I figure I ought to post these...

These are the two different journals I have to write every two weeks for my History of Wales class and my Outdoor Pursuits class. Just thought you might be interested (especially you, Grams) in reading what I have been up to. :)

Journal of the Wales Experience

Saturday, January 19 2009

Though what later turned out to be one of the highlights of the fieldtrip, our first stop was Caernarfon Castle in Caernarfon, Wales. In viewing a short historical film, we learned that this castle was one of six in the “Iron Ring” built by Edward I. After his conquest of the independent principality of Wales in 1283, Edward I built these castles and walled towns in Northern Wales to control the area. What made Caernarfon Castle unique was that it was built with polygonal towers, color-banded masonry and intimidating battlements. It was also constructed on the shoreline, located between North Wales and Anglesey, at the southern end of the Menai Strait; this location enabled easy import of supplies yet difficulty for enemies to ambush. Caernarfon's symbolic status was emphasized when Edward made sure that his son, the first English Prince of Wales, was born here in 1284. Then in 1969, the castle gained worldwide fame as the setting for the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
I personally found visiting this castle to be quite intense. For my entire life I have always dreamed about going to a castle. As I made my way up through the front stone gates I was taken aback at how majestic and powerful it looked. The grass that ran throughout the center courtyard was breathtaking and the views from atop Eagle Tower - the tallest tower - were unbelievable. All in all this made for an amazing first castle experience. People keep telling me I am going to be tired of visiting castles, but I do not believe them. Each of the castles is all so different and grandiose and tell its own unique story.
After our castle visit we stopped for a short break in Criccieth which had a lovely beach along the shore of the Irish Sea for us to take pictures. A few individuals went up into the town to walk around and try some homemade ice cream, but I chose not to partake and explored the beach grounds instead; the sight from the beach was absolutely beautiful and something I am glad I stuck around to view.
The bus next took us to the Llechwedd Slate Mines in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Here we donned our various colored hard hats and ventured down into the mines in yellow metal cable cars. Once deep in the mines we were led by an automatic storytelling of an old man recollecting his days working in the mines. Through his story we learned of the difficulties and diseases – even deaths – that came about due to working such long hours in the mines. However, we also learned that the slate industry worked wonders for towns just like Blaenau Ffestiniog all throughout Wales. Large caverns were carved out underground to mine the slate that was later used mainly for roofing or making roads. Though new information to me, I must admit that the way the story was told was a bit cheesy and the way it was presented was outdated. I would have much rather had a guided tour of each of the caverns and been given factual information about the history of the mines.

Saturday, January 24 2009

The first stop made was at The Marble Church – or “The Wedding Cake Church” as many people call it – in Bodelwyddan, Wales. This church, formally called St. Margaret’s Church, was built by Lady Willoughby de Broke on July 24, 1856, in memory of her husband. We mainly just stopped here to take pictures, but what I thought was interesting was that in the Churchyard, there were five graves of Canadian soldiers that had died when carrying food supplies to Russia and consequently buried there.
As the legend goes, St. Winefride’s Well began to erupt at the spot where Winefride’s head landed after Caradog, her would-be rapist, cut it off with his sword. Winefride was then restored to life at the prayers of her uncle St. Beuno, and lived as a nun until she died for a second time roughly 20 years later. Whatever the exact truth of her legend, Winefride herself was real rather than legendary, and the extraordinary and enduring personality of this 7th-century Welsh woman has meant that she has been venerated as a saint ever since the moment of her death. Since that time, too, her Well at Holywell has been a place of pilgrimage and healing – the only such place in Britain with a continuous history of public pilgrimage for over 13 centuries. This spot was extremely moving for me; I even found it difficult to listen to the audio about the well as I was trying to keep myself from tearing up at the pure brilliance of the place. I would not consider myself to be a very religious person. Though I was raised with Christian values, most of the Christian religion and teachings have been lost on me. However, time and again, I find myself in the mindset as I did this Saturday, and I begin to question my faith. Though the inside exhibit seemed a bit cheesy, the well and outdoor grounds themselves – especially when the man sat down at the well to pray – were very inspirational and life-altering for me.
After this we traveled to Chester to take an audio tour of the cathedral there. Again, I must admit, that I was too taken aback by the scenery and experience to take in every ounce of history that was being fed to me through the audio. However, I did find it interesting that the erection of the cathedral began in 1092, and the cathedral not entirely completed and restored until 1876! Also, the cathedral once held a school that was meant for not very well-off students, and now, since it is so greatly known, the school is only for those of high-end stature – quite amazing how things do change. Once we finished this visit, we met up with our tour guide, Jenny, and went on what seemed like a never-ending tour of Roman and Medieval Chester. I liked learning about the differences in the views and construction of the Roman and Medieval parts of the wall, and “The Rows”, which is a series of covered stores that sit above street level and date back to the 13^th century. This trip was fun, as it was the first instance we really got to spend a lot of time in England; however, a down-side was that lots of things were exciting and the tour was too long and exhausting for us to really want to go exploring alone afterwards.

