Winter colours - Wester Ross

On the second paddling day of our trip in Wester Ross Allan and I launched from the jetty at Laide in Gruinard Bay.  This is a handy launch spot but there's virtually no parking at the jetty itself so we parked back up the road a way so as not to block things for any other users.  There's also an honesty box, ingeniously adapted from an old fire extinguisher, for donations towards the jetty's upkeep.

It was another very cold, clear and calm morning - "frost smoke" was rising from the sea as the sun climbed a bit higher.

We paddled around the inner part of Gruinard Bay and landed at the northern end of the big beach which is so popular in summer.  Today we had it to ourselves for a leisurely coffee break.

Heading north we had a view to Priest Island and the Summer Isles, we've had some great paddling ventures there!  Conditions were near perfect and we landed at Mungasdale Bay for a second stop - not sure whether that was third breakfast or first luncheon though.....

From Mungasdale we paddled over to land on the boulder spit at the south of Gruinard Island, infamous for the experiment that was carried out here to test the efficacy of a biological weapon.  The desparate measures under consideration during WW2 are understandable, but not the indifference of the UK government for decades afterward - they were eventually forced to properly (hopefully!) decontaminate the whole island in 1990.  The disconnect between a remote UK government and the north of Scotland is neatly illustrated in the staged image at the end of the BBC news article linked above with a Defence Minister pulling down the "Landing Prohibited" sign....dressed in a pinstripe city suit and immaculate dress shoes.

We stopped but briefly on the bouldery spit - it's hard on the feet in paddling footwear.  Interestingly the island has been recently and intensively planted with forestry, so clearly there is confidence that disturbing the soil won't release any dormant anthrax spores.  Behind Allan in this image, the brilliant white summits of  An Teallach rose into a blue sky .

The view across to Torridon when we arrived back in Laide was glorious - winter can sometimes throw up the most stunning conditions.

Back at our base on Loch Ewe the last of the sun lit the Fisherfield hills s we enjoyed a post-paddle cup of tea, but the best of the colour was reserved for well after the sun had set.....

 ....as the sky and sea suffused with the most intense and beautiful lilac pink light.  Some winter days are just so perfect!

An evening to savour

The Loch Fyne Light Show started with a distinct softening and warming of the light quality.  We picked up cameras to watch as the sun sank through a cloudbank over the Kintyre shore.

Donny walked to a vantage point on a nearby rock rib to take some video - you can see Donny's film about our trip on his YouTube Channel here.

I joined Donny to get a view with no rocks in the foreground and was rewarded with this lovely path of sunlight beaming across Loch Fyne.

I spent a good twenty minutes just taking it all in; the last two years have seen few trips due to Covid restrictions and work pressures....it was so good just to "be" in the outdoors again, in the moment with a lovely sunset.

The sun dipped below the Kintyre hills and the sky put on a final flourish of gorgeous light....just superb.

As Donny and I wandered back over to join Raymond and Allan at our camp site the light show faded to a pastel finish, but there was one last and beautiful element to come.

After sunset the pale, ethereal light was as gorgeous as the sunset had been, though in a completely different way.  My photographic skills don't do the light quality any justice whatsoever, the softness and opacity of a calm evening.  It's this changing "Solas" (light) which really makes a day.

The temperature dropped after sunset and we got our fire, built well below the Spring high water line, lit and away.

Contained by a few big logs, it soon built a very satisfactory heat with remarkably little refuelling required due to the lack of wind.  We sat around and enjoyed after-dinner treats and the odd dram - life seemed particularly agreeable on this Fyne evening!

An atmospheric walk on the Correen Hills

When Allan, Lorna and I made plans to meet for a walk over the Correen Hills the forecast suggested a misty start - and that's what we got.  We'd taken a hand-saw to cut away some of the branches from trees fallen during Storm Arwen and which were making progress up the forest and onto the ridge hard going - a 45 minute spell of trimming has made the route a good deal easier.

Emerging onto the ridge we had visibility of just a hundred metres or so for three quarters of the way around the broad, curving ridge.  But as we approached the path junction near Edinbanchory Hill which marks the turn towards Lord Arthur's Hill the mist began to thin and we strode on in ethereal light.

Looking across the valley of the River Don, Coiliochbhar Hill emerged from swirling mist.  This hill has given it's own wonderful misty conditions in the past.

Our pace sowed right down as we stopped frequently to watch the changing scene; ridges and hills appearing and disappearing as the mist boiled, dissipated and re-formed - the effect was quite magical.

We seemed to be in an area of relatively clear air, in each direction a thick cloudbank was evident.  Underneath everything was grey and monotone, around us the light was superb.

 We made the final pull up onto the summit of Lord Arthur's Hill in bright sunshine.  The lack of wind allowed us to sit for half an hour and enjoy the changing views in comfort - in late December!  As we went down the hill towards Tullynessle the air chilled and the mist began to re-form - but what an atmospheric walk it had been!

