Claerwen Reservoir Dam – Elan Valley, Wales
Water overflow after heavy rains, Claerwen Reservoir dam, Elan Valley, Wales
Corn Du – Brecon Beacons
View from Pen Y Fan of Corn Du partially hidden in Clouds, Brecon Beacons, Wales. December 21, 2009
Super cold and lots of snow, but the winds were calm. The clouds were slowly blowing over the summits creating total whiteouts with occasional moments of visibility. Would have been easy to get lost if I wasn’t familiar with the area.
Brecon Beacons Winter
We’ve had a fair bit of snow here in the south of Wales (and the UK as a whole, causing quite a bit of chaos) over the last week (snowing right now as well). My current location is right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park, so it’s been nice to get up into the hills over the last days. On Sunday and Monday I was up on Pen Y Fan and Corn Du. Tuesday was a wonderful day up on Fan Fawr and this morning (Wednesday) was a dawn patrol run up Pen Y Fan and Corn Du again in hopes of a nice sunrise, which never materialized.
Panoramic image of view from Pen Y Fan looking towards Cribyn. Sunday was a day of 50-60 mph winds blasting across the summits and ridges throwing snow everywhere. A layer of clouds sat about 200 meters above the mountains forming a constantly changing show of light and shadow. A constant struggle to keep the lens free from spindrift – actually better to keep the lens hood off, as it would create some weird wind vortex that would bring more snow.
Pen Y Fan concealed behind clouds as seen from Corn Du. Monday was a much calmer day with slow moving clouds forming over the summits and then clearing again.
Hay on Fire Festival
Tonight (Halloween 2009) was the Hay on Fire festival here in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. The night first started with a parade through town that slowly made its way out to the ‘Warren’ on the edge of the river Wye where the fire festival was held. The crowd numbered in the thousands to watch the fire dancing, hear the music and see the final culmination in the burning of a wicker man giant with of fireworks. By far the coolest celebration I’ve yet to see on Halloween. My pictures don’t do much justice to the coolness of the night…
Welsh Mountain Ponies – Black Mountains, Wales
Hay-on-Wye is on the northeast border of the Brecon Beacons national park here in Wales. Though slightly confusingly, the Brecon Beacon mountains are further west, with the Black mountains being the range here in the east. Welsh mountain ponies roam the wild grassy hillsides and mountains and can be quite friendly as they try to discover whether your clothing or camera is edible. My camera lens was completely fogged by horse breath on numerous occasions as I was trying to photograph them.
Passage of Time
The snows have not come, but soon…
Wales…
Ehh, Who needs vowels anyhow?…
Seasons On Lofoten Winter eBook
Seasons On Lofoten Summer eBook
