Ski tour - ski more!

Conditions for XC ski touring here in Aberdeenhire have continued to be exceptionally good - so good that I've been doing lots of skiing and not much blogging!  Repeated snowfall and overnight temperatures well below freezing have combined to build a really deep and stable snowpack.  In the forests the tracks are skiing really well.....

...on compacted tracks where there have been lots of traffic.  Off the usual routes the snow has a good crust, and is very pretty, but is just failing to hold my weight on forest skis.

Out on the open hills the views are really enhanced by snow cover, Tap o' Noth's summit hillfort is standing out particularly well.

All the high ground has good snow cover - and since this image was taken in the last week of January there have been further heavy falls to build up the snowpack.

It's a different world up here on the Correen ridge, just five minutes drive and 300m altitude separates the ridge from my house, but up here the wind is stingingly cold and the temperatures are lower by day - it's quite arctic.

Whenever I've been up doing short tours I've met other skiers - and in the spirit of the latest Covid lockdown almost all have been neighbours, friends and locals.  And really, if you have conditions like this on the doorstep, why travel any distance?!

So, skiing has taken centre stage for now while the good conditions last!  Under a blue sky it's marvellous, but if the touring by day has been good, touring during evenings and nights has been superb.....

 

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.

One good thing - an apres (work) ski

I'd received tip-offs from friends during a day of working from home that the snow conditions were great for nordic skiing in the forest above the house.  As soon as the final Skype meeting of the day was complete I grabbed my skis and boots and drove up to the top of the road.  The blue sky of earlier in the day had been replaced with a grey mist which had the feeling of more snow about it, and it was already past sunset.  No matter; if you don't embrace the darkness at this time of year in Scotland, you'll have short days out!

My friends had been up over a couple of days and there were good tracks to follow thanks to Les, Lorna and Linda, which made for fast skiing.   The rhythm of movement on ski came back gradually as I headed up into the forest.

I'm not at all elegant on nordic ski, but so good was the snow that even I was able to strike out in a fast kick-and-glide style; on level sections it was possible to get up quite a speed, and to glide the downhill parts of the forest roads.  It's been a long while since I've experienced "Goldilocks" snow of this sort - not too deep, not too thin, not too packed and not too powdery - it was great!

Soon I was well up into the forest and at the end of the forest road, well after dark.  A brief rest and it was time to head back, mostly downhill.  For about 15 minutes a light snowfall had been apparent, but it was about to get a bit heavier...

...in fact quite a lot heavier!  My outward tracks were already filling in but were still good enough to give some speed, the head torch beam showing that this was no passing snow shower.

The last kilometre or so was slower as the amount of snow coming down meant that I was effectively breaking trail in tracks I'd made just an hour earlier.  It was all exhilarating, aerobic and the perfect after work exercise - what a privilege to be able to do this just a few minutes from home!

 Back at the car, it was plain to see how much snow had come down in a short period.  The drive back down the steep Suie road was....carefully done! So that was the "one good thing" about today, and it looks that conditions will be perfect for more of the same.

One good thing - 5th April 2020

Being restricted to walks from the house has prompted exploration of some of the tracks which lead off my "normal" routes.  Some are half-hidden and rarely used except by wildlife.  Sometimes they just peter out in the forest, or lead to a dead end.......

...but sometimes after following these forgotten tracks for a distance there's a new angle to explore...

....and a new way to link up routes and tracks which I'd probably never have found otherwise.

Bin it

I've driven past the sign on the A96 road near Huntly which points to the Bin forest car park literally hundreds of times and yet not visited - feeling that a walk close to a busy road would be spoiled.  I'm pleased to say I was totally wrong.

On a really windy Sunday morning we parked and headed out on one of the waymarked trails which climbs steadily up through the forest. 

The Bin was originally planted for timber using seeds brought to Scotland by the great plant collector David Douglas, and while still worked partly as a commercial forest there's much more to it.  It's been a long time since I've visited a forest with quite some much variety; open areas alternate with denser woods and mixed stands of wood are much in evidence.  In this image there are Spruce, Scots Pine, Birch and Rowan all within a few square metres.

There was plenty of interest in the small scale too, miniature forests of lichen and mosses with just as much variety as the big stuff.

