The Great Outdoors!

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:45 pm

It's summertime! And even here in the North of England, things are heating up. Eleanor and me took a little stroll along the beach in my home village this morning..

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:19 pm

beautiful shots Mexicola! Looks like you guys are doing summer up right.

from my house

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 11:48 am

So I spent about 10 days touring Scotland. It's been about 10 years since I last did this and I'd forgotten just what an amazing place it is, especially the North highlands. Sadly the photos aren't that amazing - crap camera, crap photographer = disappointing results. But some still (I hope) give a small idea of the beauty of the most stunning part of the UK.

Single track roads are a common feature of the highlands. Cars are NOT the only traffic hazard on the roads either. Cows with emo haircuts regularly hassle people on street corners..

Me cooling my feet in Loch Lomond. It was 26C that day and man did that cold water feel good.

At Glen Coe a hairy-arsed Scotsman strangles an Octopus whilst wearing a dress.

The next two are both from the Isle of Skye. A land of Golden Eagles and midnight sun.

The view from our B+B at Portree, Skye.

A midnight walk on Skye. Had to do a really rough photoshop job on this to lift Eleanor from pitch black. Doesn't do either the scene or her justice, but..

In Eagle in my binoculars. Saw loads of different Eagles on this trip. Golden Eagle, Ospreys, Buzzards. Missed the biggest one though, the Sea Eagle. Damn.

Midnight stroll on the North Coast, near John O'Groats. It never got darker than this. Walked from around 11pm to 1am and spent time watching seals playing in the water and lazing on the beach.

While we took this stroll I clearly decided to try my hand at house breaking...

The Orkney Isles in the background.

The Grim Reaper turned up to say hi too. Which was nice.

Our last late night walk around Deviot, near Inverness was beset with midges. The nets were very necessary for this.

However, the main reason we wore them was this....

McNinjas! That's right. McNinja.

bleak. · Post by **bleak.** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:24 pm

lovely photographs! a few of the images remind me of north wales. looks like you had a great time

Nazeal · Post by **Nazeal** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 5:50 pm

Mexicola wrote:It's summertime! And even here in the North of England, things are heating up. Eleanor and me took a little stroll along the beach in my home village this morning..

you guys sure got some clear water up there!

over here in cali its pretty off/on with water clarity and with el nino coming more storms and more warmer water, but can mess up the water clarity from late summer till spring of next year

ninetyoneplus · Post by **ninetyoneplus** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:01 pm

So many pictures...

I'm going to Alaska in about 2 weeks for a month long sea kayaking trip around Prince William Sound and Tongass National forest...nervous and excited at the same time, should be quite an experience. Let's see, though, gotta show off some Nor California beauty...

I photoshopped these for a project but I hope you get the general idea.

I live on that, the above pictures taken from the other side of that point.

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:25 pm

taken aback by beauty and also hilarity

awesome work both of you

Nazeal · Post by **Nazeal** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:05 am

ninetyoneplus wrote:So many pictures...

I'm going to Alaska in about 2 weeks for a month long sea kayaking trip around Prince William Sound and Tongass National forest...nervous and excited at the same time, should be quite an experience. Let's see, though, gotta show off some Nor California beauty...

I photoshopped these for a project but I hope you get the general idea.

I live on that, the above pictures taken from the other side of that point.

this up near big sur? SB? or even further north past SF?

ninetyoneplus · Post by **ninetyoneplus** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:15 am

It's about 8 miles directly south of San Francisco on Highway 1. It's kinda the gateway out of the bay area to the coast.

And I tip my hat to you, fellow Californian. Most beautiful state with the most fucked up government.

Nazeal · Post by **Nazeal** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:57 am

ninetyoneplus wrote:It's about 8 miles directly south of San Francisco on Highway 1. It's kinda the gateway out of the bay area to the coast.

