Catching up part 2

Day two of the catching up process, I've mixed the pictures up a bit today, they'd sorted themselves alphabetically in the file so Cawfield was heading the list.

It's been an eye opener for me, I've been moaning to TT that the weather has been awful since June, but the photographs prove that wasn't  true.

Of course, Hadrian's Wall looks wonderful whatever the weather and I admit I love the big dramatic stormy skies, as long as I can keep the lens rain free.
So ever onwards :

Cawfields Crag July 2010 (grid ref: NY706664)

Crag Lough in Gold May 2010 (grid ref: NY758677)

Mucklebank Crag and King Arthur's Well July 2010 (grid ref: NY680665)

Steel Rigg May 2010 (grid ref: NY752675)

Zig Zag tree near Black Carts June 2010 (grid Ref: NY880717)

Sycamore Gap at Sunset June 2010 ( grid ref: NY761677)

The grid reference should give you the point where I was standing to take the photograph or thereabouts and I hope it will be helpful to fellow photographers.

More tomorrow.

Here and there.

Haven't had many long walks lately, it seems like I've dashed out when conditions look good, snapped a few photographs and dashed home again.

Sounds like I'm full of busy doesn't it?
But really I'm not, I just don't know where the time goes, one of those 'age' things I suppose.

We've had lovely clouds in deep blue skies, setting Hadrian's Wall off to perfection, and Walltown always does me proud when there are nice clouds to photograph.

Walltown Crags, there were no planes to leave contrails so Mother Nature provided some of her own!

The volcano in Iceland erupting was supposed to bring rich red sunsets and sunrises - so I headed out to Crag Lough thinking the reflected colour in the water would look good.
I arrived early so I climbed up onto Hotbank Crag, one of those bit of Hadrian's Wall that gets the pulse racing, it's a steep climb.
Evening light is hitting the north face of the Wall right now and there's no footpath up to that side.
No, I can't just climb over it, you can see where people have though and scrapped off the lichens with their scrambling. It's got so bad that the Footpaths Officer is getting signs made to put along the trail asking people not to climb on the Wall. Think of all the cloning out that will intail.

Hotbank Crag looking east

There are new boats on Crag Lough, white ones with blue covers, they don't have quite the wow factor the old mahogany boats had but I'd rather have them there than not.

Crag Lough sunset

One of the resident swan's came swimming towards me, I often see them on the Lough but they don't often come within camera range.

Swan on the Lough

It was an okay sunset but not the big dramatic event I'd been hoping for, nice without contrails though.

So to another day and I'm heading out to Caw Gap, this is one place you can get to the north side of the Wall without climbing over it, it's not a particularly easy path but you're on the right side for the light.

The sunset was shaping up to be a bit more of an event than last night had been, I perched myself on a narrow bit of grass, taking care to remember not to step back and don't look down.

North side of Hadrian's Wall at Cawfields

Some lovely colours in the sky and the sun went down as a big ball, as usual I took so many photographs that I haven't had time to go through them all yet.

Sunset from Cawfield Crags

I started to head back down to the car, it would take a bit longer because I had to backtrack almost to Caw Gap to cross through the gap in the Wall and then retrace my steps on the official Hadrian's Wall Path. As often happens, once the sun went down the sky coloured up with a multitude of shades.

The sky over towards Thirlwall Nicks was gorgeous.

Panorama from Cawfield Crags looking towards Thirlwall Nicks.

The views on the way back to the Cawfields Park were a joy to behold and I kept stopping to snap 'just another shot'.

The moon was up by the time I reached the car, a beautiful sliver of a crescent moon with Venus shining bright beneath it.

Yet again I was reminded how lucky I am to have all of this on my doorstep.

Catch you later.

March on Hadrian's Wall in photographs

I'm not up to scratch at the minute, my brain is all over the place so I thought I'd load some photographs taken in the last week or so and just do you a description of each.

Sunset over Crag Lough, the sun has started to move again and the camera was pointing directly at the sun, I had to wait for it to set before I could take a photograph without masses of flare.

