Helvellyn in a Blizzard 1 nov 2012

Another day in the lakes was the plan, to shoot reflections in Buttermere which following the previous shoot at Rydal the reflections seemed a good idea.  but as they say, all plans are subject to change!   driving towards Dunmail Raise i noticed snow up on the top of Helvelyn,  just after Grasmere village the mist was low over the valley giving great atmospheric conditions for an image, parking quickly in the lay by i shot a series of frames to give these three images , a great start to the day :)

                                                                     view large HERE

Driving up Dunmail towards Thirlmere i could see plenty of snow up on the summits so i take a quick detour around the back road around Thirlmere to get a better view. blue sky is appearing over the summits and i have decided to abandon Buttermere and climb up Helvelyn instead, the chance of snow pics is never an opportunity to miss :)

With weather conditions like this i have a feeling i am going to take allot of great images today! 

Leaving the car park at swirls, even the lay by opposite is pay and display now, rip off in the lakes yet again!!!!!   don't have to pay parking in most places in Snowdonia  :)   the sky is looking ominous down towards High Rigg

Quickly gaining height up the Helvelyn Gill path i notice the cloud building rapidly over the fells. the larch around the lake are looking wonderful now.

all that cloud is coming my way, i do hope it clears , the blue sky above me has all but disappeared now and i have a feeling its not going to appear soon,  Ooops!  never mind, the changing light will at least give me great pictures.

looking up the path snow can be seen not too far ahead , no ice on the path so far is good news, but sky is looking very grey now, think it might snow soon, although the forecast is for snow late in the afternoon.  but what do they know, always getting it wrong  lol

            as i get higher i can now see a slight covering over on the fells and light is really nice :)

                     it looks amazing with the low cloud/mist swirling around ,  Yay !

        one of the locals wondering why a mad person is doing up here this early on a cold day  lol

 snow clouds are building over on the fells and i can see snow coming down , it is heading towards me, o dear :(

the sun is momentarily lighting up the trees around Thirlmere, it looks wonderful in these conditions, looks bad in the distance though, but i must crack on heading towards the snow line.  hope its not too slippery on the top section of this path

the ground now has some of the white stuff on it , i do enjoy being up in the snow, it makes for great pics.  i am now heading towards Browncove Crags, looks like plenty of snow up there!

 
            below me the mist is rolling across obscuring the view,its conditions like this that really make it a bit special up here on the mountain, much better than a clear blue sunny day in the summer.

Stybarrow Dodd is covered in  snow , above me i can see plenty of it, it doesn't feel too cold but this path is getting quite slippery now!

i have now reached and past the snow line, what a superb view down to Thirlmere now but the cloud is getting thicker by the minute. the snow is already about 4 inches deep here but its easy walking so far.

o dear!  the weather has suddenly gone from not too bad to quite bad and its starting to snow now , i guess i am not going to see any views for a while . i will just see how far i get , there is only one faint set of footprints i am following although i know the route fairly well ,i will see how far i get, no point continuing if i cant shoot anything though. the lighting is getting dramatic now, look at this ...

                 i have past the highest part of Browncove crags and heading to Lower Man.

     well!  i cant see a dam thing now!   WHITEOUT conditions, i can just see the odd cairn in the distance.   i cant believe it , was beautiful blue sky when i left the car park  Arghhhhhh

                               i have just built my first snowman of the season, only 2 ft   hehe

                 
        I should be able to see Swirral edge now,it should be down there somewhere but cant see it  lol

think i will leave the rest to part 2 , since the return journey produced the most amazing shooting conditions :)