15th Sept........Stockton.... Infinity Bridge

Another great location choice by Mike for a Sunday evening shoot :-)

HDrrrrrrrrrrrrrh   more practice needed

7th Sept ............St Marys Lighthouse

A trip up to Whitley Bay to photograph the lighthouse proved an inspired choice by Mike, the sunset was amazing and provided us with perfect lighting conditions for photography.

1st September.................Wasdale weekend

With the St Michaels Everest BC trek looming ever closer I went over to Wasdale for some much needed exercise and to get some more shots of "Britains' favourite view" 

The weather was pretty poor for making landscape images so I took a different view of the Dale and tried to portray its more usual moody intimidating character.
After taking my shots of Wastwater I walked up the remote and beautiful Upper Eskdale with the River Esk for company and the imposing mostly cloud covered bulk of Scafell and Scafell Pike dominating the view I saw only a couple of other walkers all day.
At this point the river is a series of spectacular waterfalls and canyons and a delight and privilege to photograph, and they get more spectacular and less accessible the further upstream you go.
 

August 24th ..............Scafell Pike

All my fears about going and camping in the Lakes on an August Bank Holiday turned out to be baseless.
After what turned out to be a fairly leisurely stroll up the Corridor Route from Borrowdale to the summit of Scafell Pike, we camped over in Buttermere and enjoyed a good chat with the local midge population!

On the way to Sty Head Tarn

On the Corridor Route

The descent path via Ruddy Gill

The path alongside Grains Gill

August 11th...................Arncliffe to Malham

The best walk in the Yorkshire Dales..........probably 

Arncliffe.....Malham Cove....Malham......Gordale Scar.....Arncliffe........16 miles (ish)

Starting in the perfectly formed village of Arncliffe, with the green surrounded by stunning cottages and a pub, start by heading out along the track behind the pub up towards the moors.

As you climb through the fields up onto the balcony path above Yew Cogar Scar, the view opens up into Littondale, possibly the best view of any of the Dales is to be had from here.

Over the top and the long open expanse of the high limestone pavement makes you feel very small in comparison to the vastness of the wilderness around you.

 With the wide open spaces  of the wilderness behind, you enter the spectacular "Watlows", now a dry valley that would have raged with the melt waters of the last ice age

Very deep and very steep sided this valley would have supplied the waters that once flowed over Malham Cove, but is sadly no more and we just have to use our imaginations to visualize how amazing the falls must have been.

The view from the top of Malham Cove never fails to inspire, and means that we are nearly half way round the walk.

And the view from the bottom is no less inspiring!  Still along way to go though.....

In the village of Malham many ancient stone footbridges cross the beck  to  ensure the locals can get home without getting their feet wet!!... A pub and plenty of tea shops here, so its a good place to stop and rest before heading on again.

From Malham we make our way along the beautiful wooded path towards "Janets Foss" waterfall, and then on to Gordale Scar.

The exotic vegetation looks like it would be more at home in the rain forests of South America.

Gordale Scar.........very difficult to photograph, and far far bigger than any image portrays. 

With no sense of scale its hard to believe that the waterfall in the background is probably 20m high!

Now all you have to do is climb the waterfall and walk 7.5 miles back to Arncliffe........

August 10th ...........Hebden suspension bridge

Just a little way down from Grassington this suspension bridge crosses the River Wharfe, there are some stepping stones but they regularly get covered by the waters that rush down the river after a heavy downpour up in the hills.
Its a lovely walk alongside the river between Grassington and Burnsall and very popular being part of the "Dales Way"

I've crossed it many times and wondered how old it is........I'm sure its very safe...

According to my friends at UK Climbing.com  the bridge was built in 1885 after the drowning of a man crossing the stepping stones in 1884.
Source: Joy, David (2002) Hebden. The History of a Dales Township. Hebden

Best of Everest (full feature)

20th July......Malham limestone

The limestone around Malham, Malham Cove and the villages of Upper Wharfedale define the area from other parts of the Yorkshire Dales.  The local stone from the limestone pavement has been used to great effect to build the dry stone  walls, farms, barns and cottages, bringing a bright look and a distinct feel to this iconic  area of countryside. 
Traveling through this limestone country always makes me feel as though I'm in the very heart of the Dales,  .................and trying to imagine what it would have been like to witness the rivers and waterfalls that raged and tumbled as the ice melted from the last ice age 20,000 years ago...... what a time it would have been to be there with a camera!!

The amazing Watlows dry valley

The Old Post Office, Malham

En-route to Malham