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| Loch A'an basin, Friday |
My usual weekly round up of my latest mountain adventures in the Cairngorms. Well, actuslly more like two weeks! March upon us now and were going into the best winter month of the season. Usually March offers much kinder weather conditions. We will almost certainly have the most amount of snow plus longer daylight hours for bigger adventures. As I always state, it is the finest time of the season. If you are lucky and get sunshine then it can resemble being in The Alps, sometimes. Temperatures have been well above the average norm for this time of year. Down south it reached 18 C and even in Aviemore we had a few days of double plus digits. February there was certainly a month of sharp contrasts. The start was superb with the coldest temperatures we experienced this season and the snowiest. Snow lying at low levels for many weeks. Sadly the big rise in temperatures for a prolonged spell had melted all of this away. Up high on the mountains though it is a very different story. It most definitely is Winter!
THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY
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| Roe Deer enjoying the sunshine in the Strath |
With the warmer temperatures and snow/ice now melted away off the roads, it was time to get on the road bike and have a spin. Lovely and quiet roads just now. Usual camera on back and a ride round my usual, favourite places. A breezy day with some bright spells. The highlight was a couple of Roe Deer in the fields by the roadside.
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| Biking on quiet roads |
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| A bit of lingering ice on Loch Pityoulish |
FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY
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| Avalanche debris in Coire an Lochain |
A fine day on the cards so I went for a wander up to the Northern Corries. I've not been up to the high Cairngorms for a while. This winter we have had so much deep snow with hardly any consolidation, making a journey on these hills very tiring and time consuming. With the recent melt/freeze cycles and a bit of rain on the tops the snowpack was now firm and icy. Brilliant.
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| Avalanche debris below Mess of Pottage |
I cycled up the ski road on a beautiful morning. The snow-gates, of course, still closed at Glenmore. I love biking from the house on beautiful mornings. It was colder than of late so looking forward to crunchy snow. The snow line had retreated to around 850m. I walked into Coire an t-Sneachda. I was on the look out to photograph the Ptarmigan. With the recent wet and warm conditions there has been some quite big avalanche activity, mostly natural ones thankfully. Big cornices and weaknesses present in the snowpack along with the rise in temperatures are a good recipe for these snow slides.
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| The area below Alladin's Couloir |
Fabulous walking into Coire an t-sneachda. Firm, icy snow and sunshine above. Very quiet in the Coire with just 2 climbers spotted. The avalanche debris was impressive here, below the Mess of Pottage. This was from the previous weekend. I had a wander about and walked around the bottom section of the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda ridge into Coire an Lochain. It was like a walk in the park through the boulder field. Everything white was frozen solid. So utterly easy.
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| Climbers below Alladin's Buttress |
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| The frozen Lochan in the coire |
The 'main event' for impressive avalanche debris was in Coire an Lochain. The SAIS Avalanche reports had a pic or two on their blog yesterday. I was keen to get a looksy in here. This avalanche went around the same period as the ones in Sneachda. In fact there were at least two avalanche releases. This one that went from the eastern slopes above the lochan was so big and powerful it actually pushed the ice out of the lochan below and broke huge lumps of ice out of the lochan and crumpled it up some metres beyond.
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| Coire an Lochain |
Photographs don't really do it justice I guess. The scale is huge. This kind of avalanche is not unusual. Since living in the Cairngorms the last 10 years I've seen big blocks of snow and ice littered at the bottom of corries. Getting 'to the scene' shortly after the event is always special.
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| Big blocks! |
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| Coire an Lochan ice! |
After admiring the ice chaos I went on the search for Ptarmigan to photograph. As I mention regularly here, they have been quite scarce in the Northern Corries and Cairngorm plateau over the last couple of years. I did spot just one wee guy up on the icy slopes. It was a bit breezy here. The Ptarmigan coping ok of course. Meanwhile the photographer was lying on the 30 degree slope with crampons anchored in while trying to hold the camera steady. But worth it!
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| Ptarmigan on ice |
Heading back down the hill in beautiful late afternoon sun. Even better, the bike ride home at dusk.
