Harlech Sunset 5th November

I have seen some gorgeous sunset photos and so that was my next challenge.
I decided to follow the coast road up to Harlech to maybe catch a sunset there. I had a vision of the sun setting behind the castle which would be silhouetted against it.

Got to Harlech and took some photos in and around the Castle, but it wasn't in the right position in relation to the sun which I thought darned inconsiderate of it. 

So drove down the coast a bit and followed signs for the beach.

Ended up on another beautiful deserted beach where you could just walk for miles and found a small harbour. The sunset wasn't the best and I could probably have moved on to get a better picture but I was loving having this wonderful beach almost to myself so I stayed put. Does that make me a bad photographer?:-)

 

Lessons Learned: Don't assume that just because its November that the beach is not the place to be. Wrap up warm and enjoy the fact that you are going to have some gorgeous beaches all to yourself.

Precipice Walk Dolgellau - November 4th

Armed with my trusty Snowdonia App, I decided to have a go at the Precipice Walk from Dolgellau.

 

Had to drive past Bala Lake to get there, so stopped off at the far end to get some pictures. Its much more scenic there than the first end and I am pleased with the pictures, especially as a couple involved scrambling over some rocks to get the shot. I've missed doing that!

 

On to Dolgellau. The walk starts in Llanfachreth (if I am going to do more in Wales, I must learn how to pronounce the names properly, you'd have thought that marrying a Welshman might help here, but my husband is almost as bad as me, a born and bred Southerner)

 

Helpfully, the start of the walk is signposted so I started following it until I came to a fork, one signposted public footpath, the other not. So of course I followed the signposted one up and over a small hill and... back to the carpark! Don't know how I do it!

 

So I reread the App and have another go. Follow a different footpath which starts off ok, but then gets swampier and swampier and after about a mile ends up at the entrance to a forestry commission property which is padlocked and covered in barbed wire. I know that I have clambered over the odd locked gate recently, but I think this one would be a rebellion too far, so I retraced my footsteps back through the swamp back to the car.

 

So I am now a bit flustered, tired and absolutely covered in mud! I am beginning to understand why people worry about me when I go on my outings. Hubby thinks I should turn the GPS on on my phone, my youngest daughter has suggested I should carry a flare gun (!) and even a family friend has given me a whistle (the Acme Thunderer) in case I get into trouble!                 

 

Not one to give in easily anymore, I follow the original path, without turning off where I did before, and of course it is the proper walk!  

I can thoroughly recommend this walk. It takes you first past a very scenic lake with some very interesting trees. Then you climb a very narrow and rocky path upwards until you get some amazing views of the Mawddach Estuary and the sea. Someone has very thoughtfully put a bench here for the weary hiker to sit and admire the view but unfortunately a couple of weary hikers have beaten me to it! Typical I don't see another living soul on the walk and the only ones I do see are sitting in my seat!

                   

 

Anyway, you turn a corner and the whole valley opens up and you walk for a long while along the top edge. There is Snowdon to the North and Cader Idris to the South and it is literally breathtaking and I must admit to getting quite emotional!. 

However, they call it the Precipice Walk for a reason. The path is very narrow and extremely uneven, with quite a dramatic drop to the side, so I found myself watching where I was stepping more than the view, as I preferred to view the valley from the top rather than the bottom! Still what I did see was incredible and I am very pleased with my pictures although I wish I'd taken more. 

                  

 

The path then led back to the lake, 3m in total but I reckon I'd done at least 2m before I even started the walk!

Lesson Learned: Read the directions properly. Chances are if the footpath looks like a swamp, its not a footpath, it is a swamp!

Snowdon October 20th

On my last venture I didn't manage to get to Snowdon so thought today that I would try to find it. (Highest point in Wales, even I should be able to find it!) The idea was to take a few pics from the base and then move on. However, once I got there, I felt the urge to climb coming on. Had a look at the Pyg track but common sense prevailed and I decided that might be a bit adventurous for me at the moment. Although I have been walking upright for an undisclosed amount of years, for the purposes of the Pyg, I am a beginner.