Evening tour

Cross country skiing in Scotland is often marginal with thin, icy or sticky snow the norm in recent years - not this season though!  Large amounts of snow have built up on most of the high ground in Aberdeenshire, the latest dump courtesy of Storm Christoph added some 40cms.  It's not been necessary to travel in order to find good ski conditions; the forest just a couple of kilometres up the road from home has continued to give terrific skiing.  A brilliant winter day was settling into early evening when I clipped into skis and set out for an evening tour.

The forest tracks have been popular with skiers and families sledging over this weekend but by setting out as everybody else was heading home I had the entire forest to myself - and what a beautiful evening it was to be out.  The temperature was already below freezing and whilst in the forest I was sheltered from the keen north westerly wind - perfect conditions really.

A few kilometres up the forest track a small firebreak path slants off uphill which is my normal route to this end of the Correen Hills.  It's been many years since I've seen so much snow locally - in places it's lying a metre deep.

It was already well after sunset when I broke out of the forest and onto the open hill above.  The snow here was lying deep and unbroken and I'd expected it to be unconsolidated powder as it had been a week previously so it was a pleasant surprise to find that a wind crust had formed which was strong enough to support the skis as I pushed uphill.

The cairn at Peter's Prop is a great viewpoint and was the target for this evening tour.  The wind up here was both strong and bitterly cold as it blew across the snowfields.  I'd missed sunset but was treated to the afterglow and a lovely quality of light.  This was no place to be lingering this evening though, my fingers were "nipping" from just a few moments exposure while I changed settings on the camera.  I clipped back into the skis and headed back down using an energetic kick-and-glide to regain some warmth.

By the time I got back to the main forest track the dusk was deepening and a bright half moon was climbing higher.  Down here there was no wind and the only sounds were the swish of ski and my breath as I strode out.

 The snow immediately in front of me quickly lost definition as darkness fell so although the light levels were quite good I needed a headtorch to ski safely.  The torch beam picked out the diamond glitter of the snow and made for a really atmospheric run.  Taking a different route back offered a swooping downhill section of a full kilometre which my GPS watch told me had been covered in a shade under six minutes giving my speed on that section as 10km/h.  There was a price to pay in a climb back to the car, but well worth it for the fun.  

I arrived back at the car some two hours after dark with the temperature at -7 degrees Celsius having enjoyed a great evening tour of just over 10km/6 miles - on some of the best snow I've skied.

Light and labour - a winter walk on Culblean Hill

The start of the year has seen some really cold conditions in northern and eastern Scotland.  For days either side of New Year the temperature has rarely been above freezing and there's been steady accumulation of snow, coming in showers on a north to north easterly airflow.  Sunday 3rd January looked to be a good day, so Allan, Lorna and I looked for a suitable hill to walk.

Given the prevailing wind and the complete snow cover on high ground we could see from our homes, we looked for a hill which had a north or easterly aspect to climb.  this would mean that the bulk of the snow would have been scoured off to be deposited on south to south westerly slopes, and so give us easier going underfoot.  We chose Culblean Hill - and it wasn't until after we chose that we realised Allan and I had climbed this hill three years previously to the day - in quite similar winter conditions though with less snow cover.

One of the hardest parts of the day was getting to the bottom of the hill - the roads were quite treacherous as there had been a re-freeze of lying snow followed by freezing rain and snow overnight - it was a slow and cautious journey to the starting point.  The initial track is quite steep, but in light powder snow cover under a blue-and-white sky it seemed no real effort; we stopped frequently to admire the views anyway!

Across to the north, Morven (Big Hill) retained cloud cover all day as forecast - which was another reason for choosing a slightly lower hill.  Just the lower shoulder stayed clear, the upper ridge of this super hill generating a cloud banner as cold air was forced upslope.

The view behind us over Cromar towards Pressendye opened up as we climbed - another hill which has given great winter days.  To the north clear air and bright sunshine predominated.....

...but over our shoulders a change was heading from the east as a big snow shower built up.

With the great majority of the climbing done we headed onto the flat and featureless summit area of Culblean Hill.  As we were on the northern edge of this mid-height plateau the snow cover was still quite light, having been scoured by the wind.

The good going didn't last and it was a real labour in knee-deep snow across the plateau towards the summit cairns.  The light was ethereal with shifting tones and constantly changing light levels as cloud streamed across close overhead.  A couple of compass bearings were needed to keep us on track as we waded through deep snow cover whilst trying to avoid the peat hags we knew to be hereabouts.

At the southern edge of the highest ground the view was quite a contrast to the sunny conditions up to the north.  Here, dark clouds with a defined edge lowered over the valley of the River Dee - the town of Ballater a darker patch below wooded hills.

To the west the views were of rolling snow-covered hills off into the far distance, much less clear than that day of three years ago but no less impressive.  It was wild, cold and utterly magnificent; a small hill of just 604m/1982ft giving us some really great winter hillwalking.

