I woke up on the top of Mt Snowdon. It was still windy and foggy. It was cold and there were a lot of people reaching the summit as I woke up. I greeted a lot of people as they went by and talked to some mountain bikers as they reached the top. All this happened from my sleeping bag. It was about 8am when I woke and I really didn't want to get out of the bag. It was warm and comfortable and I knew getting up was going to introduce me to cold, wet, and windy. I laid there for about an hour and then got up and stood outside the cafe for another 45 minutes with a lot of other cold hikers. People were not wearing much because you get hot trekking up there but once you are up there you slow down, its cold. People were shaking with cold. Eventually the cafe opened up and I plugged in my phone, grabbed a cuppa, and started talking to a nice family. There was a race going on so there was a wild celebratory atmosphere at the top. Cameras and clapping and everything. A party at the top of Wales. I hung out there for about an hour, warming up and prepping myself for the trek down. Eventually I was ready and I bundled up and proceeded to head down the mountain. Going down was fast but challenging. Gravity is on your side but that makes it a bit more dangerous because it's easy to slip and fall and the terrain demands awareness. Unlike the previous day, there were just loads and loads of people going up and down the whole time. It was crowded. Once we got out of the cloud, the weather was nice and the views were again breathtaking. It took me about an hour to get to my destination which was the lake on the other side of the peak, Llyn Llydaw, the home of Lady of the Lake. I had it in my mind the whole time that I was going to swim in the lake. I absolutely had to. I was also sweaty and sticky from the climb up and the climb down and I knew my body would love a quick dip. I followed the path down to the point where it got closest to the lake. No one else had considered approaching the water. Everyone was fixated on going up or down. I was going to the side. The lake was beautiful as I had seen the night before. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it's the bottom of a valley. It's a very serene and beautiful place for the the Lady to reside. I got down to the lake edge which was all rocks and positioned myself behind a large flat rock so that people up on the trail couldn't see me. I started to mentally prepare myself for the water. I had read that it's the coldest lake in Wales and it was a cold day. I had to psych myself up a lot before I was ready. My clothes came off slowly. First the shirt, then the pants. I sat there for a while in my underwear shivering. I told myself that I had to do it. Eventually I had steeled myself enough that I took off my final piece of clothing and jumped into a deep part of the lake, totally naked and vulnerable. As soon as I got in it chilled me. I immediately got out but not before grabbing a couple of pieces of shining Quartz from under the water to remember Her essence with. I got out and felt great; clean and refreshed. I quickly got dressed and felt that my Snowdonia mission was complete. I sang Lady of the Lake songs all the way down to the base of the mountain as the path circled around the lake. I saw but where reeds were coming out of the shallows which are a symbol of the Lady of the Lake. When the path ended I was at a base camp cafe. I got a tea and warmed up. Once my phone was charged, I walked about half an hour to the nearest road junction, found a good spot, and started my hitchhiking adventure. I had bought a marker and notebook a few days earlier so I made a sign saying "Llangollen" and stuck my thumb out. It took less than ten minutes! This guy picked me up and said he could take me to the edge of Snowdonia which was fine by me. He was a mountain climber so he started telling me the ins and outs of climbing and about the local terrain. After about 10 minutes he offered to buy me a beer and I accepted. We went to a local pub and he told me about the climbing club that he belonged to and all about climbing gear and ice climbing. After our beer, we continued on down the road and got to the end of the mountains. He dropped me off and I walked to the edge of town and flew the same sign and the same thumb. Ten minutes later a Christian minibus picked me up. I thought "oh no" but actually it was great. I threw my bag in the back and grabbed a seat. It was about 7 guys who had been doing a day of hiking on an obscure hill in Snowdonia. They were going to pass through Llangollen. I told them about my quest and we talked a little about it but they weren't much into the Arthurian story. One guy did say one interesting thing which was "those guys in the story. Arthur and Merlin, are really recognizable and it wouldn't be hard to imagine running into them today on the street." I thought was a rally interesting thought. We then got into an interesting conversation about Celtic Christian saints and how Christianity came to England via the Middle East and the via Rome. You just never know who has all the interesting stories. It was such a different experience than I had anticipated and so different than how it would have been in the States. Just another reason why I love British culture so much. I arrived in Llangollen a few hours before sunset. I could see the castle mound from where they dropped me off. I said warm good byes to all the guys and then started my trek up the hill through this new city. On the way I met a drunk woman who was maybe the town drunk. She blessed me multiple times and smiled at me and was generally happy to see a new face. I continued on. My left knee had been hurting for about a week and Snowdon had made it even more sore and tender so another hill climb was a bit painful. Luckily, it wasn't too terribly tall. I got up to Dinas Bran with enough time to see the sunset over Llangollen and the surround landscape. It was a beautiful sunset and it was wonderful to see it through the ruined arches of this ancient castle. I wasn't the only one up there watching the sunset but eventually everyone else left, leaving me and the sheep to spend the night on the ruins. In the morning, I explored that castle grounds further. Dinas Bran is thought to be a castle that once held the Holy Grail. This was only a subtle link to the Merlin story so I didn't spend as much time in the castle as other places I had been. Also, it was a rainy night and a rainy morning. My body was tired and aching, my clothes were dirty and everything was wet. I knew it was time to get a room. Luckily, there was a cheap hostel in town. I walked around the village while it was still early and nothing was open. It was cute place. I had a river going right through it and next to the river was a canal with boats on it. Unusual! After I got my bearings I checked in at the hostel. ÂŖ20 for my own room and I was happy. I hung everything up and took a hot shower. I took a nap and then washed all my clothes. I was feeling great. Well rested, clean and rejuvenated. I ended up staying in Llangollen for two nights. One in the hostel and one with a couch surfer. I made two friends there. Kim worked at the hostel and had a great back story. She had lived and worked all over the world doing sustainable agriculture work for the peace corps and the govt. She was originally from southern California but now lives in Llangollen. We had a lot of good conversations that bordered into the realms of the mystical. I really felt like I was supposed to meet her. My other new friend Rosie was my host on the second night. She took me to a secret garden and showed me around to the whole town. One other place that I still needed to visit was the Pillar of Eliseg. I introduced Kim to Rosie, who kind of already knew each other, and we all three walked the 3 miles along the river path to get there. The Pillar is next to the a ruined Abbey that also had some connections with the Grail. We explored the beautiful cathedral ruins, did some singing in the acoustic spaces, and then went further and visited the Pillar. The pillar is important because it has a list of princes and local land rulers of ancient times and the name "Vortigern" is on it. This lends some credit to the existence of a chief or king of antiquity called Vortigern which ties into the Dinas Emrys sinking tower story from a few days earlier. The tower was interesting and very phallic. We observed it from all sides and then headed back into town. There was nothing too mystical about it, mostly just historical, so no need for any rituals or anything. I spent the second night in Llangollen on Rosie's living room floor and was able to take a much needed hot bath. The next morning I left town and headed back across the English border.