And I tip my hat to you, fellow Californian. Most beautiful state with the most fucked up government.

w3rd to that son w3rd to that

dave_from_2001 · Post by **dave_from_2001** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:45 pm

Seward 5th July : Tippy top o' Mount Marathon and soaked in its glory bowl (rushing snowmelt stream, book) nature blowout in full sunshine (ptarmigans and bears galore); today 7th July : currently stationed 20 miles north of Nikiski, end of the road, at the Cook Inlet Campground 85 degrees in blazing light. Soft greens rhyme easily with Hawaii and Pacific whereabouts. Sun dissolves into a red paste at midnight over rippling steel waters. Best of 80's electric pop, Bibio and Boards of Canada shuffling on mp3 player. Photos to come if I can get them off my phone. Typing furiously from Kenai library and sipping whisky ingognitus coffee.

ninetyoneplus · Post by **ninetyoneplus** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:13 am

That's awesome (I had to wikipedia some stuff to figure out what you were talking about)

I'm gonna be in Tongass in two weeks, any advice about that?

The Friendly Stranger · Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:10 am

Great shots guys. Still haven't been to Scotland in my 22 years. Have to get on it!

Vexille · Post by **Vexille** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:02 pm

Wow, I like a lot of the pictures in here, especially the ones zeitgeist and Mexicola posted. Unfortunately none of my outdoorsey pictures are digitalized so I can't share.

I've been just about everywhere in the southern Appalachians, including most of the AT down here. Going to do a complete thru hike sometime before I turn 30.

On that note, the Scotland pictures are great...now I see why they compare the Appalachians to the mountains there...they look almost identical.

A_Northern_Soul · Post by **A_Northern_Soul** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:16 am

Great photos, Mexicola. I love the north-west highlands - we're off to Skye for a few days at the end of the month; can't wait.

zeitgeist · Post by **zeitgeist** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:30 am

Vexille wrote:Wow, I like a lot of the pictures in here, especially the ones zeitgeist and Mexicola posted. Unfortunately none of my outdoorsey pictures are digitalized so I can't share. I've been just about everywhere in the southern Appalachians, including most of the AT down here. Going to do a complete thru hike sometime before I turn 30.

On that note, the Scotland pictures are great...now I see why they compare the Appalachians to the mountains there...they look almost identical.

i have yet to do a through-hike. i've done parts of the pacific crest trail, but i do have friends that've done the AT. from what i hear, you'll remember it the rest of your life. (in a good way)

Vexille · Post by **Vexille** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:02 pm

Yah! Actually one of my college courses was about the history of the AT.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:45 pm

A_Northern_Soul wrote:Great photos, Mexicola. I love the north-west highlands - we're off to Skye for a few days at the end of the month; can't wait.

Had a blast on Skye. Apart from the quite stunning scenary and wildlife, we stayed the second night in a little hostel in a tiny remote village. Got hammered in the local pub, playing pool and laughing like a drain with the locals. Apparently they work on the local fishing boats and regularly leave the pub at 4AM to start work at 6AM. :shock:

The funniest night out I've had in months. Wandered home at 01:30AM and it was still light outside. Awesome.

A_Northern_Soul · Post by **A_Northern_Soul** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:27 pm

Mexicola wrote:
A_Northern_Soul wrote:Great photos, Mexicola. I love the north-west highlands - we're off to Skye for a few days at the end of the month; can't wait.

Had a blast on Skye. Apart from the quite stunning scenary and wildlife, we stayed the second night in a little hostel in a tiny remote village. Got hammered in the local pub, playing pool and laughing like a drain with the locals. Apparently they work on the local fishing boats and regularly leave the pub at 4AM to start work at 6AM.

The funniest night out I've had in months. Wandered home at 01:30AM and it was still light outside. Awesome.

Good times! How was your trip to Edinburgh btw? Meant to organise a pint, but work has been beyond manic. Never did make it to ATP.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:09 pm

A_Northern_Soul wrote:Good times! How was your trip to Edinburgh btw? Meant to organise a pint, but work has been beyond manic. Never did make it to ATP.

Edinburgh was great, but to be honest we didn't really have time to explore again. Got there mid-afternoon, eventually found the hotel after we'd negociated all the tram-works going on. Wandered out, found the gig, went for a beer and a bite to eat (completely forgetting the name of the restaurant to told me about!) - back to hotel to change, back out, gig, hotel, sleep... You get the idea!

The gig was blinding though.