Up on Highshields Crag, just above Sycamore Gap, it's nice to be out on the Wall for sunset again, next week the clocks change and my photo outings start in earnest, anyone for a 3.30am start with me?

Probably my favourite shot from that evening outing, the sun's not too bright and is just catching the mosses on the rocks of Highshield Crags. Hadrian's Wall Path runs along the top by the fence.

A bright sunny day, not my favourite conditions for photographs but a joy to be out in the fresh air.

 Lot's of people Walking the Wall, like this couple coming down from Winshields Crag, it's certainly becoming a year round activity.

The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds, I'm not too unhappy to have to stand around and wait for the light when I'm looking at a view like this from Winshields Crag.

The wide bit of Hadrian's Wall tapers down to a single wall over the original wide foundation before heading down towards Steel Rigg and the crags beyond.

Heading down Winshields Crag you get a view of the Great Ditch to the north of Hadrian's Wall. The stones here are covered in green lichen making a lovely patchwork effect.

I know I'm always going on about NOT walking on the Wall, well there's one bit you can walk on, it goes through the woods to the north of Housesteads Fort and is a small stretch of the turfed Wall, this is the view you get as you come out of the woods heading west.

Coming down Cuddys Crag before the climb up to Housesteads, lots of lovely Wall curves.

Hadrian's Wall is covered with lichens and mosses while the turf topping has a mass of tiny plants growing in it. I'm setting myself a little task to photograph and identify the various plants growing on the Wall.

Another lichen on the Wall stones, they're an amazing plant and I'm determined to learn more about them. I guess I should photograph a ruler next to them to give an idea of scale, can't work out how to get it to stay put on a vertical wall though.

Off to the Doc's tomorrow so hopefully normal service will soon be resumed.

Catch you later.

Hadrian's Wall awash with visitors

Thick fog in Gilsland on Friday, in fact we'd been shrouded in fog for a few days but on Friday I could see just a chink of blue sky.

I was getting stir crazy and needed a break from trying to capture my perfect shot of the Gretna Starlings, so I headed out to Steel Rigg.
The trees were just ghostly shapes in the mist and mine was the only car in the car park.
I thought about going up onto Winshields Crag, hoping to get above the fog but then thought I'd just go along and see how the Sycamore Tree was faring in the mist.

As I left Steel Rigg there was a glimmer of light, I paused to take a photograph as two walkers  came into frame, perfect timing.

Figures in the mist at Steel Rigg

Then Peel Crags started to clear a bit and that confirmed my decision to head east.
It's probably my least favourite climb up the stone steps of Peel Crags, I especially hate the very skinny steps two thirds of the way up (my big feet weren't made for skinny steps) then when you reach the top there's a ladder stile to get over, as if you had breath to spare!

Peel Crags

Once you're on the top it is worth the effort.

I stopped to take some photo's as yet more and more walkers came past, nice to see the weather hadn't deterred people.
Of course it was the half term break so a lot of folk were on holiday, some had been to other places like the Lakes or the Northumbrian Coast and had popped to Hadrian's Wall for the day.

Walking into the mist

Happy to report visitors were impressed and planned to return.

Blue skies above Peel Crags on Hadrian's Wall

Above Castle Nick  on Hadrian's Wall

By the time I got to the Sycamore Tree the fog had all but gone.

Sycamore Gap

 I had planned to go on the circular route past the back of Hotbank Crag, with a stop to capture Crag Lough wearing white ice but the sky ahead had taken on a slate grey hue and snow had been forecast.

Crag Lough and grey skies over Hotbank Crag

A caterpillar of people coming along the Wall

(Double click the picture to enlarge it slightly)

And if I'm honest my toes were giving me pain, I have arthritis and this week it's the toes turn to ache.

Still I had a nice walk, met some lovely people and got some photographs, what more could I ask?

Oh! and people are still standing on the Wall - don't do it, I get ever so cross with you!

Catch you later.

My best picture of the Gretna Starlings so far.

