Dave Hewitt wrote:Good pictures. Were they taken on Saturday 26 November? That was a day of excellent visibility from the Lakes southwards... I was with a pal on High Raise (the Langdales one) and various hills in North Wales could easily be picked out with the naked eye at 100 miles or so distance, not just the main Carneddau/Snowdon mass but other things off to the side too.
The day before, Friday 25th, was the day these were taken. I carry a thermometer on my rucksack and it read -10 in Glen Derry, but has risen to 3 degrees on the summit of Macdui - t-shirt weather in the sunshine! So there was clearly an inversion of sorts, but whether that contributes to the clear visibility I'm no expert.
simon-b wrote:Exceptional photos, Ranger. You say these views were recent, so late autumn / early winter conditions. Obviously very clear weather, although I can't tell from the pictures whether you had wall to wall blue skies or high, thin cloud. I suspect the brightest, sunniest days don't always give the clearest views, especially to the south. Whenever I've seen Snowdonia (and Blackpool Tower) from the Lake District, the weather has been bright and clear but grey, with a thin layer of high cloud cutting out the glare of the sun. So I imagine the time of day would also have made a difference, and you seem to have been on Ben Mac just at the right time. (Macdui was my first Munro, by the way, but no view on that day!)
The weather was generally blue skies. The photos were taken at 10-11am - i'd initially hoped to catch sun-rise from the top but sheet ice in the glen slowed me down a bit! Given the time of day it meant the southern/south-east horizon was somewhat back-lit, which probably suits picking out a horizon line.
Will have to check out if any images exist from folk walking in the southern uplands on that day, a covering of snow would also likely aid these hills visibility.
