THE GREY MAN OF BEN MACDUI

A one and a half hour wait for a view

lenty of Moss Campion on the plaeau

A busy Ben Macdui summit

Snow Bunting through the gloom

White out in snow patches

Coire an t-Sneachda late in the day

The best offer from Cairn Gorm

Coire Cas Headwall

Ptarmigan saves the day

Coire Cas carpark closed

Evening sun

Best shot of the day, on the way home!

There was a good weather forecast for this afternoon. A cloudy morning was due to improve slowly with a clear skies slot around 3pm over the Cairngorms. With that in mind I took the telephoto lens and cameras on my usual bike ride from the house up to Coire Cas carpark in The Cairngorms. Hoping for some nice wildlife and landscape photography. It was a cool morning and still very much overcast even by mid day. I decided heading over to Ben Macdui. Timed to get to the top at around 3pm, in time to bask in those forecasted clear skies and lovely June sunshine. I waited on the summit for over one and a half hours in the gloomy, foggy skies. The light NE winds did it's best to try and shift the cloud but only the odd glimmer of that beautiful Cairn Toul - Braeriach panorama. I checked the weather forecast twice whilst on the hill (sad, I know) and it kept stating clear skies! I think there was a young tea lad on the job messing with the computer weather forecast models today! The cloud did try and lift by early evening as I made my way down into Coire Cas. The day was saved by a lovely male Ptarmigan in the upper Coire Cas boulders and the beautiful Snow Bunting singing away. Saw no one on the hill again. They wouldn't have missed much anyway. Ah well, I knew we have had our Summer sunshine this year with April and May being absolutely beautiful.
On a brighter note. Good news this week. The Scottish Government announced that come 15th July Scottish Tourism will be allowed to get back into action. Hopefully this will mean folk can move freely in the UK and accommodation opening up again. I can be back doing what I do best, guiding people on our wonderful Scottish mountains.