We saw the first frog spawn of the year in a pool beside the path, possibly laid the previous week in the very warm (for February) conditions.  Whether this spawn will survive is questionable with sub-zero temperatures and some snow forecast for the first week of March.

A small group of Ladybirds, probably 7 Spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septemunctata) were sunning themselves in a sheltered spot on an old pine branch.  We've seen a lot of these bright little creatures this winter, our Christmas tree proved to have large numbers hibernating among the branches which we carefully took outside and placed in similar spots in the garden!

Near the top of the forest the view opens up and our attention switched from the small things at our feet to the wider landscape - this is a view to the Buck, a prominent hill above the Cabrach.

The high point of the Bin forest is the hill after which it's named, the Bin is 313m/1026ft.  "Bin" is probably a variant of "Ben", the Gaelic term for hill or mountain - there's another so named close by, the Bin of Cullen, which is almost exactly the same height.  There top is an outcrop surrounded by trees offering good views through breaks in the canopy.  A nearby pool is known as the "Gallon of Water" and was supposed to have healing powers, especially for children with Whooping Cough.  The walk to the summit followed by a "dook" in freezing water probably would have some effect, one way or the other!

We descended back down to the main track through a wood which little ones would recognise as good habitat for Gruffalo, and half glimpsed a strange creature through the trees....we're still not sure, but it may have been?

Other strange sights were present in this part of the wood - great mushrooms of mosses........

....and a split boulder through which the path winds.  Our route took the Yellow and White trails through the forest, the longest of the options and circling the hill to arrive back at the car park.  In total our walk was 10km and has around 200m of ascent, mostly on good forest rack with some smaller path sections.  For variety and interest the Bin has lots going for it - and is certainly not rubbish!  As a bonus, the nearby town of Huntly has a number of places to eat.

A "green winter" day in Glen Tanar

We took a walk at Glen Tanar today; the location chosen to maximise shelter from a blustery and strong north westerly wind.

Among the pines there's no obvious sign of winter - everything is green and especially so when the low sun lights up the trees.

A large pine had been brought down by recent storm force winds.  It had been moved off a path by cutting into sections and bodily dragged clear.  Someone with a very sharp chainsaw and a steady hand had been at work here!

The branches of the upper part of the tree showed the beautiful reddish colour of these iconic trees; it's not easy to get close to the upperworks of mature pines unless the fall or, as sometimes happnes, limbs become detached.

I gathered up a couple of handfuls of shavings from the tree to put in a spare food bag - this will be tinder for lighting a camp fire on a beach somewhere in the future!

So far, a "green" winter with generally mild temperatures, even some faint warmth from the January sunshine.  But there may be change on the way.  Subtle alterations in the stratosphere are giving weather forecasters indications of colder conditions towards the end of the month.

In which case this sign "Drive carefully down the hill" might be quite appropriate!

Pressing on to Pressendye

On Saturday 17th March whilst driving into the village of Tarland, we remarked on how good the hills to the north looked.  This broad and undulating ridge separates the Howe of Cromar from upper Donside and is a fine viewpoint, particularly the "Graham" of Pressendye - the highest point in this image.

I decided that if the weather held on the following day, I'd climb Pressendye - normally a couple of hours walk with a modest amount of ascent.

Overnight into Sunday 18th March there was another dump of snow, the latest in a run of weather systems borne on a cold easterly airstream.  An additional 10cm fell, turning the whole landscape back to winter.  Nevertheless, it was a bright and breezy day and I drove the short distance to the start of a route I've used before.

The route goes initially up a farm access road, past the farm of Pett.  I stopped to chat with the farmer who was loading sheep feed pellets for his animals.  This latest blast of winter could scarcely have come at a worse time for him as his ewes are just starting to lamb - getting them in safely and keeping them sheltered will be a constant worry for the next few weeks.

Above the farm the track enters a pine forest and the snow lay a little deeper.

The higher up the forest I went, the deeper the snow became.  At about 400m height it was above my knees and progress began to be really laborious.  I emerged through a particularly deep drift onto the broad forest road which takes a curving line west then north towards the higher ground.  The prints of Roe deer crossed the track at various points - and, thrillingly, the tracks of a Wildcat; one of the rarest and most elusive of Scotland's mammals.

