Lunar Eclipse September 2015 UK

It finally arrived! Lunar eclipse that we were able to see from the beginning, through the climax right to the end here in the United Kingdom. The last one happen here in the 80's.

Anyone who lives near Swindon, and followed the weather forecast knows, that sky was meant to be covered in pretty thick cloud from around 2am. But miracles do happen, and we got clear skies all the way.

Family portrait with all the incredible wonders of the night sky.

Thanks to the modern media, there were loads cars pulling over all over the place and admiring this twice- thrice in a lifetime show. (unless you are rich and can afford to fly around the world) 

I was annoyed with myself, as I forgot my converter at home so the biggest focal lengh I had on me was 200mm.  I was forced to abandon my original creative plan and had to improvise. Then I thought "lots of people will shoot as close as they can, but how many will go open wide and do a family photo of all the amazing sights in the night sky?" So I shot it with my fisheye. Originality is my trade mark, even if it doesn't make me very popular ;-)

This was also a super moon. We used to get one super moon a year and now every other month we are having super moon. I do not want to start mass hysteria, but anyone else gets the feeling that maybe Moon is on the way to collide with Earth? 

If you missed it (I know that warm bed can be very persuasive ) the next one we will be able to see from start to finish here in the UK will be in 2033. Make a note in your calendars!

56 shapes of Lunar Eclipse. Because I can do more than 50 ;-)

Conquering Snowdon

Snowdon has been on the "To Do" list for what seem like eternity, just my excuses list always trumps it. While browsing colourful magazine covers in my local supermarket I have spotted a "Country walking" mag with massive "SNOWDON" on the cover. Quick flick  revealed extensive feature and eight possible routes to get up there. I took this as a sign from above and took the magazine home with me. (No worries, I did pay for it and kept the receipt. In case I chicken out to get my money back)

Once I have poured over all the routes I decided to go up by Rhyd-Ddu path and descent by Snowdon Ranger path. Main reason choosing the Rhyd-Ddu path was the lack of people that go by this route. In my mind this was because it was super secret track not many folk knew about. The second reason was it's awkward name and me struggling to write it in the blog later. Everyone loves a challenge, right?

One visit to the library and I have also managed to bag Ordnance Survey map for the route and Cicerone guide as well! Couple of days later I was on my way to North Wales with the sign "Snowdon or bust" on the back of my car. Stopping first at Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall (previous post) arriving at the Rhyd-Ddu parking at around 7:30am. Once all the excitement subsided and I have bought a parking ticket ( £5 for whole day. For up to date charges around Snowdon click this link ) change into hiking shoes and make sure I have everything I need, I have set off. 

View from Rhyd-Ddu path

The beginning was great. The first 200 meters or so that is. Then I came to a place when the path split into two and it threw me. Lost precious time here. If you get inspired by my blog post and decided to go in my footprints bare right. From that point I had no navigation problems. Cicerone guide said it will take 3-4 hours to get to Snowdon summit. My goal was to get as close to the time as I could and not go too much over.

There was also one elderly couple that set off about 10 minutes before me and the objective was to catch up with them and overtake them. Once I realised that the couple got probably lost as they have disappeared from my sight, I had to have new fighting plan. Just then I spotted someone way down behind me. So the hunter became hunted. Cool I'm game. I wasn't much of a game as 10 minutes later (and I'm probably being very generous with the time here) I got overtaken.

As the hike progressed, it occurred to me, why this route is not more popular. The hike is quite steep and you have to negotiate a lot of rocks. When ever I could I was walking on a grassy ground as this is gentler to my feet and ankles. The bad news is there are not many places like that. I would have take a photo to show you, but I was glad I had momentum going. Though the peeps behind me were probably thinking "Why does she keep stopping?" 

Not wanting to come across as an amateur (though I'm even worse than that) I had my little camera in my pocket and when ever I needed a breather (which was every time I took a breath in) I was pretending to take photos. I have never had so much rubbish on my memory card! And I have never had (nor needed) so much rest. Another great trick is to take a sip of your water. The only problem is you may run out of your drink before you reach the summit. 

                                          View of Pyg and Miners paths from Snowdon.

After much of hard work suddenly the path eased and I was almost walking level with Earth. This is to allow you for a bit of a rest before the real conundrum begins. The views are amazing from this point, just do not go close to the edge if you suffer vertigo or like me, acrophobia.

The real hardship will be near the top. Clambering through rocks, just slowly making your way to the top, not looking left or right, because the massive drop just makes you spread your arms and fly. And that would mean going where you just came from. So not advisable. You will loose the track  many times on this stretch, but just keep on pressing. The summit is near. You can almost smell it. For anyone interested it smells like old steam engine.

Yep, that's right. If your feet were not make for walking, you can take a ride to the summit of highest mountain of England and Wales. 

After I have replenished my rations, I realised I have not been to the actual top yet. Climbed the final meters and check my time. I did it in just under 3 hours! I had to check and check again as I could not believe it. This has given me much needed moral boost and I could not wait to go down the Ranger.