                                          

 

So I followed the Miners Track which was a bit more forgiving of my inexperience. The scenery on the way up is breathtaking and every time I went round a corner, a whole new vista opened up. It almost seemed unreal, so I just had to keep going. The wind was extremely strong, up to 70mph I believe and it drizzled a bit, but on the whole it was manageable. Besides, I have new waterproof trousers now!

 

I am loving waterfalls at the moment, and with all the recent rain, they were everywhere. The sound was incredible. Its a shame you can't put a soundtrack to photos. 

I followed the track up to Llyn Glaslyn and this bit was probably the hardest. Very steep, long and quite uneven. I followed it to the intersection with the Pyg Track which according to my Snowdonia App (hope you are impressed that not only do I know what an App is, but that I actually have one!) is a 3 mile walk and halfway up the mountain. I decided that this was probably far enough for my first time, so headed back.

 

                                          

One of the best things about it all is the solitude. Apart from a few random hikers and a couple of school parties, there was barely anyone around. (With the weather forecast, they all probably had more sense than me!). I found that it was wonderful just being able to concentrate on the walking and letting my mind wander wherever it wanted to go.

 

Deep thoughts were being had, so much so that I sometimes forgot to take photos!

 

Lessons Learned: Keep a hairbrush in your camera bag if the wind is likely to be wild. There's only one person the Ken Dodd look suits and that isn't going to be you.

Don't make it all about the photos. Remember to really appreciate what is before you, so that when you see the photos, they bring back real memories.

Stiperstones October 14th

Sometimes one of the most difficult decisions I face is where to go if the weather is poor. It is so easy to say you won't bother if its a bit drizzly. But I've been there, made excuses to avoid any kind of activity and I don't want to be that person any more.

So I decided to try to find the The Stiperstones which is a ridge across part of Shropshire formed during the Ice Age. It is an amazing drive up there, through valleys and moorland and the fact that is was dull and drizzly added to the atmosphere somehow.

The Stiperstones is a nature reserve with parking and marked pathways but the clouds were moving in and visibility wasn't good. While I sat in the car an epic confrontation raged. On one side was Common Sense, with Age and Logic on its side, battling against the newcomer Crazy with just Adventurous Spirit for support. Common Sense pointed out the rain, wind and the fact that none of us knew where we were going and it looked like it might prevail when Adventurous Spirit let out a battle cry of "what the hell, it can only kill us once" and the fight was over and we were off exploring again.

On my way up, this gorgeous creature looked up at me as if to say "Are you completely nuts? Its raining!)

                         

 

 It is certainly bleak up there and I am sure it is lovely when you can actually see something. I walked for about half an hour uphill and when I realised that my waterproof boots actually weren't, and that I could basically see very little, I decided that maybe Common Sense had a point after all, so back down I came, but feeling exhilarated rather than defeated.

Lessons Learned: Don't be a fair weather photographer. Even if you can't take photos you can still be out in some beautiful countryside. After all what's the worst that can happen? You'll get wet. So you'll dry out! Plus there's something very "At one with Nature" when the elements are throwing everything they have at you.

Moel Famau October 1st

Moel Famau A large hill between Ruthin and Mold. Quote from my friend - "which is an easy walk up a hill" - unquote.  It may be an easy walk for someone in the peak of physical condition like my friend, but for the mere mortals among us, easy isn't the word I'd use! Challenging perhaps, inspiring maybe, damn steep definitely!                    

 

Should have known it wouldn't be one of my better days when I realised halfway there that I'd left my map at home. Still, had visited the Moel Famau site that morning and got a postcode, so put it into the sat nav. It was only when the sat nav told me I had reached my destination outside a little cottage on the outskirts of Ruthin, that I finally worked out that large hills don't tend to have postcodes on the grounds that not many people write to them!                                        

 

Anyway, finally got there working on the assumption that if I keep heading upwards, I'm bound to end up somewhere interesting.

 

The first part of the climb was challenging, not very long but very steep for a novice and I am embarrassed by how many times I had to stop. Got chatting with a chap halfway up, talking about other walks in the area, but his parting comment was that he advised against the jeans I was wearing as if it rained, they held the water and got very uncomfortable and took ages to dry. I looked up at the beautiful blue sky safe in the knowledge that today I would be ok. Plus I don't think the world is ready for me in the aquamarine jeggings that he was wearing.

