23rd June .......Wharfedale meadows......

I set out from Conistone near Kilnsey in Wharfedale to walk up to Kettlewell through the fields full of buttercups and wild flowers which are in full bloom at the moment, and then up onto Great Whernside.
The meadows were stunning and I spent quite a while capturing some images in there.  I passed through the back streets of Kettlewell and walked along side the Dowber Gill Beck heading for the Gt Whernside  but as I climbed higher towards the summit the cloud descended and wind picked up.
The plan was to to return over the tops but a hasty retreat back down to the tranquility of the dale was the best option with the opportunity to get some more pics of the flowers and barns.

16th June....Bessy Boot and Glaramara

Bessy Boot is one of the less visited tops, but standing on its own at the end of Glaramara it has some fine views over the surrounding mountains.
The path to its summit is steep, ill defined and and easily lost, and without a dry way to cross Comb Gill visitors who like the security of easy to follow paths will find this route not to their liking. 
The reward for those who push for the top is a wild remote fell, devoid of motorways and cairns, but full of peace, tranquility and hidden corners.
Having made the summit, the way to Glaramara over the open fell is  complex and would be a challenge in poor weather, many false tops and sheep paths to fool the unsuspecting walker onto steeper ground......what a wonderful place to get lost though :-)

Stockley Bridge

Comb Gill

Tarn at Leaves

High House Tarn and the Langdale Pikes

Bowfell from Esk Hause

The top of Ruddy Gill

Random stump

If you're missing the winter

If you're missing the winter have a watch of this from the Orion Face on Ben Nevis
Why we do, what we do..The Orion face, Ben Nevis

1st June....Scafell... Lords Rake

As I arrived in Wasdale it was obviously another busy day up on Scafell Pike so rather than go with the crowds I left them behind and headed towards Mickledore for an ascent of Scafell via  Lords Rake.

The decent onto the start of Lords Rake wasn't too pleasant, very slippery, loose scree made for an awkward scramble down to the path,  once on the path Lords Rake is only a few yards away.  I was surprised to see 2 large banks of snow still remaining in the bottom of the rake, a testament to the large amount of snow that came late in the season, and the chock stone at the top of the Rake still hanging on waiting to fall into the gully.

I'm afraid the climb up Lords Rake isn't pleasant, loose muddy scree and the risk of rocks falling from above meant that I moved quickly to get out of the situation asap.

The scenery and situation though is stunning and will be amazing in winter when the snow has covered the scree, ......can't wait!!

The River Duddon

Lingmell Beck....only flows in winter

The path to Mickledore

 Scafell

Lords Rake from the approach path

Snow in Lords Rake in June!!

Lords Rake, scree

The collapsed chock stone, about the size of a large white van!

Looking back along Lords Rake towards Scafell Pike

Looking back along Lords Rake towards Scafell Pike

Deep Gyll from Symonds Knott

Scafell Pike with weekend crowds

Scafell Pike from Wasdale

26th May.........Dow Crag,.... climbing now!

With some great Bank Holiday weather predicted the rock on Dow Crag in the Lakes seemed like a good idea.  Not having visited these cliffs before it was always going to be a real treat and I wasn't disappointed. The cliffs are the demain of true rock climbing, but there are a couple of options for the "enthusiastic" scrambler.  The gullies, which are really at their best when in full winter conditions, and a climb to the summit via Easy Terrace.

The climb to Easy Terrace up the open gully gets progressively steeper but has plenty of holds, after arriving at the Terrace.  From there pick your own way up, but keep to the left of the crag with Great Gully for company and soon you'll be on the arete that leads to the summit. 

It is very exposed in places on the top section, so definitely take a rope if you're not totally confident. 
Better to have it and not use it rather than need it and not have it!!

The path towards Goat Water

Easy Gully, A Buttress, Great Gully, B Buttress

B Buttress and Easy Terrace starting point

Easy Terrace start

A Buttress with climbers on the overhang

A Buttress from Easy Gully

Looking up Easy Gully

Looking down Easy Gully

Dow Crag with the Great Gully in the centre

20th May...........Limestone and Waterfalls

Its always a good fortune if the sunset is as good as you hope but as we drove over to the Dales it was looking good, for a while anyway....Once onto Twistleton Scar it was obvious that a glorious sunset wasn't going to happen so we concentrated on getting some shots of the hawthorns and the limestone pavement.

11th May......Saltwick Bay.....

Space and Time...........

With long "summer" evenings its now possible to get out and about for some fresh air after a hard days toil, and with poor weather in the Dales I decided to check out the sunset possibilities on the coast.

The sunset didn't develope into anything special so I started to take some images of the action of the waves as they washed up the beach.  As the waves advanced or receded they produced significantly different images, as did the length of the exposure.

As I watched the motions of the water and its effect on the sand and rocks I could see a relationship between them and the Universe, the vastness of space filled with minute specks.

Tide coming in (2 secs @f22)

 

Tide going out (0.8sec @f22)

DIFFERENT WORLDS

THE PLANETS

METEORITE

DEEP SPACE

And finally a Sunset!