Beddgelert

Llyn Gwynant

Sun or no sun.........

Watkin Path, Snowdonia

Might be a while before we can visit again..........

Dinas Emrys

well one of them........

Following on from last week's shot of the Crib Goch, this is the interesting conclusion to the ridge. The knife edge arete culminates in a very sporting clamber up and down over three pinnacles. This image shows the last of the three, and conveniently for me, three young chaps were climbing ahead of me and showed the three main stances on the ledges of the pinnacle. The lowest (guy in the black shorts) is the most precarious, the middle is easiest, and the top (guy in the red top) is a real don't look down moment if you are not keen on heights! There is a way of bypassing the second and third pinnacle by descending a fair way to the left - but why would you? Once over the third pinnacle you descend to the col before the clamber up the Garnedd Ugain ridge which is the second section of the great Snowdon Horseshoe - there is even more fun to come!

Reflections......that would make a change for me!

Two hikers look out over the landscape of Snowdonia, Wales on a minor-summit of Y Lliwedd, part of the Snowdon Horseshoe.

Here's a rework of an image from a few years ago - the view from the top of Snowdon, looking down to the ridge of Lliwedd on the right, the black lake of Llyn Llydaw in the centre, and the sharp ridge of Crib Goch to the left. Moel Siabod is the peak in the centre distance. You never know, we may get another day like this during this winter, which would make a pleasant change from all the rain we have been having. Hope you and yours have a good one!

I love it when the weather forecast comes together!

Snowdonia National Park, Wales

I love the colours in the water here. Watkin Path, Snowdon

Watkin Path, Snowdon. There could be a few more in the series over the coming days......surely there must be a lighthouse shot soon I hear you cry..... Formatt-Hitech 0.6 & 0.3 soft nd grad, the 0.9 went for a little swim in the sea at Llandudno earlier that morning and was a touch minging.

Isolated farm house nestled in the Afon Glaslyn Valley, Snowdonia

The Crib Goch ridge of Snowdon, taken in deteriorating conditions a year ago. Crib Goch (Red Ridge) has to be the most entertaining of the main routes on Snowdon, but you do need a head for heights. Looking along the knife edge, to the left the ground is very steep and to the right it is a sheer drop of hundreds of feet. It is not recommended in high winds, and it is also known to be one of the wettest places in the country (slippery when wet....) - so check the forecast!

Changeable weather on the Snowdon Horseshoe. It was a truly memorable day for me on this return visit to one of Snowdonia's finest routes. The day began cloudless, but as the morning developed convention cloud came swirling in a spectacular way, and an earlier image was an attmept to capture that. The summit of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) unsurprisingly caught the cloud the most, and it really was thick up there, visibility down to a few yards. This shot is looking back towards the summit from the final rise in the horseshoe, the twin summit of Lliwedd which has the most vertiginous cliff-face. In the centre of the image you can make out the loose and scrabbly mess that is the Watkin Path, disappearing into the cloud.

I'll get a sunrise here one day.........

Early morning on the famous Snowdon Horseshoe. This was taken on the climb up to the Crib Goch, looking across Cwm Dyli and Llyn Llydaw to the twin peaks and cliffs of Y Lliwedd. The early morning was the best of the day, the clouds rolled in and covered the top of Snowdon in a thick cold blanket - but it was good to be up there again!

Sunrise over Snowdon

A truly memorable morning on the Snowdon Horseshoe. This was the four shot panoramic view from near the top of the climb up to the start of the Crib Goch ridge, looking straight down to the Bwlch y Moch where you can make out the Pyg track crossing the ridge line. Down to the left is the Pass of Llanberis, and you can just make out a white coach making its way up to the top of the pass - Pen y Pass. Rising above the pass to the left is Glyder Fawr with it's head in the clouds, and a little to the right is Gyder Fach. In the right centre of the image in the distance you can see part of Moel Siabod, it's summit obscured by the near cloud. In the lower centre right is crags of Carreg Gwalch rising above the Llyn Teryn (the smaller lake) and finally part of Llyn Llydaw can be seen bottom right. When I set off that morning the sky was cloudless, but as I climbed up the clouds moved in quite spectacularly, and wreathed the hills in turbulent mist. Unfortunately I could not get the shot I came for - the view along the Crib Goch to the summit of Yr Wyddfa - as heavy cloud settled over the summit for the whole day. Although the cloud lifted from most of the mountain in the afternoon, I got the best of the conditions early on, and the it made for a really special day.

Another from a truly memorable morning on the Snowdon Horseshoe. This was the view from part way up the climb up to the start of the Crib Goch ridge, looking straight down to Llyn Teryn with a section of the Miner's Track to its right. In the distance you can see Cnicht, the 'Welsh Matterhorn' - though it doesn't look like it from this angle. When I set off that morning the sky was cloudless, but as I climbed up the clouds moved in quite spectacularly, and wreathed the hills in turbulent mist. I got the best of the conditions early on, and it made for a really special day.

Legend says that Merlin released the red and white dragons, after which the red dragon won and white dragon fled. King Vortigern was then able to build his castle on this site, which was named after Merlin.

Snowdonia, I'm going to miss you for a while......

Winter has been great in providing some excellent shooting conditions this year but it's good to be leaving the cold behind now, Spring is in full swing now with the colours changing and the temperatures a lot milder.

A 3 day trip to Wales saw me get out with the camera for frustratingly only the second time this year but the trip was excellent with a good haul of images from some revisited, and some new locations.

This is Lyn Dinas in Snowdonia, I'd never shot this place before and was rewarded with some great conditions for about 15 minutes before the rain came and ruined all the reflections in the lake, the sky was non existatnt on this day pretty much all day but it didn't stop me from getting images here and there, just so good to get out into the remote parts again with the camera and discover new places.

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