We try and venture up into the Mourne Mountains at least once every month. It is amazing how the same locations can look completely different depending on the light and ultimately the weather. We had high hopes, the forecast was reasonably positive and it was, after all the middle of July.
The route from Carrick Little Carpark up through the stoney path to the foot of Annalong Forest was sunny and warm, the clouds rolled across the top of Slieve Binnian creating a remarkable sense of drama, the views as usual were stunning.
As we passed the forest the wind began to pick up and it started to get remarkably dark, remarkably quickly. There had been a lot of rain fall during the previous week which meant (ironically) the streams were more difficult to cross in summer than they were in winter.
The Blue Lough
Taking some shelter at the Blue Lough the gusts of wind meant we had to brace ourselves and hold everything down so it wouldn’t be blown away. Under the darkness of the rain clouds it was striking just how blue the ‘Blue Lough’can appear.
As the rain started to fall and wind started to die down we decided to make the last stretch of the walk over Ben Crom as quickly as possible and return to the comforts of being at ground level.
As you can see by the top image the mid-afternoon sun cast a golden hue over the hills and we started to take off our winter coats and reach for the sun cream. We faced every season in just a few hours and despite these ever changing weather conditions it was a brilliant adventure into the hills, there is something about plain blue skies that is really, ultimately boring!
All photos captured with with the Fujifilm X100T used carefully in the driving rain and constantly wiped dry with a lens cleaning cloth.