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| Coire an Lochain |
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| Beautiful afternoon light on the bike down |
SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY
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| Lovely afternoon light in the Monadhliath |
Another bright afternoon in prospect. After some early cloud the light toward the end of the day was gorgeous. I was over on the other side of the Strath in my usual Mountain Hare places. A lovely and peaceful day with just two folk seen at a distance all day. Plenty of Mountain Hare. The snow cover on the lower hills is now just patchy above 700m, enough for the hares to find cover.
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| The Cairngorms in beautiful afternoon light |
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| No snow here but rocks favoured |
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| Hiding |
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| Stretching |
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| Spotted! |
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| A lone runner with Braeriach in the background |
SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARY
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| Ptarmigan on the flats |
My wife and I had a wander up into Coire an Lochain. The 'ice' becoming a bit of a local tourist attraction with several folk pottering around and photographing it. I took some time away to capture some more Ptarmigan photos. Nice to see 3 pairs of them all in the same small area.
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| Clouding over in the afternoon |
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| Big block |
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| Blue ice |
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| No water here |
We spotted more Ptarmigan on our walk out. After a clear, bright start to the day the clouds rolled in during the afternoon. The winds getting lighter by the day and the snow getting firmer by the hour!
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| Showing off |
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| More fancy showing off, must be a female close by! |
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| Easy walking |
MONDAY 1 MARCH
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| Cairn Toul from Braeriach |
A clear, windless day forecast. It was time to go high and wild again. Braeriach is my favourite mountain in the Cairngorms National Park. It fits most of my criteria of what a mountain should be. High, wild, remote and (in winter) snowclad. My favourite walking route up is via Glen Einich and up through the Northern Corries to gain the summit. My previous visit here a couple of weeks ago was a bit disappointing. I had thick cloud and wind on the top. Not today!
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| Beautiful morning in the lower reaches of Glen Einich |
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| The way up, neve for 500m |
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| Sgor Gaoithe from the initial slopes |
The long, easy track up Glen Einich can be made shorter by the use of a bike. Unfortunately my mountain bike is out of action and the long waiting list for parts is something else, since December I've been waiting for a new wheel! With the longer days it isn't much of an issue to do it properly and walk it all from Coylumbridge. The Northern approach gives fine routes up to Loch Coire an Lochain. This is one of the highest, most remote, wildest lochs you could wish for. To get to the lochan there are several shallow gullies that lead up from the heather moorland. These fill rapidly with snow throughout the winter. By this time of year they are deep and will be there well into the summer months. I had my crampons on from the foot of one of these ribbons of snow. They were on for the rest of the day!
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| Hard neve, sharp crampons a must! |
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| Loch Coire an Lochain |
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| Loch Coire an Lochain from the plateau |
Absolutely stunning day. Not a breath of wind and views for miles. I sauntered along the plateau to the summit, all on hard refrozen snow and ice (some folk call it neve but it's technically not neve, that's an Alpine snow form) It certainly felt very Alpine though. Clear skies all day and no wind. The only folk I saw on the hill were two ski tourers who came up to the top about 15 minutes after me. They were hanging about on the summit till late afternoon in the hope that the sun was going to soften up the snow on their North side descent route. Wishful thinking!
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| Ski tourers nearing the summit |
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| Cairn Toul & Lairig Ghru from the top |
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| Ben Macdhui from the summit |
I had to tear myself away, but only slowly, as I made my way down the hill. No particular route in mind. I was going to walk back along the Sron na Lairig and cut back across to Glen Einich. From the wee bealach between the summit and the lairig I looked down into the lonely, remote and wild looking Coire Beanaidh which I have never visited. It was well plastered in snow and looked so inviting so I headed back this way. What a delight. A beautiful part of the mountain.
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| Coire Beanaidh |
Fabulous walking on hard and continuous snow again all the way back to the 700m contour at the flat moorland near Gleann Eanich. Just beautiful and very warm even at 4pm when the crampons finally came off. What a day!