 

Anyway, I persevered and finally got to the top and the Jubilee Tower and it was so peaceful. All you could hear was the wind, a few sheep and a strange rasping noise. Oh yeah, that was me trying to get my breath back. The scenery on the way up had been stunning and although there were suddenly an awful lot of dark clouds about, it all looked very bleak and moody, so have tried a few black and white shots. Huge sense of achievement when I got to the jubilee tower. It is amazing to see all the way round, but unfortunately the clouds had dropped so the view wasn't brilliant.

 

I had only been coming back down for a couple of minutes, when a cloud came down very low, and I thought "I'm walking through a cloud, this is so cool" 

This thought only lasted about 30seconds as the damn thing decided to rain on me and did so all the way to the bottom! The ground underfoot became very slippery very quickly and I got completely soaked. The showerproof mac I had on did its best for me, but the rain was relentless. I must have slipped into a parallel universe at some point as I swear I found myself going uphill more on the way down than I did on the way up! Never been so glad to see my car!

                    

 

I get to the car, and checking there is no one about, take off as many soaking wet clothes as possible. So I'm driving home wet through, exhausted, red in the face, with aches in places I didn't know I had places and wearing little more than my underwear and boots, praying I don't get stopped or have an accident and I've never felt so alive! It was Amazing. No, I am Amazing! Never climbed a mountain before. Yes I know its not officially high enough to be a mountain, but it felt like it to me, so that is what I am calling it!

Lessons Learned: If someone extremely fit and active tells you a walk is easy, don't believe a word of it.

Buy waterproof trousers.

Night Time Photography

I have always liked pictures shot at night with their really rich colours and amazing effects, but always thought it was something I'd never be able to do. But then again, I am a New Woman now and trying brand new things and I can do anything. I think.

So back to the ever patient Stewart to arrange a night time workshop. We head out to a bridge over the A5 to photograph traffic and the results are quite incredible. It turns out that it is just the same as day time photography, only with longer shutter speeds. Who'd have thought!

(Seem to have permanently lost this photo, but trust me, it was a corker ;-) )

This was taken with a shutter speed of 20s, aperture at 4.5 with ISO at 100. The most difficult part for me was getting the focus right and for the first time in my life I actually wanted there to be more traffic. OK so the photo isn't art but the practice is the same whether over a dual carriageway in Shropshire, or on a mountain road in Snowdonia.

Next stop, Whittington to photograph the floodlit castle. Unfortunately it wasn't floodlit, but the pub opposite was so I am nothing if not adaptable.

 Exposure 3.2s, aperture 5.6, ISO 200. Starting to get a bit braver with the camera and have taken it off automatic. Its a steep learning curve and there were many, many pictures that will never be seen again but there are some I am pleased with so it is worth all the trial and error.

Lessons Learned: Don't put the camera away with the sun, there is a lot of fun to be had out there in the darkness.
Trial and Error is to me the best way to learn. If someone tells you how to do something I don't think it has the same impact as finding it out for yourself.

Swallow Falls 26th September part 2

I had heard about Swallow Falls and how gorgeous it is meant to be, but again never been there. So I decided it was about time.

I had originally planned to do a 4m walk I found on a website which gave scenic views on the way to the falls, but when I couldn't work out the first part of the walk, I decided it was probably safer not to. Like I said, navigationally challenged! So did the tourist visit, down the designated steps. I seem to be addicted to waterfalls at the moment, in fact most of the pictures I have taken recently have been water based. Must be the Piscean in me!

The Falls are wonderful and I took plenty of pics, again playing around with shutter speeds, but using the tripod and they work so much better. You can photograph from both the top and bottom of the falls and halfway up there is a convenient bench where those of us who are not as fit as we should be can take a well earned rest and pretend we are just sitting to admire the view.

Lesson Learned: Accept your limitations. If you can't walk to the car without getting lost, a 4m walk through uncharted territory is probably not a good idea.