Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: August 2012

A restless night's sleep can have it's advantages! After waking up on and off during the night (I think I'd gone to bed too early), at four o'clock I decided bite the bullet to try and get a sunrise up in the Lakes. It has to be the best time of day to travel, the motorways were all quiet so I was past Manchester and on the M61 just before six.

The sunrise itself never quite materialised but I got some brilliant photos of the clouds breaking on Windermere and more importantly, I had the place to myself. I then headed up the Kirkstone Pass with the hope that maybe I could get the same cloud conditions on Ullswater.

Unfortunately there were cloudless clear blue skies but I did manage to get the last of the rising mist on Brotherswater so all was not lost. I also took some amazing shots part way up the Kirkstone Pass looking back to a cloud inversion over the head of Windermere. The valley was in cloud and all the Langdale Fells above it.

A great drive up and some truly magical photographic moments

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Dawn on Windermere

Jetty Windermere

Dawn on Windermere

Langdale Pikes cloud inversion

From Kirkstone Pass

Langdale Pikes cloud inversion

Brotherswater

Early morning haze

Brotherswater

Early morning haze

Haze on Brotherswater

Brotherswater

Early morning haze

Brotherswater

Considering what a rubbish summer we have had this year, I suppose, looking back on the photos I took that I was lucky with the weather for my summer break.

Coniston, Tarn Hows and Keswick with Sal where we had so much fun together, a beautiful hot sunny day at Mardale Head, High Force with the excellent company of Dave and Chris plus the dramatic Wasdale produced not one wet day. As expected there was the odd shower but nothing to stop us getting out.

This was followed by a 4 day trip up to the Highlands which consisted of a night in Fort William, two night in Portree on The Isle of Skye and another in Fort William to break my journey back. I run out of superlatives when I think of Skye, it has everything ranging from the heights and ridges of the Cuillin Hills, the dramatic and unusual rock formations of the Trotternish landslip to the more gentle but no less beautiful northern peninsulas like Waternish and Waterstein.

Add to this the superlative Skye brewery's Hebridean Gold, the remote but beautifully situated Stein Inn and you could be forgiven for thinking you had died and gone to paradise! My two day stay on Skye was nowhere near long enough and I really felt a touch of sadness whilst waiting for the Ferry back to Mallaig but there will be other trips. Another little gem I discovered was the coastline between Loch a'Ghlinne and Loch Eishort plus the remote old crofting settlements of Tokavaig and Tarskavaig which were situated only a few miles from Armadale on the south of the island.

Unfortunately it all seems so long ago now but the memories still stay fresh in the mind and these photos will serve as a great reminder for years to come.