Sunday, January 25 2009

I had heard the legend of King Arthur all my life and even intensely studied it whilst in high school some 6 years ago, but I had never imagined I would go to a place where the legend supposedly began. We began our walk at Llyn Ogwen where it is said the Lady in the Water is said to have lifted up the sword and given it to Arthur so that he could become the King. Then, after being pelted with snow and rain and passing a quite lovely waterfall, we made our way up to Llyn Idwal, the largest lake on the Snowdonia Mountain Range. Llyn, or Cwm, Idwal is 800 meters long and 300 meters long and rests below what is called Twll Du or the Devil’s Kitchen. This is just a term used to describe the valley that has been created over thousands of years. However, Idwal is not just a lake – Idwal was once a man, and son of prince Owain. As the story goes, Owain entrusted Nefydd Hardd to look after his son; but since Nefydd’s own son, Dunawd, was untalented, he decided to push Idwal into the lake so that he would drown. As a result, Nefydd was banned from the kingdom, and Owain named the lake after his son in his memory. What I thought was a bit eerie was that it is said that no birds dare fly over the lake because a moaning voice can be heard during storms – scary!
Our next stop was Ty Hyll in Betws-y-coed, or the “Ugly House”. This quaint little cottage was built under an interesting Welsh customary law at the end of the 15^th century that stated whereby if a person was able to build a house in one day (from sunset to sunrise) and have a fire burning with smoke coming out of the chimney by dawn of the next day, he could claim the land. In addition to this, he had to throw a rock, and as far as that went, a circle was drawn in circumference around the house, making his land.
Another short stop we made was at Swallow Falls. After watching and partaking in the hilarious squeezing in of students two at a time through the 1 pound entrance turnstile doors, we walked down the stairs to view the powerful while falls. More of a photo op than anything, this view was simply gorgeous and something recommended if in the area. Just after this we stopped for lunch in Betws-y-coed where stood many shops in which students took advantage of cheap souvenirs and food.
We next stopped at the land of (thankfully not present) shotgun bearing Mrs. Maude Jones’ in which atop the great hill sits small, yet handsome Dolwyddelan Castle. This castle was built after the 13^th century as one of the strongholds of the princes ofGwynedd, functioning as a guard post along a main route way, and whose actual site was perhaps the vanished castle of the rocky knoll that lies in the valley floor. It consists of two rectangular towers linked by an irregular curtain wall. The castle was captured by Edward I of England's forces on January 18, 1283, in the final stages of his aggressive conquest of Wales. In the 15th century, an upper story was added to the keep by local lord Maredudd ap Ieuan. It was restored and partly re-modeled in the 19th Century by Lord Willoughby de Eresby, who added the distinctive battlements.
Finally we found ourselves in Llandudno, which is the largest resort in Wales, holding both the North Shore and West Shore beaches. It is a very popular tourist spot that has many stores, pavilions, restaurants, gambling spots and its renowned 2,295 feet pier. We just stopped here for a short visit – to frolic on the beach, walk along the pier and visit some shops - and it was definitely quite a sight to see with the long rows of buildings that stretched all along the beach.