TUESDAY 2 MARCH
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| Sgor an Lochain Uaine & Braeriach from Ben Macdhui |
Another day of clear skies and no wind forecasted for the high Cairngorms! Off again in search of Alpine paradise. Another beautiful early morning bike ride up Glenmore. The walk/bike/ski up the ski road is, of course, not a new phenomena because of the closed snow gates. Pre-skiing development in 1961 this is what everyone had to do if you wanted to walk, climb and ski tour up in the Northern Cairngorms. The extra time it takes makes the day even more enjoyable with the few miles bike ride from the house. It's a beautiful ride in its own right!
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| Early morning light at Loch Morlich |
Loch Morlich was looking beautiful on the way past. Today I fancied heading up to Ben Macdhui and a visit to Loch A'an on the return. From leaving the carpark at Coire Cas it was base layers for most of the day. Even warmer than yesterday! Very quiet as I headed up the usual Lurchers Ridge to gain the plateau. I saw just 1 other person and a pair of fabulous Ptarmigan.
A brilliant 30 mins sitting and photographing beside this pair of Ptarmigan, so confiding. Wildlife photography is so relaxing and all consuming. I could spend all day with wildlife and camera, as you well know. But the mountain tops were screaming out to be walked. Another day of firm, icy snow all over. If you had no crampons you wouldn't get very far up the hills during the last few days.
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| Ice blocks at Coire an Lochain |
Very easy travel on the Cairngorm plateau. Everything snow covered and hard, frozen snow. Hardly a rock poking through anywhere. All the cairns that mark the route along the plateau to Britains second highest mountain are completely buried in snow. Go in bad weather and your navigation skills need to be up to scratch.
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| Coire Bhrotain and Braeriach with Strathspey beyond |
The finest views from Ben Macdhui are towards the massive trio of high mountains across the Lairig Ghru. Cairn Toul, Sgorr an Lochain Uaine & Braeriach. The best view is, of course, not on the summit but 5 minutes walk away where you get the full sense of height looking down into the Lairig Ghru.
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| Cairn Toul - Braeriach plateau & Lairig Ghru |
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| Lunchtime view, pic-nic in the sun |
No breeze!
There was absolutely no breeze on top and the sunsine felt warm, even though the air temperature was low. I sat in just a base layer most of the time. Heading back and going over the summit I avoided the crowd with their drone and dogs. Instead making a large detour to go back over Macdhui's North Top. peace and solitude intact again. From here you also get a fine view out to the East looking over to Beinn a' Bhuird & Ben A'an. There's also a grand view of Cairn Lochan and Cairn Gorm.
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| Cairn Lochan & Cairn Gorm |
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| Beinn a' Bhuird in the distance, Loch Etchachan foreground |
More fabulous, easy cramponing along here. In these conditions you can just wander around, willy-nily in the knowledge that you will not plunge into deep snow and rocks or burns. Brilliant. Much easier walking in this area than in the summer months were there are many kilometres of bouldery terrain to negotiate.
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| Shelterstone Crag |
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| The cliffs of Coire an Lochain |
Instead of spoiling the solitude by heading back via Coire Cas and the ski area, I walked over Carn Lochan and back down into Coire and Lochain. Solitude intact :). Beautiful late afternoon light again.
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| Cornices, Carn Lochan |
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| Beautiful late afternoon light |
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| The ride home not bad either, Loch Morlich at dusk |
WEDNESDAY 3 MARCH
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Rime ice at low altitudes
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A forecast of temperature inversions today. I headed to the Monadhliath but unfortunately the 850m hill I was on was in the cloud and no views. Yesterday I was sunning myself at 1300m dressed in just a baselayer and in bright, sunny skies. Today I sat at 700m in thick, cold, poor visibility with 4 layers of clothing on and rime ice forming on my waterproofs!
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| Rime and ice at 400m |
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| The view at 650m |
Returning home after a short day I was a bit miffed to hear and see that the high Cairngorms were poking out of the inversion at about 1000m! Oh well, sometimes you just don't get it right!
