SNOW WILL COME

 

Always an eye on you

It has been a glorious blue skies and sunshine day here in Strathspey and the Cairngorms. The temperatures creept up in the warm sunshine. Although I love high pressure systems they obviously don't bring any weather fronts, more importantly no snow. The colder temperatures are great but we certainly need a few good stormy days to get the hills looking more like mid winter and not early winter. Spare a thought to our beautiful wildlife though. While mountaineers and skiers grumble about the lack of the white stuff, our precious wildlife rely on snowcover for camouflage. For Ptarmigan and Mountain Hare it could mean a matter of life or death for them. Thankfully these species are resourceful and intelligent enough to know they need to become inconspicuous to predators so will do their best to blend in with whatever snow cover is available. In the case of these two high mountain species they will take cover in rocks and boulder fields of which the Cairngorms has in abundance. 

Some fresh snow and fresh Hare prints 

Blue skies and atmospheric clouds

I was out photographing our beautiful Mountain Hares today. Below 800m there is only very small stretches of old snow. Sny fresh snow from yesterday's colder and snowier weather was melting away in the direct sunlight.  It was a lovely day to be out with camera and Hares.

Well camouflaged 

Beautiful in sun, but no snow

My friend is still curious

The hares where I photograph have some decent boulders scattered about the area. These are some of their Forms so very convenient. The lichen streaked rocks superb hideaways for these beautiful animals. 

There is also a reason why they are our fastest mammal

Blue skies

More rocks

Relaxed but always an eye on you

A beautiful day and some more fime moments with these guys. The days so much longer now. I cycled home without the need for lifts this afternoon. 

Snow will come.......soon.

A TAD MORE WINTER-LIKE

 

Zak & Eva on their first taste of winter

There had been a fresh sprinkling of overnight snow and much colder temperatures.  The Cairngorms definitely felt a bit more like winter today. Zak & Eva were out on An introduction to winter hillwalking with me today. We covered lots of skills despite the spread snow cover. Amongst the many essentials we covered today:

Route choice and weather forecasts 

Avalanche awareness 

Step cutting 

Plenty of cramponing and axe techniques 

Navigation 

Fresh sprinkling of snow above 700m

Rime ice returns

Lunchtime in the shelter

Hard, old frozen snow

Navigation 

Poor visibility high up

The plateau was definitely looking better than just a day or two ago. Only a light coverage of snow but with lots of rime ice and a string, cold wind it was more like a January day.

Icy fingers

Cloud clearing later

Old snow, new snow

Beauty in the cold

Monochrome views

STUNNING SKIES AND MOUNTAIN HARES

 

Stunning sunrise

I was out with Phillip today, running another one of my popular Mountain Hare Photography Workshops. We met up in Aviemore before setting off. What a stunning sunrise! I had wished we had camped out the night before because it must have been some colours from the mountain tops! It had been a glorious sunset the night before with a full moon. Now that would have been wonderful. All these photographs were taken on a proper camera, a Fujifilm XT4 with lenses. Not on the latest iphone 87 with the saturation filets maxed up to the hilt, just saying ;)

This beautiful hare posed nicely for us

Even though there were glorious skies in the morning the weather was dull and overcast by mid morning. The old saying, 'Red sky in the morning....................'. Despite the grey skies and poor light conditions, Phillip and I had a great day with several of our beautiful mountain hares. By early afternoon the cloud base dropped and any photography was very limited in the poor conditions. The winds were cold and strong above 800m. 

There's more to life than fiddling on your phone in the hills (spot the hare, random people)

I'll not post the grey skies, just some more photos of the beautiful sunrise. A top day out. Phillip says he'll be back out with me and the hares when the snow returns, which is soon!

Amazing skies from the glen

Space ships? or a good camera?

Cairn Gorm and a fiery sky

These guys always see amazing skies!

INTRO TO WINTER COURSE

 

Andrew and I enjoying untouched neve

My one day introduction to winter hillwalking courses are very popular this season. These one day courses give a good taste of the wonders of winter. You'll get to learn all the basics of axe and crampon techniques plus a host of other vital skills to get you started in the finest season. 

Andrew was out with me today on one of these day long courses. Despite the limited snow in the Northern Cairngorms we made the most of the excellent snow conditions. Everything was frozen solid so brilliant to master some crampon techniques.

Blue skies and neve

Great for cramponing 

More fabulous snow

Most of the limited snow is above about 950m. Andrew was soon enjoying the Great snow conditions. We started off on some easy angled icy snow, step cutting. A bit of axe arresting was hard on the knees. Then we moved onto crampons. 

We escaped the many groups out on the hill and found our own areas of snow in a fine setting. A great day out with good banter and some lovely winter sunshine thrown in.

Lunch time

Another fab moon rise

MONADHLIATH MUNROS

 

Rime ice and a dusting of snow

For Zuzana and Jonathan's second day out we opted for a walk on the two Munros in the Monadhliath,  A'Calliach & An Sgulain. With a decent weather forecast over tge other side of the Strath this sounded appealing. These hills are renowned for their boggy aspect but the wildlife here is wonderful. The terrain is also great for Navigation.

Morning coffee

Bogs frozen on higher ground

A fresh dusting of snow above 800m

Old frozen snow

It was a glorious sunny morning and there had been a small dusting of fresh overnight snow above 800m. Once we got to this altitude the walking was great. All the boggy ground had frozen and a delight to walk on. There was a keen, cold wind near the first summit.

Success on the summit 

Navigation time

View from A' Cailliach

Cold wind

There was a high windchill on our first Munro summit. We were soon in calmer conditions just 50m lower. Zuzana was keen to do more navigation.  With clear views the compass wasn't needed much today, but lots of map reading and contour interpretation on our way over to the second Munro. 

A shades day

Beautiful mother nature 

Nearing the summit

Another cold and windy summit but wonderful views. We descended a more interesting route. Some excellent navigation and route finding to get to lower elevations all on pathless terrain. Once again these are essential navigation skills which people who only download route descriptions and basic mobile phone navigation apps will never obtain. It's all in the map reading,  route finding and contour interpretation. Using your eyes and brain power. Fabulous work from Zuzana and Jonathan. 

Descending using good boot techniques 

Fun with our shadows 

It was a great route down amidst lovely wild scenery and some easy snow slopes. Only the dreaded lower Bog trotting. The winds had increased even at low levels by the end of the day.

Route finding 

Great views

Boot techniques 

A great couple of days and some fine banter.

A' Cailliach from another angle

Dusky skies

Out of the boggy ground and easy stroll down

Dusk