Mark had packed very light, including not having much food, so he stocked up in the shop at the top of Snowdon.

We continued our round along the Watkin path. This was exposed, but not relative to Crib Goch. A good walk nevertheless.

The weather was holding and became increasingly pleasant as we reached the Tarn and continued to the car park. 

We stopped for a beer in the Youth Hostel and Steve and I even chose to walk back to his car rather than get a lift so that we could enjoy the fine weather - so much for the storms!!!