Members present: Katie Horgan, David Bish, James Hoyle, Kasia Hoyle, Trish Cranston.

Craven Members: Dick Winslow, Bruce Miller, Mark Kitching.

Guests: Gill Davidson, Geraldine ..., Andrew Ketley, Rachel Ketley.

And about 22 members of the Royal Veterinary College.

The KMC and CMC parties arrived at about 9:30pm on a chilly Friday evening. This was the second meet with members of the Skipton based Craven Mountaineering Club. Tea was eaten, wine and beer were drunk and we all retired to the various dorms. At about 1am more arrivals were heard. It sounded like thousands but could only have been a few extra, given the rubbish forecast. Morning came and as I stumbled into the kitchen I realised that thousands were nearer the mark - there were bodies everywhere! 22 members of the Royal Veterinary College had turned up and, finding people in nearly every dorm, had gently squeezed themselves into the gaps, opted for the floor or crashed in the sitting room! They turned out to be about the most organised group of students I've ever come across - breakfasts and evening meals were prepared and cooked with almost military efficiency and orderly feeding and washing up queues formed everywhere!

Anyway, we old and disorganised folk stumbled our way through breakfast and, seeing blue skies and light winds, stuck to the original YGarn walk plan - yes, I know everyone's done it about a billion times but I wanted a walk from the hut for new people! David and Geraldine headed off to Tremadog for rock.

We headed out and up, it was cold and a bit windy but sunny. The slopes up to Elidir Fach were pretty tough going for some of us, so the party in true KMC fashion, divided, with the stronger walkers leading off to the top of Elidir Fach and then on to Elidir Fawr. The CMC crew, Jill and I were in the B party, which briefly stopped for lunch on Elidir Fach. We headed of to Elidir Fawr but halfway up, with the wind blowing us sideways, Dick, Jill and I turned tail and headed down to Machlyn Mawr reservoir while Mark and Bruce continued up to join the others. The reservoir was looking distinctly maritime with tidal waves crashing on the far shores - very spectacular and after we'd walked along the road to the quarries and round to bus stop, the waterfall in the quarry was defying gravity. We arrived at the hut pleased to be out of the gale and the rest of the party arrived about 30 minutes later, having got to Elidir Fawr and heading into Nant Peris before coming back up past the power station.

The RVC crew arrived en masse with some having attempted Snowdon (they too were turned back by the wind) and the others having done a valley walk. David and Geraldine weren't far behind. They'd bagged Craig Ddu wall in the gale force winds - an exciting trip by all accounts!

We all had a steamy, sociable evening in the hut with an attempt at the numerous bottles of whisky (we didn't get very far) and made plans for a lower down walk for Sunday. The morning dawned slightly less windy with some sun, so David and Geraldine again decided to climb, although David ran first before they went off to do Flying Buttress on Dinas Cromlech. The rest of the KMC/CMC party headed to Trefriw for an 8 mile walk along the Crafnant valley, past the old lead mine workings and through to Llyn Crafnant. It was a bit tough for the 'new' walkers but a lovely route through the valley and forests around Trefriw. We were a bit late for the tearooms at the end of the day, so went back to cars for the journey home. CMC had a good trip and sent a 'thankyou' email the next week, so I'm pretty sure that a pleasant day was had by all!

No idea what the RVC's did but we passed them trudging along the road through Llanberis!

Wild Walks, Frosty Fell Runs and Cold Climbs - depending on the weather. For those with their climbing heads on, there are long routes all over the place. David's coming too, so he'll have some bright ideas. On a similar note, there'll be running going on, including some Bob Graham training for anyone who wants to stretch their legs and try keeping up with himself. I'm planning to run(!) up Snowdon on Saturday - probably up the Miner's and down the Tourist path. Crib Goch or the Horseshoe would be a good bet for anyone wanting to walk. In the vain hope that January does its thing, I guess something icy might be 'in' - Parsley Fern, Sergeant's Gully? But I doubt it! Join us for cold days out and mulled wine and crumble in.