FROM SNOW TO TEMPERATURE INVERSION

Fabulous temperature inversion in Strathspey

Meall a' Bhuachaille above the cloud

Fiacaill Ridge fun

Ptarmigan showing off her winter wings

Fiacaill Ridge

Stunning morning above the inversion

Monahliath and Strathspey beyond

Keep looking back for theviews

Red Grouse just as vocal as the ptarmigan today

Coire an t-Sneachda

Loch Avon

More sun, more inversion

More of these guys

Sneachda

Cairngorm plateau in Autumn colours

High pressure once again sitting over much of The Highlands this week. That doesn't always mean clear skies of course. Today there was a glorious Temperature Inversion with the cloud sitting in Strathspey till well into the afternoon. Lovely sun and not even a breeze on the summit. A great day for a scramble along the Fiacaill Ridge with some wonderful Cairngorm wildlife thrown into the day. The rock was a bit greasy and slippy this morning, from the overnight rain and cold conditions. Once in the sun it was fine and good dry rock. Autumn colours just wonderful at the moment. The wee spell of winter the last couple of days was short lived. All the snow from Tuesday as gone in the warmer temperatures. No doubt it will return again soon but in the meantime it is just nice to still feel the warmth of the October sun. I was surprised to see some Kalmia procumbens (Trailing Azalea) still in flower at 1100m on the plateau, in Autumn?

FIRST SNOWS ON THE CAIRNGORMS

Cairn Lochan, first snows

Not much in the way of views today

Lots of ptarmigan today

Cairn Gorm summit

Good navigation skills required now

Ptarmigan happy posing and getting into winter plumage

The temperatures dropped overnight and precipitation fell in the form of snow down to 850m here in The Cairngorms and over on the west coast it looked the same kind of conditions. Despite it being mid October it definitely felt like early winter up on the Cairngorm plateau. First outing in winter boots for me this season with a fair few cm's of snow underfoot. Of course it's not 'proper' winter yet but you'll definitely need a few more layers in your rucksack, it was nippy as soon as you took your gloves off for any length of time. The day started fine but the cloud dropped as the morning progressed and the base was below 900m by afternoon. Rime ice was forming on the crags. If you were heading across the plateau to Ben Macdui you would have had your map and compass or GPS out, for sure. I counted 30-40 ptarmigan today in just one location. They were pretty vocal and photogenic too. Of course this wee sprinkling of snow won't last. I always think that winter starts in November. Winter courses are starting to trickle through and weekends getting busy so what are you waiting for? Winter is just round the corner!

BIKING & HIKING BRAERIACH

The beautiful bike ride toward Glen Einich

A moody looking Glen Einich & Braeriach

Loch Einich and Sgor Gaoithe

Braeriach

Lovely sunshine between the showers

Biking in Autumn

Cairn Gorm and Lairig Ghru

Sgor Gaoithe

There are many wonderful ways onto Braeriach. This big mountain has many corries and ridges. A quick way to access the hill is by using a bike up Glen Einich and approach the hill by it's northern corries or via it's western flanks. The use of a bike not only saves a long walk in, it is a brilliant bike ride in it's own right. It only takes around one and a half hours to the foot of the hill from my house. Today was a day of sunshine and showers with a strong wind on the tops. I had a quick blast up into one of the remoter corries where there is a wee scramble bounding one of the corries. Despite the cooler temperatures it didn't seem cold enough for any snow up high. Tomorrow looks much colder with NW winds. Maybe some white stuff then?

AN TEALLACH, AFTER THE AUTUMN GOLD

The wonderful view of An Teallach from the Destitution Road

Andrew on a viewless Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill

The only people on An Teallach today

Andrew heading for his second Munro

The best view all day on our descent

Little Loch Broom, the evening before

 Return client, Andrew, booked me for a days guiding on the finest mountain on this planet, An Teallach. Andrew and three of his friends were out with me back in March, in the Cairngorms where we had a stonker of a day. The Northwest Highlands has seen glorious clear skies and bags of Autumn sunshine all week and most of the previous week too. An Teallach must have been bathed in sun the entire period. I was looking at the weather forecasts every day, throughout the week and hoping that the big high pressure was going to eek out till Friday, his only day off work. Sadly it wasn't to last. The long, settled spell of weather was drawing to a close and Thursday was the last  day of sunshine. Despite the poor weather forecast he was fired up for a grand day out on a full traverse of 'The Forge'. We set out from Corrie Hallie in light rain and by the time we gained the upper slopes of Sail Liath (the first Munro Top) it was a steady 40mph wind, light rain and in a bubble of cloud. We kept on going with hardly a stop, soon reaching Corrag Buidhe with strong gusts over the narrow pinnacled ridge and gaining the first of the mountain's Munros, Sgurr Fiona. Completely viewless all the way. A quick descent from here before the final pull up to Bidean a' Ghals Thuill, the highest summit for the classic view, which we didn't get. At least the rain had eased off at this point. The strongest winds were on our descent to Dundonnell. We we're back at the road in less than 7 hours from setting off, the fastest client I have had on An Teallach but then most traverses have many photo stops! We never saw  a single person all day and guessed we must have had the whole mountain to ourselves. A shame about glorious views but Andrew loved the day all the same and he's back for more this winter. You can't always have great weather on the finest mountains, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

MIZZLE, DRIZZLE,SUNSHINE & CLAG

Clearing skies by mid day

A quiet Fiacaill Coire an t-Sneachda

Go West for the sun!

