Betws-y-Coed
We decided to drive through Snowdonia National Park to our hotel located near Caernarfon, and we made Betws-y-Coed our first stop. Snowdonia National Park covers more than 800 square miles and is characterized by mountains, hidden valleys, cascading rivers, still glacial lakes and deep forests. Rather than tour the shops and restaurants of the alpine-styled village of Betws-y-Coed, we opted to take one of the 19 walks suggested to us at the Tourist Information Centre.
We were advised that the walk to Swallow Falls would take no more than 20 minutes. On our over two-hour walk, we passed a sparkling brook (see photo at left) where Kassie and I picked wildflowers from a broad, flat path which soon narrowed and became tortuous and uneven, either due to the rockface from which it was hewn or the aged tree roots desperately descending toward the river. When we arrived at Miners Bridge, a steep wooden swing bridge over the seething waters of the River Llugwy, we decided there was no turning back. Despite Kassie's grumbling over our "boring, endless walk", we were over halfway to Swallow Falls, our car now farther from us than our destination. To our surprise we hit highway soon after crossing the bridge, which the map advised us to follow until, lo and behold, there sat the spectacular multi-level waterfalls, not secluded in the midst of a valley but easily accessible from the roadside (we even had to pay a pound each to pass through the turnstile!).
Still, the walk was a perfect tribute to our surroundings. John jogged back to the carpark and after a quick drink at the Swallow Falls Hotel we were soon on our way again. We had hoped to stop at Llanberis, a lakeside village, but we were sadly out of time. We've promised to return, hopefully on a clear day when we can take the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the summit of Mount Snowdon which, at 3560 feet, is the highest point in England and Wales.
Further along on our drive to the hotel we happened upon a helicopter rescue scene, complete with emergency vehicles, curious motorists, and worried fellow mountain hikers.
Date of Our Last Visit: June 2004