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| Ice frosted trees at 300m |
FRIDAY 5 MARCH
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| Cairngorm plateau |
We had a mini 'blip' in weather yesterday as a small weather front passed through. Wind, low cloud and wet/snow. Today the high pressure returned and bright skies once more! Another sublime day of very little breeze and wall to wall sunshine. A colder day on the tops than in recent times. I set out on the bike and back to the Northern Cairngorms. I had a photography project in mind. A specific spot in the Loch A'an basin to capture a scene that I have photographed in Summer many times over many years. I wanted this exact spot but under winter conditions.
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| Looking beautiful |
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| Looking stunning in the sun and snow |
Being a mountaineer, wildlife and landscape photographer combined can be quite a challenge. I can torture myself at times. Do I just go out and do one of these 3 things? Or combine them all in a days outing? Today I made the decision to do te latter! So armed with 2 camera bodies and lenses big and small along with tripod I set out on the hills. I was hoping to capture the ptarmigan again in the same small area I was in previous days. Roaming aout the coire I came across my old friend, a beautiful Female Mountain Hare where I sometimes photograph. She was looking fine in the beautiful sunshine and snow. Despite all the noise of my crunching about the snow in crampons, she was not at all freaked out. The initial fieldcraft and patience is rewarded.
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| Enjoying the sun |
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| Beautiful |
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| A shady and hideout place in the rocks |
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| Quite relaxed around me |
I had to limit myself to an hour with this beautiful hare. Time getting on and I needed to get to my 'main event' spot today. Another couple of hours across a beautiful Cairngorm landscape. All on hard, firm snow. I timed it well. Just at the right time of day with the sun at a lower angle and just enough to illuminate the ice and waterfall.
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| Cairngorm plateau |
Wonderful snow conditions. Crampons all the way.
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| Sublime plateau |
The Loch A'an basin is the most beautiful place in the entire Cairngorms. I have many 'favourite' exact spots that I like to visit for stunning views and photography. I've been going to a spot in this area for many years now, mostly in Summer. This particular place I wanted to capture in its winter glory. To get the best of the winter scene there were certain criteria I wanted.
- Mid Winter the waterfall is buried under deep snow
- Too early in winter no light/too much shadow
- Loch A'an still needs to be frozen
- Of course, a decent weather window
Time of day also crucial. afternoon so the sun was illuminating the foreground. I was quite happy with the result.
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| The shot |
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| Loch A'an and THE waterfall |
Apart from the utter beauty of this place it is also wild and quiet, you won't see any Munro baggers this way. Even in Summer there are no paths here, nearest path is over 45 minutes away. Just for contrast, here is the same scene in Summer.
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| Same spot, July 2020 |
Just a 3 hour walk back. Beautiful mid/late afternoon and no one around. Just beautiful.
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| Back down Lurchers Ridge |
Don't forget the views back along the road at Glenmore! Another fine sunset.
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| Loch Morlich sunset |
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| Northern Corries & Loch Morlich |
SATURDAY 6 MARCH
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Coire an Lochain ice
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A change in the weather. Gone are the blue skies, replaced by an overcast and dull day. I went for another walk into the corries. Today just a short wander ( after the bike ride up of course). Hoping to photograph the Ptarmigan again before they start to morph into their Winter/Spring transitional plumage. Not the greatest of light but nice to see them again. They don't make it easy. Once more I was on a 30 degree slope with crampons attached.
Dull weather conditions with cloud on the tops and morning rain in the Strath. It cleared in the afternoon for a nice few hours on the road bike. Roads nice and quiet.
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| Quiet roads |
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| Monochrome colourings Loch Morlich |
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| Speyside Way |
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| Late afternoon burst of sun |
TUESDAY 9 MARCH
Mild temperatures again and dull conditions on the hills. Another morning blast on the bike. Winds increasing with gales tomorrow. For those who don't like cold, crisp, frost days then you've ot your alternative in winter! Enjoy the rain 🌧.
Winter will resume again soon. More snow forecast for the hills at the end of the week. Don't forget, Winter finishes around mid April. :)
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| Windy o the Cairngorms |
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| Plenty of Greylag Geese around in the fields just now |
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