anyone for a wee night in the mournes tonight - Fri 13th !!!!!

[LandyLiam]

the weather is looking very good tonight, light winds and clear skies (very cold though), so i've booked a day's leave for tomorrow and i fancy hitting the mournes for a quick overnighter, will be starting late (approx 11pm), maybe park at ott and do something easy like slievenamuck/butter mountain, still not 100% i'll go, but the thoughts of a nice sunrise and maybe fog in the valleys next morning are inspiring me to get my camera up there and get snapping.

note: the summit is only 10 mins from car park so easy to get away quickly to work in the morning

[wee gaz]

would love to but that `manflu` i got for xmas took a turn this morning so saw dr. now in bed with pnemonia, so fed up. cheer me up with a few pics and i really hope you see the northern lights, now that would make your night. have a good one liam     gary

[LandyLiam]

at 5am i'll probably know just how you feel 

just took a peek outside, its chuffing cold out there, having second thoughts now 

[Rumblebum]

Hope you have a good one Liam, if only i didnt work so far away!

[BrianT]

I thought you were joking earlier  but I was out today for tough 4 hours ,I'm still getting camping gear together for first outing and trying to convince wife to go so I'm thinking Springtime.Enjoy tonight!

[Hendy]

oh would love to but have to take the parents and the wee sis to the airport at 4 sat mornin so I'm probs just going to go for a walk tomorrow, take the camera if its not too wet. Dont really know where I'm going at the minute but thats a last minute decision

[RedLeader]

Did you go Liam? Hope you didn't cancel because it was a bit parky out

[LandyLiam]

Yes indeed, i made it up there for midnight, spent an hour taking pics and drinking cider, wasn't too cold, coped ok without gloves, bit of a breeze at the top, woke up to a frozen tent    then then gloves came on!. I very nearly bivvyed but the ground was very damp so just jumped into the tent. At 6am it was -1 outside, +1 inside tent, +19 in sleeping bag. It was perfectly calm in the morning so i lay on til 9am and missed the sunrise 

Slievenamuck is a great spot for a quick wild camp, only 16 mins to get to the summit with a full backpack. Will upload some pics soon.

[LandyLiam]

crossing the stile by the blue quarry car park



almost a full moon as i look back towards meelbeg



a flash shot here, doesn't come out that well



get a nicer effect using a long exposure



long exposure again, but i've used my torch to brighten myself and the tent a little



most of the other summits were topped with cloud so it looks like i chose my campsite well 



1am, spelga dam with orion above



6am, the moon is now above spelga dam giving a better reflection off the water



belfast in the distance



9am, time to get up, but i've just missed the sunrise



sun rising over bearnagh, half an hour earlier i would have got a much better shot



drying out the boots in the strong sun



a frozen puddle



plenty of contrails today



swedish cider



time to go home



back at the frosty car



popped into meelmore lodge on way home to use the "facilities", got a nice shot of the sun rising through the hares gap

[dean1970]

Those are chemtrails not contrails in one of your pics.

Contrails disperse while those kind of hang around and spread out.

Question is, do you believe that they exist?

[Mourneman]

  nice one Liam,love the photo's,bet you were cold last night!

[RedLeader]

Looks like a fantastic night out, I'm well jealous. -1 outside to 19 in the bag is a hell of a difference...

This is awesome:

[wee gaz]

pics are great  my fav. cloud topped summits, looks like a good (v.cold) night wish me and chloe could have joined you but still in bed like a busted sofa

[LandyLiam]

bet you were cold last night!

well i had my long johns on with a thick pair of socks but my toes still got cold and they get sore when they are cold  , they are my weakness, everywhere else was toasty warm, i did put my woolly hat on my head at 6am as it was out of the sleeping bag and i could feel a chill.

[LandyLiam]

Those are chemtrails not contrails in one of your pics.

Contrails disperse while those kind of hang around and spread out.

Question is, do you believe that they exist?

nope    only believe in the ones the drones use to hide the contrails