An amazing day

Saturday didn't start too well but by 10am it was brightening, I happened to the twitter site and found a posting saying there was mist on the Wall.

Within 15 minutes I was up at Crag Lough, then onto Hotbank Crag with a final stop at Sycamore Gap.

It was very, very muddy after all the rain but along, with several dozen other people out enjoying Hadrian's Wall, I didn't care, it was just great to be out there.

Not going to write much tonight just post up extra photo's so you can see for yourself.

Catch you later.

Crag Lough

Hotbank and Crag Lough

Hotbank panorama looking east

Hotbank to Sewingshields

Hadrians Wall Path passing Hotbank Farm

Mist in the valley looking south from Hotbank

Highshields Crag

Mist  coming through Sycamore Gap

Sycamore Gap in the mist

Walking through the mist

November is here

How quickly the year has passed, I can't believe it's November already and today I have a positive plethora of images for you.

I've been waiting for a nice frosty morning and when I got up it certainly seemed as though this one would be it!

Off to Steel Rigg with colour in the sky, nothing like a bit of red frost to set the pulses racing.

I'm still hoping for a good coloured sky behind the 'Sycamore Tree' so once again I walked east towards my destination.

I could feel the air getting warmer, it had been 0 degrees when I pulled into the car park, now it was showing 5 degrees on my thermometer so no frost then.

I set up and waited, taking the picture of Crag Lough with just a wisp of mist, then came a rush of wing beats and overhead flew 8 beautiful swans.

Because the light was so low the shutter speed wasn't fast enough to freeze the birds flight but I include a shot of their ghostly images flying over  Sycamore Gap.

Things weren't shaping up the way I wanted so I climbed up to Castle Gap and then on up to the viewpoint on Peel Crag. The sky was amazing, so much colour and at this time of the year the light is quite low so it catches the Wall.

I do so love this place, can you tell?

Even behind me looking towards Winshields Crag the sky had colour, and as usual, I had the place to myself, one of the advantages of not having to go to work.

As suddenly as the display started it finished and the sun disapeared into cloud so if you weren't up and about by 8am then you would have missed it.

The Hadrian's Wall Path is so muddy at the moment, yet from all the footprints I saw in the mud there are still lots of people out walking the trail, please remember to wear good stout shoes or boots because it is slippery when wet.

Lots of Wax cap fungi about, at first I thought people had been throwing orange peel around and was getting quite cross about it. Lovely yellow, orange, red and white toadstools litter the crags - magic.

Catch you later,

Joan

Sometimes you just have to be there

Had a busy day and time slipped by without me getting a breath of fresh air. At about 5.30pm I glanced out of the window and saw a lovely sky with mackeral clouds, the sort that colour up beautifully at sunset.

The sun sets at about 6.30pm at this time of the year, so I'd left things a bit late for anywhere that involved climbing.

I checked the flagpole ( flying the Northumbrian flag of course) in my back garden and saw there was no wind, great for reflections if it stays that way, so I was off to Crag Lough.

Driving along the Military Road I can see that I'm leaving those wonderful clouds to the south but you just never know with weather and I reckoned it was still worth a punt.

Arrived at Crag Lough at the same time as another photographer, he'd seen the same cloud formation that I had. But that wasn't what we were looking at now, the Lough was lovely and still though and the reflections were nice, so it was worth hanging around.

We were rewarded patches of colour appeared and were reflected in the waters, the boats had nice highlights. Then just when you thought this show of light had peaked another wave of colour appeared - shutters were firing twenty to the dozen.

A couple of walkers passed by on the Hadrians Wall Path, although by now it was getting dark they still had a way to go. I wouldn't like to be scrambling over the trail in the dark, and I do hope they got to their destination for the night safely.

It's the Haltwhistle Walking Festival this week so we have lots of walkers around.

I was reluctant to leave the Lough but finally it got so dark that it became impossible for the camera, to focus so I finally gave up and headed back home.

I'd been out less than 2 hours yet I felt so uplifted by the light display, wish you could have been there.

Catch you later.