My Adventures
Simonside
Northumberland 2021: Part Ten
13 June 2021
Today I was going to take it easy and just go for a hike when I was ready. I cleaned up Fred, completely washed myself head to toe, and waited for my hair to dry off a little before setting out. I should add that I DO wash daily (!!) but its usually just a quick one of essential areas (you know the one – better known as the religious bath/cowboy bath/whores bath… so many names for this but basically: Face, tits, pits and bits) Today’s one was the big top to toe one to completely refresh and reset myself. I am on my own and outside in the wild most of the time when I am away, so to conserve water, there’s no real need to be super sparkly clean is there!? (so yes, I can skank out a little on an extended trip – I apologise in advance if you ever come across the old cave lady with mad hair, covered in dirt and filth, smelling like a cow pat – that’ll likely be me on day 6 of no human contact…)
Today’s hike took me through woodland before it started climbing, then I followed the path through some areas of cut trees. This developed into open moorland on the left, and trees to the right, before curling around and taking me up the final steep climb to the highest point of this ridge. The views from here were lovely, of course, since you could see for miles, but I’m not one for huge, beautiful vista shots. I love them, don’t misunderstand me, but I don’t think I have a developed eye for a good image (yet!) and I really I struggled to see any exciting shots from here. I tried a general view with the cairn being the focal point, but it didn’t feel particularly breathtaking to me in the way I would have liked.
I did keep trying though – one day I will nail it and amaze myself! As I was here pondering what wasn’t quite working, a family came up. They were a big group of about 6-7 people, and all the excited young women in it, got mum to photograph them with the view behind. They then got her to photograph dad, dad with them, selfies with mum, and then they all jumped over to the cairn taking their phones out to snap further shots of their own. A very typical and adorable family day trip image. However, coming up at the rear was a young man of about 16, who very clearly had some kind of mental handicap. He was able to communicate, but he spoke very much younger than his years. My heart broke when he asked to have his photograph taken too, but no-one heard his multiple requests, literally brushing past him in their excitement. It was almost like no-one saw he was even there. More disappointing was when mum blatantly ignored him, focussing solely on the girls when he asked her, twice again, in his very gentle tone. I’d heard him though, so how she didn’t escapes me. They all sat around the cairn, and in small groups took each others photos – again the young man was being pretty much left out. I felt so sad! In the end I hated just standing there watching his treatment. I asked if they would like a group photo, and they eagerly said yes. I did no more than group them together, with the lad very clearly in the middle of the shot, and took several photos with their phones. Now I could see a happy beam on his face, and I felt so much better for him. Finally, he was a member of this family, albeit for a brief moment.
Shortly after they left, I met a young couple here too, Georgia and Gary, and we also chatted for a while. They were out taking photographs, Gary explained, trying to pick some locations for a night time milky way shot. We chatted about all things photography, and I noticed they both had an interesting clip they used to store their cameras on their shoulder straps. (I imagine it could also clip onto a belt). Gary explained that it was a Peak Design ‘Capture clip’, that it clips securely onto most straps, and has a safety on it to lock the camera in place as well. They both sang the praises of the design, and I have to say that it looked really good, and a super efficient way to grab your camera quickly for a hand held photo. I took a photo with my phone with the intention of looking these up when I got home. (Nb. I did, and I purchased one and although its not quite as good for a larger camera with an L plate attached, I can see I would have some use for it)
After everyone had moved on, I did too, and ahead of me I noticed what seemed to be a snowy scene. Now, all the guides I read this morning, just before I did this walk, led me to think I was here too early for the best of the colour (they all suggested August for when the heather is in bloom) so I wasn’t expecting anything too exciting out of this trip. As I approached this ‘snow’ however, I was blown away by the mass of white flowers that filled this particular area. There were tiny while balls everywhere, blowing in the breeze, and, against the darker background of the tree filled hills, I felt they looked amazing. I now know this to be Bog Cotton. ‘Why do none of the guides mention THIS?’ I thought, and I snapped a ton of photographs of this stunning scene, trying out a closer shot (see header), wide ones and, after I had followed the path right through them, a shot looking back to the cairn. I liked this one a lot. I liked these flowers a whole lot more too!
The rest of the walk was essentially just hiking, and other than a couple of rocky outcrops that marked the tops of Dove Crag, Old Stell Crag and Little Church Rock, its a very flat and open hike. The growing dark clouds left the landscape extremely flat looking, making any vista shots even harder to see, but I found it interesting how, where I had to restrict myself, I managed to cut certain ideas out of my head, and started looking at things harder and differently. This meant that I found myself I experimenting with more variable, or intimate shots. Once home, I picked holes in them all… too off balance, wrong angle, to flat, too boring… so I clearly hadn’t learned the art of photographing things that work well in this scenario just yet! But that’s fine, this was a fairly new experience for me to concentrate on and I wasn’t expecting miracles! Having a play was a good thing, and on the plus side, I found that as I got into the walk, I started seeing different shots all over the place, and before long I found the experience really exhilarating. I need to do a few more of this type of hike I feel, just to get the experience in, and to help train my eye to not be so lazy in future!
I had a packed lunch with me, so I absolutely took my time over this walk, easily doubling the recommended length of time it is expected to take. This day out, for me, wasn’t quite as much about the photography, as just trying a different type of hike for myself, and seeing what might be involved with trying to get these beautiful vista images. Photography aside, this had been a most enjoyable day! As I reached the end of the ridge, I looked back to see a band of light washing across the scene in front of me, racing towards me at quite a pace. Thankfully I had just enough time to grab this shot, which I really liked. I totally get the guides on this one though, had it of been in peak heather season, this would have been stunningly colourful!
From here, I turned down the hill, and made my way through the woods again to the camper. This had been a very full afternoon, and I returned at around 8.30pm very satisfied with what I had experienced. I would be happy to try more of these I feel, but I really need to look into what makes a ‘nice view’, a ‘great vista’ photo… because I’d really love to be the photographer behind one of those!