It's a truism that every winter hillwalk in Scotland should be treated as a mountaineering venture.  Our hills aren't as high or as remote as in many parts of the world, but have very changeable conditions and experience weather of a ferocity usually associated with much higher mountains.  We'd brought full winter gear including crampons and needed all our spare layers on a small hill.  We'd planned our route carefully to avoid the deepest snow, but still found hard labour - and we needed accurate navigation to locate the correct gully between two tracks we could use for our descent.

Just 200m of descent took us into a different world.  the snow cover very much lighter, the wind a whisper of what we'd felt on the high ground and visibility restored.  Still though, the play of light was in evidence with cloud streaming in from the North Sea trailing curtains of snow.  I tried to capture the quality of light on this walk, shooting lots of images which just failed to capture the wild, luminous light.  This image does no justice to the scale of the cloud streamer overhead - and I'm still not sure whether I prefer it in colour.....

 ...or in black and white!

Three years to the day since climbing this little hill in the earliest part of January, it had again given us a day to remember.  We'll be back - but with new Coronavirus measures limiting meeting up outdoors to just one other person, it may be a while before we can all get back on a hill together.

The end of an extraordinary year

Although 2020 ended (perhaps appropriately) with a grim day of cold, grey and wet weather, there have been some beautiful winter days at the back of December here in the north east of Scotland.  Snow has come and gone, then fallen again - transforming the landscape each time.

Hard frosts have created transient and beautiful sculptures.....

......some like pale fireworks, lasting only until the low winter sun melts the frost.  As ever, I've found escape and respite during this most extraordinary and difficult year in the beauty and opportunity of what's close at hand.  We end the year in what amounts to a lockdown with travel and social contact with loved ones and friends curtailed - as has been the case been for much of 2020.  Hopefully 2021 will see an emergence from the pandemic which has so dominated this year.

And so, as the year closes - from these guys and from me, I wish you health, peace and happiness in the coming year

 

The view over Ewe

A period of good weather combined with some days leave isn't to be passed up!  A couple of calls later and Allan, Lorna and I had an outline plan for a sea kayaking trip in the north west.  Camping in August on the west coast brings the near inevitability of midges - but it would be worth suffering them.  Then, some terrific news - Allan and Lorna had been offered the use of a family connection's croft house above Loch Ewe - which was a huge bonus.

We left a very overcast and humid north east of Scotland, emerged into bright sunshine north of Inverness and then drove back into thick haar (sea mist) at Gairloch.  Over at Poolewe it wasn't so thick, but kept rolling in periodically through the afternoon.  We decided not to get on the water straight away and spent a leisurely afternoon sorting out kit which had been hastily packed the previous evening - we wouldn't need any camping gear after all!

Gradually the mist began to clear as late afternoon turned to evening, the outlines of the Fisherfield Munros became clearer in a pale blue sky.

 

Evening brought the most beautiful view over Ewe....our base faced east and the sunset light was washing the hills with warm light and showing ridges and corries in sharp relief. The forecast was for great weather the following day, and we were raring to go....

One good thing - 21st April 2020

Yesterday's "one good thing" was all about water and the clarity of the river Don, today it was all about the sky.

We spent the late evening of 20th April outside trying to spot some of the shooting stars from the Lyrid Meteor Shower, and also watching the satellites of the Starlink constellation as they passed high to the south west in line astern.  It was a beautifully clear night with no moon....

...and quite different by early morning with a thick mist subduing the colours.  But slowly, the disc of the sun appeared as a faint glow, the mist gained a bright tension......

...before dissipating as if it had never been.  As soon as the sun hit the grass several Skylarks took off with an outpouring of song.

From dense mist to intense blue cloudless sky had taken less than twenty minutes.  High pressure and an easterly airstream have given these very dry and cloudless conditions for a week over the northeast of Scotland, intensely blue sky and brittle-bright light - it's a joy.

One good thing - 6th April 2020

The best thing about today has been the variety and quality of light throughout the day and into the evening......

Early morning saw showers and stroboscopic lighting effects in the wake of a cold front which passed over northeast Scotland overnight.  Clouds racing overhead alternately lit the view with dazzling, intense colours, then switched off the light to leave a muted version of the same scene.

After a mainly bright and breezy day the wind dropped towards evening and a slow-burn sunset underlit a cloudbank with gold and bronze.

Tonight's full moon was high in the sky before sunset, adding pale light to the most delicate of pink shades in the air.

While back to the west the cloudbank dissipated in the cooling air as if it had never existed, leaving just a hint of the sunset projected into the sky.

As I type this post a full hour after sunset, the same piece of sky is a colour somewhere between jade green and lemon; gorgeous but beyond the camera to capture.  The light (in Gaelic "solas") has absolutely been one good thing about today.