Experience it
BRECON BEACONS
Brave a winter hill at night, and see stars
One good reason for taking to the hills in the depths of winter is simply and sublimely illustrated here by Alyn Wallace. After spending a foggy night on Corn Du’s south slope, the young Brecon Beaconsbased photographer had almost given up hope of clear skies. Then this happened.
“I had been patiently waiting for a chance to camp under the stars and in the snow – the cold weather brings the clearest skies. When I arrived at the peaks to pitch camp the wind was both strong and icy cold; you could barely see your hand in front of your face through the mist and spindrift. Just as I was thinking about calling it a night the wind died down, the mist cleared and the sight of the stars emerging was absolutely mind-blowing!”
The Brecon Beacons is ideal for wild campers with an eye for the stars. The area is an International Dark Sky Reserve, which helps to protect its outstanding night skies from light pollution – resulting in scenes like this. If you go, be prepared to lie back and wait as it can take up to half an hour for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. And make sure you pick the clearest, darkest night possible, ideally the two weeks either side of a new moon. If you’re lucky you might see the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda galaxy, planets, satellites, shooting stars...
As Alyn says, “it’s worth every freezing degree”. See more of his work at facebook.com/awallacephoto