Other

We were instructed to visit the Roman Camps, Bangor Cathedral, Bangor’s Museum of Wales and The Pier on our own. Each of these sights held something unique. The first stop I made was to the Pier. This pier stretches ¾ the way across the Menai Straits in between the City of Bangor and the Island of Anglesey and has a delicious tea room and beautiful waters. For just a mere 25 pence I thought it was interesting to see the plaques that were placed in each of the benches that lined the sides of the pier. One in particular talked about how a 40 something-year-old woman raised money to donate by jumping off – and surviving! – while wearing her wedding dress.
The Welsh Museum was a quaint little place that housed everything from old furniture to clothing and machines from the 1960’s. I enjoyed paging through the book that discussed and photographed the restoration of the Menai Bridge and learning about the music and song festival, the Eisteddfod, and the traditional Welsh costumes.
Bangor Cathedral made a nice stop as I was instantly greeted by two little old cute Welsh women who – after my first sentence – wanted me to tell them all about where I am from in America. This was just the experience I have been waiting for while I have been in Wales. I want to talk to as many of the locals as I can, especially the older ones who have more experience in the land and knowledge of the history. After discussing with them about cold snowy winters I glanced along the boards that were set up and discovered where the name “Bangor” came from. Back when the cathedral was constructed, a long fence was set up as the border. As it was a thatched fence, it was not that difficult to build, but with it brought much history and a name to the town in which the cathedral now sits. While reading I learned that the Welsh word for this thatched fence is bangor; learning this, reading the boards and visiting the museum have really helped me to better understand the history of Wales – more specifically Bangor and the surrounding area – and allow me to better get to know the city in which I will be living in for the next few months.
Lastly, I visited the Roman Camps. Located up a knackering forest path, the Roman Camps – or what we are to imagine where the Roman Camps once stood – is the most breathtaking view of Bangor that probably exists. Off one side of the gigantic hill that you must climb sits a view of the city of Bangor and the grandiose Snowdonia Mountain Range while off the other sits a view of the Menai Strait and the Island of Anglesey. I am truly disappointed I did not have my camera with me on the sunny day I went, but I definitely plan on going back to get some panoramic shots on the next free day I can.

Outdoor Pursuits Journal #1

Tuesday, February 2, 2009

A) Log

Today was our first Outdoor Pursuits session. The weather was a bit cool as I left my flat, but I was happy to see there was very little wind and that the sun kept randomly popping up between the cloud cover. Our session today was held at the Conway Session on both the high and low ropes courses. The temperature and weather stayed nice for all of the first portion of our session at the low ropes before lunch; but then when we were practicing for the high ropes course and as well as during the actual high ropes course, a light snow and wind luckily showed us what the rest of the afternoon would be like so that we could adjust our performance accordingly. While at the high ropes course, the biggest hindrances were the cold and the mud. The slight whipping wind made all of our toes and feet cold so it was difficult to grasp our clips and switch them over to the next wire and walk around the ropes. The mud also made it difficult not to slip, especially on the beginning rungs up to the first obstacle and on the moving log itself. Luckily, there is a crew working to cut down trees (a few trees even fell during our course!) and laying down slate chips to remove the mud problem. We have also all learned to wear more socks next time to keep our feet warm. Overall, the weather was quite nice throughout the day; we just need to come better equipped in the future so we are sure to perform at our absolute best in this course.

B) Journal

Our minibus departed for the Conway Centre in Anglesey, the main local Outdoor Pursuits building (it looks like a castle!), at roughly 9:00 AM. Upon arrival to the centre, we learned that we would be doing a high and low ropes course. Though Chris was the one who picked us up to take us to the Centre, Laura was our main instructor for the course. Once Laura, small but tough, made-for-the-outdoors and encouraging, came out to greet us, she gave us a brief description of the history of the Conway Centre; the centre was built after the cadet training ship, the HMS Conway, was lost to serve as camp to house the cadets who had previously lived on board. It was then converted into an educational facility and residential accommodation in the 1970’s and is still used as such today.
Laura then took us into a small room with tables for a cup of tea and to introduce ourselves to her and so that we could teach everyone a little bit about ourselves. We did this because today’s objective was to find out what our group was like – get to know one another, learn to trust one another, learn mental rehearsal and our comfort zones. Once we finished our tea and discussion we were sent outside. Laura took us to a place that those at the Conway Centre call “the stores”. It is a some-what barn looking building that holds all of the kit and supplies we need for our sessions. She gave us a brief tour of where everything was and had us put on Wellington boots because it would be muddy, and very attractive purple waterproof suits as well as helmets to wear during the exercises.

The session then was broken up into two parts; during the morning we had to do teamwork exercises on the low ropes courses and in the afternoon we were to do a high ropes course. Since I went to camp every year as a child, I have done many of the low ropes course exercises before but found them quite fun to do for another time. We learned immediately that communication was key and supporting one another both physically and emotionally was important. I am very glad we did this as our first exercise – learning encouragement and teamwork at the beginning will allow us to both understand how to work together and take care of each other as a group rather than as individuals, as well as later strengthen that bond we have created. All in all I believe that our group did a great job of working off of one another and encouraging each other through each exercise. I must admit that I had my irrational fears at the beginning that somehow we would not be able to work together as one, but this first session has helped to ease my worries as we definitely struggled together and learned the beginnings of what it means to be a team.