Fiacaill Ridge

Fiacaill Buttress

Neat the top

If you want clear skies and lovely sunshine then the far North West Highlands is the place to be this week. With the huge Scaninavian high pressure system still influencing our weather, it's still a good time to be out on the hill. SE winds this second half of the week will always mean the East will get any clag/rain while the West and NW will be in the rain shadow. For the first time in a long while I actually had a waterproof jacket on today. Just a few light patches of drizzle and mizzle. Timing just right for a short burst of sun whilst on the Fiacaill  Coire an t-Sneachda which was deserted today. Plenty of folk in the Cairngorm Mountain carpark, most of which were riding the funicular. Looks like next week we will be in 'normal' October weather, ie Atlantic lows sweeping across us, it was good while it lasted!

CRAIGELLACHIE NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE

Beautiful Autumn colours at Craigellachie

The Cairngorms from Craigellachie

Hills and Lochain aplenty

Kincardine Hills & Strathspey 

Birch trees just coming into prime

Another stunning day in The Highlands. The Autumn colours are just about getting into their finest colours. One of the best short hillwalks from Aviemore is the wee Craigellachie National Nature Reserve. Easy paths lead from town into a world of beautiful Maete Birchwood and lovely lochans. It's a world away from the busy A9 road and the hustle of Aviemore, but these intrusions are soon left behind. Not bad views of The Cairngorms too.

LEDGE ROUTE & CMD ARETE, COTSWOLD OUTDOOR

On the upper section of Ledge Route

The return via the CMD arete

The team on their 2nd Munro, Carn Mor Dearg

The descent, quite good views

When will it go?

The Mamores from CMD arete

Atmospheric Ben Nevis

Late afternoon CMD

Kirsten enjoying the CMD arete

Rohan enjoying the scrambling

The remaining snow patch on Ben Nevis

Rohan taking it easy on Ledge Route

Staff and customers from Cotswold Outdoor, Livingston branch are regular clients with Tarmachan Mountaineering. Over the last three years I have been delivering winter & summer skills courses for them. Today I had Kirsten, Rohan, Alistair & Simon out with me for an intro to scrambling day on Ben Nevis. Ledge Route is the classic Grade 1 scramble and in my opinion is one of the finest routes of it's standard in the UK. From the CIC Hut it looks daunting but it is straight forward. Before we set off we chatted about route finding, ground conditions, weather and  geology of the mountain. Big factors to think about before planning any scrambling. Everyone soon got their hands on rock and some wonderful views as we moved our way up, taking plenty of breaks and looking at footwork, hand placements whilst going up, down and across the rock. The route lies in a wonderful position on the North Face of The Ben with stupendous views. The high pressure of the last week or so is still with us, although we had overcast skies today. Hardly a breath of wind so very pleasant conditions. We had the entire route to ourselves, apart from one person on thir own who was asking us 'which way is it?' So we hung back to make sure all was well. All too quickly the scrambling fun is over and we made good time onto the plateau. We avoided the Pony Track to the summit as much as we could, skirting close to the lip of the north face until Tower Gully. The team were still fresh, eager and up for a longer day so they needed little persuading for a descent via the Carn Mor Dearg arete. Leaving the crowds behind, we were back onto a quiet ridge with more wonderful views. Just before reaching the Munro summit of Carn Mor Dearg, we passed two guys on the lower traverse path, which avoids the crest. They shouted up to us 'How far to Ben Nevis' and 'What time does it get dark?' For big days out on any mountain this time of year it really pays to do some research, set out in good time and maybe just check the night before when it starts getting dark in early October :) . Team Cotswold made good time and we were round in 10 hours, including lots of instruction, photo stops and savouring a classic outing to appreciate the highest mountain in Britain. Our day was topped off with some refreshments at the Ben Nevis Inn, best food and drink in Fort William. Thanks should go to The Real 3 Peaks Challenge for the big annual clean up on Ben Nevis today. Well done to all those volunteers who gave up their Saturday to collect the litter dumped on the hill and make the walk on the Mountain Path a cleaner, nicer experience. Shame on those who dumped it all in the first place.