Friday 27.01.2012

A confluence of actualities meant glorious weather and a day off (and no doubt Mars and Jupiter in the right juxtaposition) so there was only one thing for it - head for the hills.
Unfortunately this meant getting up at five o`clock - on a day off? - but the days are still too short for late starts in the mountains so we were on the path to Lochnagar** by quarter to nine after a drive of a couple of hours, unable to believe how clear and still it was.

The combination of sun and ice made for some sparkly decorations

but in fact the general splendiforousness of sun, blue sky, ice, snow and majestic mountain defy description - or at least my descriptive powers.

Almost as satisfying as reaching the summit was the walk back: across the tops,

down to and along the river - past the rather wonderful Glas Allt falls -

and finally to a tranquil Loch Muick.

To walk for seven hours in the mountains in such benign winter conditions must be one of the few things it`s worth getting up at five in the morning for...........


** http://scotclimb.org.uk/lochnagar.shtml

Wednesday 25.01.2012

Quick dash before work in the rain and wind. Love the winter silhouettes:

but didn`t linger. Straight back in a hot shower: very invigorating and makes five and a half hours at a desk more manageable.

Friday 20.01.2012

A precious day off though there`s paperwork to do.
But out first with forecasts of deteriorating weather: greys, whites and the occasional glimpse of icy blue with the sun still "palely loitering",** doing its best to make things sparkle but without much success, which come to think of it is pretty much what happened to that poor knight.

** La Belle Dame Sans Merci
John Keats

Still, it was good walking, with the right kind of snow for a satisfying crunch underfoot, plenty of interesting scents to keep the dogs amused

and a chippy little wind making us work for our supper.

And so to the paperwork.........

Wednesday 18.01.2012

Brief respite from the freeze: instead it was a swirly, birly cold wind as we walked up the road, but warmer and quieter in the woods, the pale sun,low in the sky despite it being the middle of the day, casting a beautiful light and long shadows in amongst the trees.

Finally got round to Scarlet, the second of the Lawhead King Raven trilogy*: quite unputdownable and once again adding a whole new dimension to walking through the woods.

*see post 9.12.2011

14.01.2012

Left it a little late (work, shopping, blah, blah)but rewarded by fantastic light on a cold, completely still winter`s afternoon on Bennachie.
Sun almost gone as we clambered up (and where it had never been the frost lingered all day):

but we caught the last of it on Mither Tap and even the dogs seemed impressed:

Friday 13.01.2012

Really wintry day but without any drama: greys, greens and browns,pale sun, very cold and completely still as if all the pretty razamatazz of Christmas and New Year has been stripped away and we`re deep into the real thing but without the snow - so far.

Turned into a pretty stunning evening too:

and a star-studded,cold still night with a halo round the moon which in turn is making the frosty grass sparkle...still a bit of razamatazz then.


Holidays included housesitting by Bennachie so good walking with enthusiastic labs - slippy and cold on the penultimate day of the year:

but then mild and benign on New Year`s day and we did the "three peaks":

Mither Tap

Oxen Craig

and Craigshannoch

to properly welcome it in.







So, nearly the middle of January, most of the bills more or less paid, properly back to work....onwards and upwards!