WINTER IN THE CAIRNGORMS

 

First frozen snow thos season

There was a couple of days with snow cover on the high Cairngorms last week. Unfortunately it went warm and wet on Saturday which wiped most of it out. On Monday I went up to see what was left of it. Any patches still lingering were above 1200m and quite small, mostly on Northern aspects. With low overnight temperatures these had frozen solid. The first solid snow this season.

Afternoon sunshine on Cairn Gorm 

Light winds and clear skies was great for wildlife photography. I spotted 4 Ptarmigan who were all glad of the snowpack now they are well into their winter plumage. 

Tuesday 29th November. 

A frustrating day, the high Cairngorms were clear of cloud with blue skies and wall to wall sun. I was on the Monadhliath in cloud virtually all day. As I climbed higher the sun looked like it may win the battle and poke above the cloud layer, but no. On the bright side, pardon the pun. I enjoyed a few fog bows and a Brocken Spectre. 

Conditions like this are rubbish for photographing the mountain hares. With visibility so poor in cloud. 

Unusual Conditions as it's quite often the opposite, Cairngorms in poor weather with the hills on the west of the A9 in better conditions.

Another sub zero temperatures on the high tops and a slight frost in Aviemore this morning. 

Next week looks like proper winter conditions. Very low temperatures and snowfall to lower elevations. Yes please.