Day two of my long week off. The weather was nice (well, it was dry) so I might as well make the Thursday the day for my monthly trip to Cavehill.
I actually managed to get up early for once. It was quite easy, and essential in order to avoid crowds, to get up early during the Summer.
However, darker mornings and working from home meaning I don’t actually have to get up as early, have made it a lot harder for me to get up early in the Winter months.
Somehow, I managed it on this occasion, arriving in the Car Park at around 8.20am, ready for my ascent to the top.
There was a spectacular sunrise that morning, unfortunately, I missed the best of it in terms of phototaking.
The good news is, sunrises will be later in December, meaning that if I arrive early in the morning, I can be at the top (or en route to the top) in time to get some photos of it.
Despite it being a working day, it was unusually busy. There was also an unusually high dogs to people ratio. They were all good dogs.
Friday was set aside for Blackmountain. Purely by accident, any Friday off seems to be spent at Blackmountain.
Not this one, wet weather put paid to that.
Annoyingly, Saturday and Sunday were nice days, dry and bright, perfect for phototaking. Unfortunately, that didn’t suit my own schedule, so I would leave it to Monday, my last of the days off.
Monday started off well, dry, as a headed out early(ish) and arrived there just before 9am.
The weather was not kind. The sky was dull, not making for good photos. It was not unexpectedly cold. Almost as cold as when I visited Vilnius last year. I adopted full Lithuania Mode in my attire.
I took the shorter route up to the top as the clouds were giving a vibe of potential rain.
My suspicions were found to be correct, a light drop at first, before turning into a full rainstorm just as I was making my descent to the bottom.
Not my most enjoyable visit to Blackmountain. Hopefully, December’s visit will be a lot better.
I’ll be planning to make visits to Blackmountain and Cavehill during my time off in December, as well as slotting in a trip to Lisnabreeny Hill, having been last there in September, and hopefully, Belvoir Forest Park.
Regarding Blackmountain, there is a hotel nearby called Standing Stone Lodge. I’m considering an overnight stay at some point in 2021, possibly in Spring/Early Summer, price depending so that I can catch sunset photos, having a relaxing sleep before getting up early to get sunrise photos. I might as well spoil myself.
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