The track continued to climb, the snow continued to get deeper.....

...and in parts was thigh deep.  Progress slowed to less than a kilometer an hour as each step sank deep into the unconsolidated snow.  On this flank of the hill I was sheltered from the strong easterly wind, which was in part why the snow was lying to such a depth.  I estimated that there would be much less above the treeline where the wind would have been getting at it.

The scene was outstandingly beautiful though, and taking photographs every couple of hundred meters at least gave an excuse to pause from what was becoming really hard going.

On the final rise out of the forest the snow was at its deepest and I was more wading than walking, each uphill step a real effort.  I pressed on, hoping that my theory about the wind having removed most of the snow from the higher ridge would prove accurate - any kind of distance in this depth of snow would be a real battle.  Another gasping stop - purely to admire the beauty of snow covered trees against a blue sky of course!

At last I got above the treeline and onto more open ground - almost immediately there was a change underfoot.  Less depth of snow and what was left was packed into a consolidated, squeaky consistency like polystyrene.  On steeper and more exposed ground I'd have been concerned about the formation of windslab, a layer of such snow that can shear away from the layers of snow underneath and avalanche.  There was no risk of that here fortunately, and I made better progress though still with an occasional jarring when the surface layer broke and my leg plunged through to the thigh.

At about this point I changed hat and gloves to the warmest I had with me and battened down.  The wind was about 40mph from the ENE and absolutely frigid, the still-air temperature at this height of about 500m was minus 5 Celsius.

The steady direction and strength of the wind over a couple of weeks has created some great snow sculptures.  In the lee of each dwarf pine (this one bent to the ground by weight of ice) graceful waves and fins of snow extended downwind.  They looked fragile but were surprisingly well bonded.

Above, a white banner against the gunmetal grey of a passing snow shower showed the effect of the wind as it whirled a groundstorm across the flank of the slope.  The contrast between the conditions I was experiencing today and the gentle nature of a summer walk on this hill could scarcely be more pronounced.  In winter, every Scottish hillwalk can be a mountaineering outing; even those on the smaller hills.

A glimpse ahead at Glen Tanar

January has seen some very wintry weather; periods of snow and deep frost interspersed with deep Atlantic low pressure systems bringing wind and rain.  The last few days have brought that sort of cycle in miniature, and created conditions in which a hillwalker became disorientated and lost his life on Lochnagar.

The very day after that tragic event there was a brief gap, just a morning, when it was possible to get a glimpse forward towards the end of winter - although for sure there's plenty of winter still to come.

We took a walk in the beautiful pine forest of Glen Tanar, near Aboyne.  In many respects a traditional estate, Glen Tanar is also a National Nature Reserve and is administered by a charitable trust.  There's a car park signposted off the south Deeside road (with a daily charge) from where a number of waymarked walks radiate.  We decided on one of our favourites; a 10km route which goes up the glen towards Mount Keen.

Adjacent to the fine packhorse bridge just across the road from the car park there's a small visitor centre with information about the estate and its wildlife.  Outside, we chatted to the ranger who was enjoying a coffee in the sunshine.  We remarked that this was the first day since November when it's been warm enough to do that! The birds seemed to have felt it too - Great Tits and Blue Tits were calling away as if it was early Spring rather than the middle of winter.

The chapel of St Lesmo's was lit with warm sunlight;  benches placed along a south east wall catch the best of any morning sun.

The lochan near to Glen Tanar House was almost completely iced over even though in full sun; it will have been this way for several weeks.

The pine forest is a real joy to walk through at any time of year and maybe especially so in winter when the evergreen pines are a contrast to the bare branches elsewhere. 

The Water of Tanar drains the corries below Mount Keen and the Mounth, giving its water to the River Dee at Aboyne.  There was sufficient warmth in the morning to spend some time just watching the water flow (time doing this is never wasted!).  We heard, then glimpsed a pair of Dippers zipping down the river, and in another glimpse ahead, singing their bright song.

By the afternoon rain and wind had arrived as another low pressure system passed overhead, and 24 hours later the temperature has fallen from double figures to near freezing, with a raw northwesterly wind.  Yes, there's plenty of winter to come, but it was good to get a glimpse ahead!