After having spent the last several days with no transport, with the car having developed a fault. It was nice to get back out for a short walk this afternoon. I decided to have a wander along the river at Low Force to see how things had faired are the heavy rain over the weekend. I've seen a few photos of High Force taken on Sunday, and they were very impressive, probably the most water I've ever seen coming over the falls. Despite the car park at Bowlees been about half full I didn't meet many other people while I was out, maybe a dozen at the most. It was a lovely afternoon with lots of blue sky and sun, but it did start to chill down quickly once the sun had set. By the time I'd gotten back to the car, it was almost dark and the temperature was just above freezing.
The first set of waterfalls in Bowlee Beck which you pass on the way to Summerhill Force
There was still a fair amount of water coming over Summerhill Force today
I just love those moss covered rocks on the right of the photo, they are just in the right position
Passing the old quarry on the way back to the car park
From where I headed past the visitor centre to get to Low Force
The small hamlet of Bowlees
After crossing a couple of fields from Bowlees you reach Low Force
The view of the fall from the northern side of the river
and a close up shot
The view from the south side river, having crossed over the Wynch Bridge
You get much closer to the falls on the south side of the river
From Low Force my plan was to follow the Pennine Way up to High Force
Normally this channel has no water in it, but obviously the river had been very high in the previous few days
There were lots of signs that the river had been several feet higher recently
One of my favourite spots on the river, I quite often like to sit on these rocks and watch the world go by
Looking back at the footbridge over the river at Holwick Head House (just out of the photo on the right)
A glimpse of the High Force Hotel through the trees
Some new gates have been installed since I last visited, not sure what their purpose is though?
The majestic High Force
There was still lots of water coming over it today
as the light was really good I decided to head up to Bleabeck Force before returning to the car
Another glimpse of High Force as I headed further upstream
The view form the top of High Force
The River Tees above High Force
A video clip of the river above High Force (select the 1080 option to see it in full HD)
The only downside of coming this far up the river is the quarry on the other side
Looking back downstream towards High Force
The lovely Bleabeck Force
It's well worth the short diversion off the main Pennine Way to visit it
Especially when there's a lot of water coming over it
As I walked back down river the sky was starting to give a hint of a nice sun set
So I decided to take a few more photos at Low Force before heading back to the car, I think it was well worth it?
I hope that you have enjoyed looking at the photograph's from this walk? If you have any questions or comments regarding them or the walk in general, please either leave a message below, or send me an email, and I will get back to you asap. Thanks Gary ...
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Our last walk was a visit to Middleton-in-Teesdale
Our next walk was a visit to the limestone pavements of Fell End Clouds
Other County Durham walks 2011 walks journalAll of the photograph's from this walk were taken using my Canon 5D MkII camera and 24-105mm L series lens
© www.mywainwrights.co.uk (This page was last updated - 14 February 2011)
