Luggala

I returned to Lough Tay on Friday, this time with Delo. i didnt bring all my camera gear and instead used just my d300 and 10.5 fisheye lens. I intended on going to the summit of Luggala and didnt want to haul all my gear up with me. We approached from Lough Tay and climbed up the boulders at the bottom of the cliffs. from there we could see a cut through the cliff which wasnt quite as steep, and had plenty of vegetation. we climbed up this gap which brought us pretty close to the summit. It was a steep enough climb and pretty tiring. once we got to the top we followed the muddy trail up to the summit. we werent long coming down. we decided to take the easy route back and simply followed the track back down.

Setting of towards Luggala

 Delo stops to take a photo of the cliffs

 Bare tree on Lough Tay

 Climbing the steep boulders beneath the cliffs

 Delo making his way up the steep ground

 We found this cave on the way up. i climbed in a bit but couldnt go to far because i didnt have a torch, maybe next time

 self portrait looking back down towards Lough Tay

 Delo takes a photo a couple of feet above me

The view from the summit

I returned to Lough Tay on Friday, this time with Delo. i didnt bring all my camera gear and instead used just my d300 and 10.5 fisheye lens. I intended on going to the summit of Luggala and didnt want to haul all my gear up with me. We approached from Lough Tay and climbed up the boulders at the bottom of the cliffs. from there we could see a cut through the cliff which wasnt quite as steep, and had plenty of vegetation. we climbed up this gap which brought us pretty close to the summit. It was a steep enough climb and pretty tiring. once we got to the top we followed the muddy trail up to the summit. we werent long coming down. we decided to take the easy route back and simply followed the track back down.

Lough Tay

Super day in lough tay today. weather was really clear, it was freezing as well though and i could see snow on top of some of the mountains. i had intended to go to the top of Luggala Mountain but i was to busy stopping and starting taking photos that i didnt make it that far. The day started well although while shooting a short time lapse on video my D5000 along with the 17-55,2.8 went lens first into a puddle. fortunatly neither broke although there seems to be some condensation going on. both are currently sitting in a jar full of rice which im told naturally obsorbs moisture from electronics. i headed on to Lough Tay after that and had to take the long way around because of filming for a t'.v series which is going on at the lake. the lake was perfectly calm reflecting all the forestry around it perfectly. gonna head back soon and go up to the summit

 Frost early in the morning

 Reflection of autumn trees in a small puddle, ( the poddle that the camera went into )

Steam rises of the river as the sun rises

 The morning light catchs the top of these two trees

 The sun rises just above the Cloghoge Valley

 Reflections on Lough Tay

 Reflections on Lough Tay

 More Reflections on Lough Tay

 Water rushs from Lough Tay to form the Cloghoge River

 The sun catchs this small tree on Lough Tay

 The view from were i parked the car, you can see luggala on the left and also snow on the mountains in the distance

 Self Portrait, ( have to keep the book updated )

 Panoramic of sun rising

Panoramic of Lough Tay

Cabra Abandoned Railway Line

Myself and Dill went down the abandoned railway line in cabra on sunday. We started from broombridge train station and eventually found the start of the line after wandering along the main railway track for a bit. after a bit of confusion and mistaking a second line with the abandoned track we eventually found the line. it was pretty over grown and really muddy, plenty of rubbish around to. At the end of the line it got really muddy and we ended up knee deep in mud and nasty water which must of been sitting there for ages. All the water got into out walking boots and destroyed them so gonna need a new pair of them. at the end there was a fence into the bus depot. we decied not to go back through the mud and found are way into the depot. we managed to pass through without and hassle and walked back to dills house only to realise we left the keys in my car and broombridge. graeme gave me a lift up to get the keys and once in the door we cleaned ourselves well down with dettol and hot water because of the nasty water.

 Broom Bridge train station

 Heading down the tracks

 Climbing into the start of the abandoned line

 The first Bridge along the line, above Fausssagh road i think

 The dead water lying on the tracks, we didnt think it would be knee deep

The Fence at the end of the line into the bus depot

Crossing the bus depot

Glendalough

Another cloudy misty day in Wicklow, this time in Glendalough. I headed for the the Spinc and Glenealo Trail. This trail goes along the cliffs of the valley and descends into the Glenealo valley at the back of Glendalough. I ran into a few deer and goats along the trail, which were suprisingly tame. Conditions were pretty misty for most of the day making for little photography, i still shot a lot of photos but they needed quite a lot of processing after. i just stuck to the track today. the wheather seemed pretty unpredictable. hopefully things pick up a bit next week.

Steep sides of Glendalough

 The steep trail through the woods up to the cliffs

 Deer on the trail

The deer let me get pretty close for a photograph, usually they just leg it

 the view from the cliffs

 the trail in Glenealo valley

 Glenealo Valley

 From Glenealo Valley into Glendalough

 The waterfall at the back of Glendalough

 Goats on the trail, also pretty tame

 The Trail alongside the waterfall

 pretty misty

the back of Glendalough was flooded, first time i ever saw that, although probably to be expected in winter

Lugnaquilla, well, half of it.

Me and Sam tried climbing Lugnaquilla, Wicklows highest peak (3,035ft), last Thursday. We approached from the car park at the back of Glenmalure valley where it was very misty and rainy. We headed up towards Fraughan Rock Glen. The weather cleared a bit but it was still quite windy. We walked to the back of the glen and started climbing the steep slope alongside the waterfall. when we got to the top we could see Lugnaquilla totally covered in mist and decided to take another route. we headed back in the direction we came but this time along the cliffs of the glen. once we started to descend we came into some thick forest. before long we were back on the track which led us back to the car park.

 misty conditions in the car park

 the view looking back down glenmalure

 things start to clear in fraughan rock glen

 on of the steep sides of fraughen rock glen

 the base of the waterfall looking back toward glenmalure valley

 the view of glenmalure valley from the waterfall

looking into Fraughan Rock Glen from the cliffs

 sam takes a break in the forest

 the forest cleared a bit but once we crossed this area it only got thicker

 the view of lugnaquilla from the top of the waterfall

the view from the top of the waterfall looking into fraughan rock glen and glenmalure valley in the distance