Spring?

1/320 s at F/4,6, ISO 400, focal length: 200mm, 2013:03:23 18:53, Peak District National Park,
Photographed with Canon EOS 7D, EF70-200 f4L, handheld

Finally we have internet access so I will post more regularily. After a few weeks of ocasionally fair weather that smelled like spring, we were brought back to winter with heavy snowfall (heavy for this part of the world). We had 16 cm of snow overnight here, and higher parts of Sheffield surely got more. As no one here uses winter tyres, that brought the city to a halt. Feeling lucky (winter tyres) and adventurous I drove to Upper Burbage Bridge in Peak District hoping to photograph grazing sheep. Just past the border of the park, where the snowplough turns back I spotted a couple of range rovers parked (no winter tyres there) and sped on. I was followed by a LR Defender and thought they might help if need be. It was very windy up there, the road was swept clean ... untill I noticed that all snow accumulated close to the bridge parking where I was heading. It was a matter of maintaining enough speed :).
I spent some time photographing the snow and sheep, but was getting anxious about the prospect of getting back home as it was getting late.
First attempt to drive through the driftsnow was futile. I managed to back up using my own ruts and reversed a big stretch to gain more speed. This time it worked, though with wheels skidding all time. On the way back I found fantastic snow formations behing the stone boundary walls that abound here. I will post it here tomorrow.
Forgive me the motorist theme of this post but that is always part of the story - getting to locations. You can't take such pictures from the comfort of your living room.