The low ropes course itself was out in the middle of the woods with slightly muddy terrain. Some of the obstacles themselves included working together to get everyone atop of a wall that was twice our height one at a time; working together to finish a series of obstacles while four people always had to be holding on to a long stick at the same time; and doing wire balancing exercises in twos while learning to talk to one another to stay up on the wires while the rest of the team encourages us and acts as spotters. This course really helped to get all of our cooperation juices flowing and got us excited and confident to head on to the next challenge.
After a brief lunch break full of sandwiches, tea and juices we were all ready and rearing to head out to the high ropes course. I have personally never done a high ropes course, and with my fear of heights I must admit that I was a bit afraid for what was to come. However, I knew that I took this course to push myself to the things I did not think I could do, so I was preparing myself for anything. Laura had us grab ropes, harnesses and carabineers and gave us a brief tutorial including teaching how to do an over hand and figure of 8 knot as well as how to put the rope and carabineer combination (or “cow tails) onto our harnesses. Once she felt we were all prepared she led us back out over a field behind the Conway Centre into a sheltered wooded area.
Upon arrival I looked up to the obstacles ranging in 20-60 feet in-the-air and was a bit taken aback. I thought to myself, “I have to climb THAT!?” Laura showed us the part of the clips course that we would have to do – the moving log through the zip wire - and then took us to a practice course. This practice course was about 10-15 feet in the air and allowed us to get our bearings with the cow tails as well as climbing on the actual wires. We each got a partner and took turns encouraging one another through the 4 obstacle practice course and prepared ourselves for what was to come next.

I knew going in that what I was about to do would be difficult and scary, but I did not know until I climbed up that first 20 foot pole just how hard it would be. My whole body was shaking as I tried to sort out where to clip my cow tails and how to get myself ready for the first obstacle and it had nothing to do to the fact that it was cold! However, I swallowed my fears and slowly and carefully made my way through the course. One of the parts that was most difficult was the second obstacle, the X ropes, because at that point I felt like I had absolutely no more energy to hold on to the ropes; my arms and legs were shaking from weariness. Another part that was hard was the little jump we had to make after the birthing tube climb. This was mainly because everyone was yelling at me to jump and I was just trying to sort out in my head how I wanted to do it. I wished they had listened to me and let me have some quiet because it is what I needed at that point, but perhaps they could not hear me from 60 feet in the air. All in all I felt that my own performance was quite good for having such a great fear of heights. I did my best to go through the course as fast as possible and push through my worries. I felt so relieved when I was falling down the zip wire. Everyone did such a great job working through the course and yelling up words of encouragement while their partners were in motion.

Something that I would do differently next time is to wear more layers of clothing – listen to directions and dress as warmly as possible. This was really the only thing hindering my personal performance apart from the fear of heights.

Overall, I think that I learned and benefitted a lot from this experience. I learned a lot about myself, I learned a new skill of climbing a clips course, and I learned about teamwork and confidence. I know this fear of mine will be something I need to work at, but as a first go, I think I did a great job – as did everyone in the group. All of the encouragement and teamwork that took place was absolutely outstanding. I am very excited to continue the sessions and I hope both my skills, as well as the skills of others, improve as time goes. Tuesday is my new favorite day of the week (Wednesday is not as I feel it will always be my day to recuperate from the muscle pain I have created for myself), and I cannot wait for next week! Outdoor Pursuits has given me a new outlook on life and myself and I am really happy about that. Now let us go climb a mountain!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A) Log

In this session we made our way into the mountains of the Snowdonia Mountain Range. We climbed to the summit of three mountains, Carnedd y Filiast, Mynydd Perfedd and Elidir Fawr. As I figured it would, the weather and terrain changed the higher we went up on each mountain, as well as which side of the mountain we were on; these changes were due to such things as altitude, the way the wind blows and ability for plants and things to survive in lower temperatures. On our journey up the mountains we came across all sorts of weather – everything from fog or cloudiness at the beginning to drifting snow and then sleet at the end. It also seemed as though the higher we went up the colder it got. We were also told to note the type of snow as we got higher. This was important to note because today’s session was focused on the environment, including learning about physical geography, flora, environmental concerns and using the environment for navigation.
On the road up to the first climb the snow was mushy underneath and hard on top, indicating a fresh snow had fallen the night before and froze over night. Then the higher we got the snow was harder and more packed on, indicating that many snowfalls had taken place and packed on top of one another. Also, we experienced such things as rime, which is a white ice that forms when the water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of the rocks. This fog freezes to the windward (wind-facing) side of the rocks with the high wind velocities and really low air temperatures. As Chris told us, the coldest temperature we faced was -12 degrees Celsius! Very cold. However, once our final descent was made, the fog had ceased, the sleet had stopped and the sun was back out, peering through the cloud cover – one of the brightest sun shines I have seen while being in Bangor. Though not the warmest day, it ended nicely with just a brisk chill to the air.

