Most of the way, the ascent wasn't that bad, a long winding path through the beautiful hill country. It was a bit easier than the last serious hiking I did in the Smokies. All that changed at around 850 meters above sea level. It's not that the trail got more difficult. Rather, it disappeared. We hit the snow line, which happened to be at cloud level too, so that suddenly we were immersed in an utterly white world. At around 900 meters, Mia had to fall back because her shoe were not cut out for the conditions. That left Blair and I to finish the ascent. It was a strange world at the peak. Black rocks clawed their way out of the snow and the wind felt like it was going to pick you up and carry you away, but we had made it, and we celebrated with handfuls of chocolate covered peanuts.
From that point on, my trip could only get more relaxing, especially since that evening set the precedent of reading, playing games, or watching movies to unwind each night. The next day was Sunday, and we got to go to a dual language service in English and Welsh. That was very cool, especially since it was my first time hearing Welsh. It is a beautiful language. After that we visited our first castle, Caernarfon, which is pronounced nothing like you would think. It was an incredible castle, easily the strongest in Wales, and had never been taken. It is also the site where the British heir apparent's title of Prince of Wales originated when Edward the First's son was born there.
The next day we visited another castle in Conwy. This one was filled with all sorts of passages and towers close together. Someone commented afterwords that we were all like prairie dogs popping up in the towers around the walls. After exploring the castle for a while we went on a hike. After the Snowdon experience, this hike was a piece of cake. As we got closer to the top I was running and bounding up rocks. I think part of it was that it was a much clearer day and there was a gorgeous view. You could look out one direction and see the rolling hills and Welsh countryside, then you could look down on the city of Conwy with the castle poking out of the middle, and then you could look out onto the sea coast. It was astounding, and it enlivened me. I kept wanting to clamber up the next pile of rocks and see farther. That was probably my favourite moment of the trip.
And it would prove to be my last hike, for although there was a big hike planned the next day to the dual peaks of Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, I was mysteriously struck by some kind of 24 hour bug that had me vomiting the night before. So, I got my one full unscheduled day of relaxation after all and stayed back with a few other people who weren't keen on spending hours climbing big rocks. It was a very pleasant change. I got to do lots of reading, went on a short walk to a waterfall, and composed the poem in my previous post. All things considered, it was a pretty good day, and I got to finish it off going with the whole group to a delightful Welsh restaurant.
Our final day was mostly spent in the minibus heading home, but along the way we got to stop at one more castle: Harlech. This was the smallest castle we visited, but it had lots of character. It was the sort of castle that every child draws with a mote and a gate house and a central keep. This castle also was the most ruinous, not having been nearly as successful as Caernarfon. The crumbling stones were beautiful. I just love ruins and seeing how decay can still be beautiful. It was great.
Since then, we have begun the second portion of our studies since the traditional Oxford full term has ended. The rest of our studies are organized by the program and will be focusing on the history of Britain and writing long essays in conjunction with a seminar. It is sort of tough after a week off to go back to the rigour of studying, but I'm getting there.
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