CHANGING LIGHT & GOLDEN EAGLES ON BEN MACDUI

Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine & Braeriach from Ben Macdui

Morning light on Fiacaill Coire An-t Sneachda

Fiacaill Coire An-t Sneachda

Fiacaill Buttress

Braeriach

Family of Ptarmigan

loch Avon from Castlegates Gully

Constant changing light and clouds this morning

A 'tour' of the Cairngorm-Ben Macdui plateau today. Early start and up Fiacaill Coire An-t Sneachda ridge. The cloud and light coming and going across to Ben Macdui. On the summit the cloud was swirling about and just has the tops were clearing a pair of golden eagles were soaring above. Then the skies cleared and they were gone. Brilliant. It was chilly hanging about near the summit (finest views are not on the summit trig point by the way). Winter not far away, in fact there was some ice and verglas on the ridge and across parts of the plateau. If there was any precipitation today I would have thought it would fall in the form of snow. After mid day the cloud filled in but still above the summit. Escaping the crowds (never seen so many folk on Macdui) I took a wander over to Carn Etchachan across pathless terrain, guaranteed to see no one. There are more grand views from here looking down to the Loch Avon basin. A trot across the plateau again and descended down the Goat Track. Nice day, no wind, great views and cold.

FIELDFARE & PTARMIGAN

Loch Avon

Bod an Deamhain

Large flocks of Fieldfare

and these

A pleasant day up on the Cairngorm plateau. The morning was a bit drizzly but blue skies and good sunny periods in the afternoon. There were large flocks of Fieldfare around today. One large group of around 40 were flying straight at me, unaware of my presence. Too fast for me to get a decent image. Same with the ptarmigan. A group of about 10 also aiming right for me until the realised at last minute! All lovely to see.

SKYE PHOTOGRAPHY

Raainbow over the Red Cuillin

It's been a while since my last visit to Skye. A place of contrasting scenery, weather and light, anytime of year. Last weekend I was guiding a lovely couple of folk from Italy, Fiorella and En. They had travelled all the way over from Italy for just two days of walking on the Misty Isle. That's how wonderful a place this is. Here's some photos from last weekend.

Am Bastier

Morning light over the Red Cuillin

Waterfalls below Sgurr nan Gillean

Sgurr a' Fionn Coire, Am Bastier & Sgurr nan Gillean

Red Cuillin, afternoon light

Bla Bheinn and Sgurr nan Gillean from Bruach na Frithe

Sunrise over Marsco

Rainbow over Glamaig

View from Bruach na Frithe

BRUACH NA FRITHE

Fiorella &  En on the ridge

Fabulous light 

Celebration time

Morning light 

Beautiful end of day

Their first Munro

Classic view of Sgurr nan Gillean 

Bla Bheinn looking good 

The good side of all that rain

Am Bastier

Morning light over Red Cuillin 

Descending 

Glamaig

Glamaig,  20 minutes later 

Last summit pic

Second day with Fiorella and En on their Skye adventure. We were blessed with a gorgeous day. Well deserved after the wet and cloudy conditions yesterday. Feeling fit and wanting to climb a Munro, the Italian couple were up for a day on Bruach na Frithe. This is one of the easier Cuillin Munros. No scrambling involved and a stunning view point. The morning sunrise was beautiful as we made our way across the moor below the imposing Black Cuillin. Despite all the rain, the ground and trail wasn't too boggy. The waterfalls were spectacular. Far better than those tourist packed Fairy Pools. We had these to ourselves. The whole walk is a delight. We had a very brief hail shower in the corrie. We timed it perfectly for the best of the sun as we gained the ridge. It's a spectacular view when you emerge out of the Corrie and have Am Bastier rise suddenly in front of you. The cool airflow gave beautiful views in all directions on the summit. The guys were well chuffed with their achievement, rightly so. The day was complete with a spectacular rainbow in front of Glamaig and of course the obligatory beer in the best pub on Skye, The Sligachan . Top couple of days with lovely folk.  They may be back next year :-)

SKYE WEEKEND

Atmospheric Sanctuary

Probably the best of the weather 

Crowds gone 

All quiet on the Storr's summit 

No sun but plenty of atmospheric cloud 

Kilt Rock Waterfalls 

Quairang

Waterfalls at Quairang 

The Needle in the cloud

The Storr summit 

Heading back in the rain

The Sanctuary & Old Man of Storr 

Photo ops everywhere 

The Old Man

Best view of the day

Husband and wife team Eduan & Fiorella from Turin, Italy are out with me this weekend. They are on Skye for just two days. Thankfully Storm Calum wasn't too vicious on Friday afternoon and we got over the Skye Bridge with no problems. In fact late Friday afternoon was lovely.
Today we started off on an easier hill day. We ventured up to The Storr. This small hill of just over 700m is a fantastic day out. Famous for the rock pinnacle below,  The Old Man of Storr.  This is a popular walk and only takes 30 minutes to the 'Sanctuary' where the Old Man takes pride of place. Big improvement at the start of this hike in recent years. The old spruce tree plantation has thankfully been felled and the forestry commission have replanted the area with native woodland. Lovely open views out to to Rasaay and beyond now. Unfortunately the cloud descended and it started to rain by late morning . Still, it's a fantastically atmospheric place even with low cloud swirling around the steep crags and pinnacles.  We escaped the crowds and headed up to the summit of the Storr later on. After lunch and coffee in a cafe we missed with the Tour buses around the spectacular Kilt Rock Waterfall viewpoint.  Still with energy to spare we headed for another stroll at the Quirang late afternoon.  It started to rain heavy by now but still some atmospheric views on this terrific walk on the Northern Trotternish ridge.