B) Journal

On our second adventure with Outdoor Pursuits, we climbed to the summit of three different mountains in the Snowdonia Mountain Range, Carnedd y Filiast, Mynydd Perfedd and Elidir Fawr, making a horseshoe shape. I personally had never climbed a mountain in this way before as I am sure the well laid out summer paths and Gondolas of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado do not compare to carving your own path all the way up a snowy, icy mountain! Though our main instructor, Laura, was there, the other Outdoor Pursuits instructor, Chris, was the one who led our trek. We got all suited up yet again in our purple waterproofs and this time plastic boots, grabbed helmets and rucksacks and learned about the parts of a pick axe (the pick, the head, the shaft, the spike, etc.). We then all went outside and were given a responsibility to carry something for the team (thermoses, tent supplies, etc.) and got in the bus.

We made it to the base of the mountain at roughly 10 and started on the gradual incline – a road, strangely enough – and as we made it up into the fog, things cleared up, and we faced our task for the day. During this stretch we discovered our first problem; one of our team members was straggling behind the rest of the group. To solve this, we were told to put her at the beginning of the group as the slowest person is the one is supposed to set the pace so it does not feel as if he or she is running the entire time to keep up with everyone else. Rather than this being a hindrance, I believe it helped our group to better bond and work together right at the beginning of the climb. We all understood that it was difficult for her so we worked together, gave her lots of encouragement and gradually made our way upward.

After we left the base of the mountain we did everything from light hiking to using our pick axes to keep us stable while up on the ridge of the high peaks of the mountains. It is quite interesting how the terrain of mountains changes so often (e.g. from snow covered grass on a 40 degree incline to rime covered rocks fully blocking our way to the summit at a nearly 90 degree incline). We did everything from walking straight across a flat snow covered field to using all of our body weight to hoist ourselves up rime covered rocks. The mountains always seemed to get rockier the higher we went. What was interesting to me is that both Laura and Chris moved their way across the snow and rocks as if it was nothing, which led me to wonder just how difficult what we first timers were experiencing truly was as far as that type of hike goes.

Climbing up a mountain, or “mountaineering” as it is properly defined, is a lot more challenging than I thought. It is not that it was super difficult physically, though I did have trouble breathing normally due to my asthma and it took a while for me to get a knack at working with the pick axe, this session was another mental and emotional challenge for me. I was surprised to find that it was not the heights that were difficult, it was the fact that I was trying to get over that I was climbing high up on a mountain on very tiny ridges – one wrong small step and I could have fallen; I was more afraid of messing up than being that high. However, as I did in the first session, I pushed myself and worked my way through the challenge. Personally, I felt that I did fairly well. I made sure to keep up with whoever I was behind, watch out for the person in front of me in case they slipped and help them out if they did, make sure to check if the person behind me was alright, and make sure I could always see both the front of the line and the back. On the contrary to the first session, though, I remembered to wear more layers – 4 shirts including 2 underarmor shirts and 2 fleeces and 4 pairs of socks; this is something I slightly prided myself for remembering to do.

Overall, I feel as if today went much better than last week did. This is partially due to the fact that I knew I was not going to be tethered to a tree by a cow tail but also because our group members always made it clear that we needed to focus on one another. We kept realizing over and over that if we did not stay entirely focused one of us would slip, fall or slow down the entire group. Regardless of this, I feel both I and the rest of the group did an excellent job staying focused in general and did an excellent job pushing ourselves to finish. On completion of the hike I felt very proud of myself, as climbing an icy mountain has never been something I could see myself doing. Though my arms, legs and feet were sore, my joy from accomplishing such a goal and for seeing others accomplish that goal too made it all worth while. I am very excited to be able to tell my very proud mother that I have made it back safely from ascending over 1,000 feet. I cannot wait for next week! Bring on the challenges!