Seeing people struggling going up, when I was going down gave me very nice warm feeling inside. It also made think wether I was actually smiling going up, like some of these people did. Probably not, but then I took up not a popular route so it didn't matter. 

View from Snowdon Ranger path going down.

Snowdon Ranger seems much easier route (and not just because I was going down), because here you are not negotiating large stones and you only have two uphills. From Rhyd_Ddu it is uphill struggle all the way.

Once I got down I walked up to the car on the road. There is a bus going to the Rhyd-Ddu station but they only go every two hours. 

The weather as you can tell has been glorious, so overall I can't really complain. (Though going up I could not stop). Before I set off, I thought I could do another route up, (to get my petrol moneys worth) but then these things always look much easier on the computer screen from the comfort of your own chair, don't they ;-) Next climb will have more realistic aspirations for sure.

Pistyll Rhaeadr - The tallest single drop waterfall in the UK

This place has been on my "To Visit" list what feels like ages. Going to North Wales is quite a journey for me, especially as my car isn't getting any younger. But finally visited this place I did. It certainly has been worth while. I have never lived anywhere near waterfalls so they are always magical to me.

Pistyll Rhaeadr (meaning "Spring of the waterfall") is in Berwyn Mountains in North Wales. There is a 5 mile single track road that needs careful negotiating. I was lucky as I got there before sunrise, so I haven't met any cars, I did "meet" few sheep that seems to have no road sense nor the knowledge they should not be on the road (or maybe I wasn't meant to be there?)

The parking at the site is £3 (June 2015) and they have place for camping and B+B.

People always chuck coins into water as it means you will return to the place, but I have managed to drop my lens cover there. Unwillingly this has become my take on the tradition.

Live view from around Iceland

Long time no entry, due to long time me not going anywhere. However I have come across a site where you can see live feed view cams from around Iceland : http://www.livefromiceland.is/ Some cams are off line, and then they are back on. But it will give you idea about the weather.

And one here that is directed at Peace Tower, but bare in mind that it is turned on from 9 October until 8 December. Still worth checking out possible Aurora borealis.
http://www.earthcam.com/cams/iceland/reykjavik/

And one more news that I have: My image from Iceland beach at Jokulsarlon, that has made the final (one of 46 images out of 9000) has made it onto the cover of the Wanderlust Photo of the year! Yay! Ok it is only the back cover, but cover nevertheless. Soooo happy about it :-)

Iceland Part 14 - Final thought

Spook looking for a toilet in the Icelands' wilderness

So that was my 2 weeks in Iceland. I truly had the time of my life and the best two hours of my life for sure. If I could change anything, it would be having a smart phone, as my old mobile is not the best for looking up weather websites. And as I only found internet in Egilsstaðir, Akureyri, Reykjavik and Skaftafell national park (that were open) this was the biggest hurdle for me. I was as flexible as the weather, but when you don't know the forecast, it's tough to make decision. I will be returning during summer, and I can't wait to do the Interior and visit more of the wild, unspoiled and breath taking landscapes and sights. And do off road driving and crossing rivers. Woop woop!

Stokkur ready to go. All the sights in Iceland are free. You don't even have to pay for parking. Huge plus and huge difference if you live in the UK. Money you save, you will spend elsewhere. Guaranteed.

Any country can have a bad weather, but at least with Iceland you know you're going to get it (and with the UK but we are not covering the UK now). You can come prepared. And do not go reading sci-fi stories of great weather during whole stay in Iceland. You will only end up being disappointed. One thing that will not disappoint will be the sights. I have never seen such long stretches of wilderness and unspoiled nature. I have bought a t-shirt in Reykjavik that says: Iceland the best kept secret. I don't think Iceland is a secret at all. It's just that people get so obsessed about their weather and choose not to go and they are missing out on something much, much better.

And we have a take off! This is Stokkur. The Geysir is dead and has been dead for quite some time. Every warm water that squirts from the ground at regular intervals and looks like this is called geyser. You could say his legacy lives on.  If you're comming here and you are lucky for it to go off, you can see it from way away. Some blasts are smaller than others.

While waiting for Stokkur, you can admire these pools that are full of minerals hence the colour.

And the final thought is:
Be prepared for the worst, hope for better, but most importantly have a great time! Iceland has all the ingredients you need for a trip of a life time.

Iceland Part 13 - Aurora Borealis Northern Lights

Aurora Borealis above Stöðvarfjörður in East Fjords

Northern lights are THE BEST light show on Earth. Once seen never forgotten, and if you are not addicted, consider your self very lucky. Iceland is in the middle of auroral zone, so nearly ever clear night you should see this natures' magical show. Unfortunately, Iceland also seems to be positioned in the middle of low pressure front, so this means clear nights are not as common. I was always fascinated by this phenomena. At one point I just wanted to go for a long weekend to Iceland, just so I can see it. I have been advised (by native Icelanders) that if I only want to see Northern lights, Iceland is not the country for it, due to its cloud cover. Once here, the advice became real and I can only second that. But Iceland has so many great things to do and see, it's easy to come here for 10 days and in that time keep an eye on the night sky, pray for a clear patch and hope the sun will have a temper tantrum.

