The days leading up to the weekend had provided some exceptional cloud inversions around the Lake District, many of which had been captured and shown on social media.
This got the cogs in my head turning, where could I get too that would provide the best opportunity to view one pf these cloud inversions?
I’m not the fittest person in the world, so a long arduous hike up somewhere like Great Gable was off limits, it would see me off trying to hike up there! so, I chose a drive to the top of Newlands Valley, park the car there, having gained some considerable height in the car, then a short, steep hike up to the top of High Snockrigg from where I would have a great view of Newlands Valley and Buttermere Valley, all I needed was the cloud inversion to happen.
I got kitted out and then set off up the slope in front of me, not being able to see much as it was still dark, with my immediate foreground being light by my head torch, it was not long before my lungs were screaming, and I was blowing like an old steam train, why do I continue to do this to myself!!.
They say fitness comes with repetitive exercise; I’m beginning to realise that this does not apply in my case.
After many regular short stops to admire the views (jokingly) and to get my breath back, I was soon cresting the first summit on to the lesser inclines of the summit plateau, from here looking down Newlands Valley you could see the frost on the valley floor, but a lack of any cloud inversion had me worried, but the improving sunrise light was looking promising.
I waited here for 20 minutes or so to get a shot of this scene but did not want to waste too much time as I wanted to get on to the Buttermere side of the fell in the hope of a cloud inversion there.
A view looking down Newlands Valley.
As I followed the path towards the summit, I was surprised to see that three blokes were wild camping here, the temperature now was below freezing, they must have endured some very cold conditions during the night. I had a brief chat with them which confirmed my thoughts, but they were in good spirits and were enjoying a nice warm drink with their porridge.
From here looking west I could view Crummock Water and boy what a sight was greeting me, the whole lake was under a cover of cloud, I quickly got the camera set up and began taking shots of the amazing scene in front of me, as the sun began to rise, the higher fells were being illuminated by its rays, and the sky to the west was becoming a pastel-coloured canvas.
Once I got some shots in the bag from here, I trans-versed over to the Buttermere side of the fell to be met with the same conditions, albeit the valley floor was still in deep shadows has the sun had not got high enough in the sky to light up the valley bottom yet.
I remained on the summit of High Snockrigg for around two and a half hours, just waiting for the conditions to change that little bit, take a photo then sit back and wait for a couple of minutes before capturing another image of the ever-changing conditions. Although it was a clear morning with very little wind blowing, when I was standing around taking the pictures, I soon realised how cold it was, my fingers were quickly becoming numb and tingling with the cold, so gloves were donned along with a hat, and my down jacket fastened to keep me a lot warmer and more comfortable.
As time passed I was amazed to watch how the cloud inversion was flowing from the eastern end of Buttermere towards Crummock Water and Loweswater in the far distance, Buttermere Lake surface was now easily visible, but Crummock Water was buried beneath the clouds.
The cloud inversion along the Buttermere valley with High Stile and High Crag on the opposite side.
Once the cloud inversion has dissipated from Buttermere and was now way in the distance over Loweswater, I decided to pack up and head down to the car, has I went, I began to wonder what the conditions would be like at Buttermere, thinking that there would be little wind so there could be a chance of some reflections in the waters surface. Has I descended the steep slopes back to the car, I decided that Buttermere would be my next port of call.
I was soon parking the car at the far end of Buttermere, but the conditions were not that what I hoped for, the low-lying cloud had returned from when I viewed this sometime earlier from the top of the fell and was quite a peasouper. Nothing much could be picked out of the mist, whilst standing on the lake shore looking towards the pine trees, it was impossible to pick these out, so I decided to take a stroll along the lake shore to see if there would be any woodland photos to be had, I got has far has the tunnel and decided to turn back, the conditions were simply too bad for any decent photos to be taken.
As a bit of fun, the photo below is taken form the lake shore looking towards the Sentinel pines adjacent to the little whit cottage under Haystacks, can you honestly recognise this scene?
Thank you for your support of my photography, and your reading this short blog, until next time stay safe, and I wish you a Merry Christmas.
