There is something special about camping out on the summits, the isolation and tranquility are immense and something I never tire of. Before writing this I was looking forward to camping out on the  summit of Haystacks in the Lakes on Wednesday but an injury to my achilles has put pay to that one…. gutted! Nothing serious but enough to stop me from wearing any climbing shoes or mountain boots…..I am hoping I can still get out on my bike otherwise a week of inactivity is a bit sickening!

Anyway, this brings me to this mountain landscape shot of Great & Green Gable from Glaramara Ridge. A bit of a pick me up for me you could say! This is one of those shots that triggers memories and feelings as if I was still there and why I am talking about it now.

We started the day off in Stonethwaite in the Lake District and headed up to Langstrath Beck and onto Black Crags before going past Angel Tarn and Allen Crags. As you descend from Allen Crags towards Glaramara there are a few small tarns that are very handy for drinking water. We found a good spot sheltered from the wind, which was quite strong by now, and pitched the tent. I always like to get in place nice and early so I can go looking for the best view points before the suns starts to set. On this occasion I picked out three locations to take photographs from. I like to have as many options as possible in case something doesn’t work out as planned.

Locations spotted I headed back to the tent to finish unpacking my gear. There is nothing better after bagging what you hope to be the perfect landscape photograph than to get into a large soft down sleeping bag with a dram of whisky while watching the world tick by! Far better than getting back to the tent in the dark and having to unpack…. so I get this over with early on!

In the end my preferred shot was taken from one of my backup locations, when it came down to it the first one didn’t feel right so I quickly grabbed my tripod and kit bag and moved to the next spot. Because I had already checked this out earlier I knew exactly where to set everything up and was able to take a sequence of shots before the sun disappeared from view. If I hadn’t done this earlier in the evening then there is a very good chance I would have come away with nothing…. I can’t emphasise enough how important planning is when taking any shot but when you have spent the whole day getting there it would be crazy not to scope out the site first!!

In the end I got the shot I wanted, despite the cold wind trying to blast me from the side of the mountain I ended the evening enjoying a good single malt with a view and a feeling that could only be described as priceless…. now all I need is a new ankle so I can get back up there!!

Duncan Andison

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