Stöðvarfjörður

The best times to see them are during autumn and spring solstice, as this is when the sun is most active, but you can come here any-time (apart from summer, when they do not get dark enough nights).

West Fjords, my first sighting. Even if a night starts off cloudy, watch out for a gap in the clouds.

This was the best two hours of my life. In the morning I was in Reykjavik area, when I heard a rumour that there is a 20% change of clear sky happening that night in East fjords. The only clear patch in whole Iceland. Last night CME (Coronal mass ejection) has hit Earths' atmosphere and some of the action could have been seen. I have driven through torrential rain and gale force winds for 10 hours to get there. At Skaftafell I wanted to turn around, as I could not picture anywhere in the world not raining, never mind anywhere on the island. And my determination has paid of. This formation is called Corona

Why only two hours? Because the clouds that were circling around me finally closed in. I'm not sure if anyone is conducting a research into the matter, but I'm sure there is more to it than just a coincidence that every clear night that had Aurora also attracted clouds. You can also see meteor, Jupiter, Pleiades and Milky way in this picture.

Egilsstaðir camp site. Aurora arrives in waves. If Aurora dies down and you think the show is over at 10 or 11pm, stay put. I didn't know this, so after a show I went to camp site. At 2am, I woke up because a "blast" has lit up my car and I couldn't believe my eyes. This is not it, but I jumped out of the car, set up and was photographing the rest of the show. Ideally you want to be out of town, where there is minimal light polution. If you get a strong aurora (like in this picture) you can see it, even through the town lights.

Aurora creates lots of different shapes. Here is Swan. Or whatever you can see. Let me know. What surprised me was how Icelanders do not seem to be excited about Aurora. I only met one guy who was just as smitten as me. Well not quite but it came closer than rest of them. I know they see it a lot, but I can not imagine I would ever tire of it. In all 4 times I got to see it, it was different everytime. I wonder, if there are people in some dry desert, watching British TV and get excited at the sight of constant rain and saying how they would never complain about it.

Another huge plus for Iceland is, that out of towns the light polution is minimal. So you get to see and photograph Milky way as well.

These bands gave as much light as full moon. I have to say though, that no photograph or a film can do justice to when you are there, and this light show is happening above your head. I have missed so many photographs, as I was in awe of the breathtaking phenomena. Sight once seen never forgotten.

Hello, my name is Ren and I'm an Aurora Addict.

Iceland Part 12 - Waterfalls

Godafoss (waterfall of the Gods) It's call like that because when Icelanders decided to take Christianity as their religion (until then they were Pagans) their chieftain threw wooden images of the Pagan gods into these waterfalls.

All that bad weather I have described in previous entry, is not just to annoy tourists. The rain helps to feed one of the most beautiful and powerful natural wonders of Iceland, its waterfalls. Nobody knows how many waterfalls there are in Iceland, but I have read somewhere that they have one waterfall per inhabitant. Not sure when the statement was made, but even 100 000 would seem pretty unbelievable. It would, until you come here. There is falling water (and I'm not referring to rain now) everywhere. Even when I tried to find out what some of them were called, I couldn't. There are just too many to name all of them.

Foss a Sidu. It is in south of Iceland and you can see it straight from the Ring road. It's only 1-2 minute walk from the main road.

When you witness the power of some of them and the amount of water that falls down, you almost want to wait up, for when the water runs out. They are mostly melting glaciers which gives some of them amazing blue colour. I love waterfalls, probably because I have never lived anywhere near them. And I find them fascinating to watch and to photograph.

For me, Godafoss is the most beautiful one. If you get here, make sure you check it out from both sides.

Gullfoss - Golden Falls. Most popular in terms of visitors, as it is part of Golden Circle. This one is huuge. Amazing what mother nature can create with some water in thousands of years.

Hafragilsfoss. Downstream from Dettifoss. Jokulsargljufur National park. It reminded me of Grand Canyon. Great place for some hiking.

The Biggie - Dettifoss. The largest waterfall in Europe based on the volume of water that flows from it. 'Mazing.

Selfoss. If you walk upstream from Dettifoss, about a mile, you will get to see this natural beauty. The walk is very rocky at places, so have sturdy shoes.

Detail of Selfoss with some funky sunflare :-)

Svartifoss (Black Fall) in Skaftafell National park. The most famous sight in the park, thanks to it's beautiful basal lava columns that form a backdrop.

Dynjandi (Fjallfoss) The jewel of West fjords. There is a couple in front of it for scale.

Detail of Dynjandi. The dreamy effect is just lots of spray on the camera glass.

And thats all the waterfalls that are famous I have. There are some famous ones I could not photograph, because the weather was not only very bad rain wise, but at Skogafoss I couldn't even open the car door, the wind was so strong. I have only done Ring road and there are lot more waterfalls to be admired in the Interior. I can't wait.