Taking a walk up a mountain should never be taken for granted - you ignore the rules at your peril. This is precisely what we did, and we were lucky to escape without a scratch.
Siabod has been described as the lonely mountain, yet the first time we attempted to reach the summit, it was busier than the M6. Of course we hadn't planned to walk a mountain that day, merely take a leisurely walk alongside the river from Capel Curig.
It was a truly miserable day, drizzly and windy, so we sought shelter up a forest track. The path seemed endless, it just kept going up and up till eventually we found ourselves clear of the trees and looking out across one of the most magnificent vista's I've ever seen.
We should have realised that we were taking a serious mountain walk, when a group of ramblers approached us and one of them enquired if we were from Search and Rescue. Before we had to chance to disappoint him, he went on to ask if our dog Holly was a SADA dog (search and rescue). "Sad dog," was my husbands reply. Holly then ruined everything, by jumping all over the poor man making him muddier than ever. They made a hasty retreat and so did we, lured on by the promise of even better views.
It wasn't long before we reached the summit, but it was a very wet day and the weather was getting worse with thick cloud making visibility poor. Not knowing the route across the mountain to the other side, we played it safe and turned back, vowing to return a few days later. This we did, but it was to prove far more disastrous than our first venture.
The day had started well enough, the sun was out and we had a map! This time we would ascend the mountain from the other side.Unfortunately we had set off too late in the day. On reflection half past two in the afternoon was far too late to think about doing a round trip over a mountain, especially in March. Siabod had always looked so easy from a distance, and our last ascent on the opposite side had seemed relatively easy, but on this route, the closer we got, the more menacing Siabod looked.
It seemed to be plain sailing until I sank up to my thighs in a bog, then as if to confirm my worst fears, we missed the path by scrambling onwards and upwards for at least half a mile, then had to retrace our steps back to the second lake mentioned on our map.
We did manage to get on to the right track eventually, and climb to within spitting distance of the summit, only to find it enshrouded in thick mist, plus the night was closing in fast and we had to make a quick decision. It would prove impossible to cross the ridge at night, which had a steep drop; plus wrong foot and that would be it!
So once again Siabod had defeated us. The annoying part being that the descent would have been much shorter, and it now looked like we had miles of trekking back to do, including avoiding the dreaded bog. I looked about fearful of the fading light, and saw that a ewe had taken refuge behind a boulder. I imagined we would be joining her, if we got stuck on this mountain tonight.
I was also beginning to feel very tired and jaded. Half way down I swore I could hear voices drifting up towards us. "Dear God could I be hallucinating now"?, Bob just said, " What other idiots are going to be stupid enough to be caught up here in the dark, maybe its the ghosts of the quarry workers."
My GPS watch that had been bleeping the entire journey, urging me to speed up, suddenly stopped as my pace quickened. I stopped caring about the boulders, rocks or bog (I was already soaking wet anyway), I just wanted off that mountain.
With my legs like jelly, I was relieved when we found ourselves back on a familiar path that led to the farm we had passed on the way up. Feeling happier now, I stopped to admire the night sky. The stars were few and hazy - making them seem tiny and insignificant in the vastness of space. I pondered how the light from these stars had taken billions of light years to reach our planet, and that some might not even exist now.
A voice penetrated my thoughts, it was Bob calling me to hurry up. Actually I was surprised to find the fatigue that had plagued me on the mountain was now ebbing away. It's surprising how anxiety can sap you of energy - though it can also spur you on.
I was disappointed that Siabod had beaten us again, but I felt like a winner. We had descended this mountain in the dark, no easy fete; and though it had been very foolhardy, we had done it.
Soon we were sitting in the pub (Cobden's) and Holly was asleep by the fire. Bob had a pint of locally brewed organic honey beer in his hand and boring old me was sipping a glass of ice cold mineral water with lemon. My watch bleeped for me to speed up, "Oh sod off", I said before switching off the timer, "You're lucky I didn't smash you on the rocks".
