Picture of the Month - June 2013

Loch Ailort

......27 years on

We've always been blessed with fine weather in 

Arisaig and Moidart, long may it continue.

Revisiting old memories - and the tidal flow - near Roshven

Our first time on this stretch of water was 1986

Picture of the Month - May 2013

The Caledonia Way

Slighe na h-Alba

A wonderful, traffic-free path, with a few sections on minor roads.  Much of the path is built along the former railway line which ran from Connel to the slate quarries near Ballachulish. 

The path has great views, hugging the coast for much of the way and has very few gradients. 

Picture of the Month - April 2013

Ben More

Saturday 6th April 

I said 'bend ze knees'

Roni demonstrating winter skills to Graham

Picture of the Month - March 2013

Lochnagar

Beinn Chìochan - Mountain of breasts

'perfect winter conditions'

Bill at the coo's tail

Picture of the Month - February 2013

Days you dream about.....

Beinn a'Ghlo

It really doesn't get any better than this....the view from Carn Liath

Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain was climbed over Carn Liath -

two parts of the classic traverse of Beinn a' Ghlo from Loch Moraig.

Our coldest day on the hill - ever

'Spanking'

Picture of the Month - January 2013

Firth of Clyde

Maidens Sunset

Sunset at 5.30pm on a cold Winters day

click below for the trip

Maidens to Dunure

Dunure to Maidens

Ben Vorlich, Loch Earn - Winter

The Race to the top
Sunday January 13th

All thoughts of 'will the weather be too wild' are soon forgotten when you are out on the hill.
You just cope, and mostly enjoy the experience.
Our wee group left the shelter of the trees in the lower glen and plodded up the well made path.
Well drained paths like this one get a big 'thumbs up'

On the open hill we were hit by a succession of snow showers.

Our world shrank to a grey curtain, where were our 

'summits cloud free'?

In Scotland we have a fabulous mountain weather website -

Mountain Weather Information Service.

 It has been very accurate on countless days out,

but today's weather front arrived a bit ahead of schedule.

To be fair, 'confidence in timing low' is the key phrase!

There were a few well spaced parties ahead of us,

guess they hadn't been to Mhor in Callander!

  Snow showers came frequently,

 limited visibility coming and going each time.

David and Graham battened down the hatches 

as another squall moved towards us.

We stood in a shallow groove and ate our 'pieces' ....

snow and ice particles constantly blasting us. 

....some had a bigger piece than others.....

....while others patiently waited.....

We decided to split into two parties -

 'summit' and 'how far will we go?' 

Bill, David  and Andy raced on into the blowing snow, while Dee, Roni and Graham walked on, eventually turning back around 850m.

The 'boys' found the summit trig had feathery ice crystals 

growing into the wind.

 On Ben Vorlich's east summit - 

visibility was not great.

Several fierce squalls of freezing snow and ice soon shifted us. 

It took just 35 minutes to run from the summit to the intake dam.

Our pal was waiting for us

Back down in the lower glen not far from Ardvorlich House, 

we spotted blossom on one of the trees.

Must be a special micro-climate here......

Remember  - this is Scotland mid-January.

Azelea 'Praecox' screamed colour,

it's a beautiful plant.

On reaching the cars the 'summit' squad caught up with the 

'850m' mob who had been lucky enough to see some of the red squirrels who inhabit the glen.

Roni met a young couple on the way back down, Gillian and Stuart.

Their conversation turned to different styles of crampons -

 and what to buy.

Roni remembered that in her garage were two pairs 

of 'old' Cassin crampons. 

Always good to recycle gear to someone who will use it! 

Here's hoping they have much fun with well travelled 'jaggy feet'.

Roni, Graham, Deirdre, David, Bill & Andy 

Ben Vorlich - Loch Earn

Mhor of the same please 

Sunday 13th January

After the blue skies and stunning sunset yesterday, it came as a bit of a shock to see the snow had arrived 8 hours earlier than forecast.

Roni's meeting instructions were clear,
 'if you arrive at 9.00 - time for coffee, we leave at 9.30 sharp'

On this occasion everyone was on time!
Fear of Roni, or gasping for coffee?

We were first in the cafe, the heavy falling snow the main topic;
Dee said, 'should I stay or should I go?'

As usual, adventure and good company beckoned......

Mhor Cafe - get in early or be prepared for a wait

Callander was a ghost town, we've never seen it this quiet.

where have all the trippers gone?

The single track road along the south side of Loch Earn, passes the attractively restored 16th century Edinample Castle. Today all eyes were on the road in case of ice. Ardvorlich House - home of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, is the normal start point up Ben Vorlich.

south Loch Earn road

The tree lined east driveway leads past the stables and farm.

From memory the garden in front of the wall always has interest, 
but in January!

What shrub is in prolific bloom?

East driveway - Ardvorlich Estate

Bill guessed an Azelea Praecox - flowering in the middle of January is highly unusual, it's normally Mid March and into April.

Wonder if the wet and mild spell over December has confused it?

Azelea -  blooming in winter ?

Ardvorlich Estate has always been walker friendly, a discreet sign pointing to the winding track beside the 
pleasantly wooded Ardvorlich Burn.

Ardvorlich is a category B listed building

Easy walking on the track takes you through scattered birches.

Powering on in front - as usual....

The trees were holding a fair amount of snow - the trick was to hit a branch just as someone walked under it..........

admiring the snowy trees.....

We had two 'friends' waiting for us, Highland garrons (ponies) who spend life on the hill.

'Garron' appears to be an English corruption of the Gaelic, 'gearran' meaning gelding - which, in case you don't know, 

is a castrated male horse .....

No matter what you call them, they are hardy beasts indeed.

Graham's be(a)st friends

With heavy snowfall the ponies have to clear snow 

to get to the vegetation.

Makes you wonder about the saying 'scraping a living'.

'I'm hungry'

It was very picturesque - but we knew that on the open hill, blizzard conditions were guaranteed.

fresh falling snow

At the track end and just before the Allt a Coire Bhuidhe a new intake dam has been formed as one of three feeds to the small hydro electric scheme on the estate.

None of this infrastructure existed when we last visited Ben Vorlich in December 2007

Intake dam on Allt a Coire Bhuide

This scheme was one of the first to take advantage of the UK governments Feed in Tariff for electricity production.

It produces an average of 2,400MWh, so you can work out the income if you wish!

It is well designed and isn't obtrusive - rather this than a few wind turbines on the ridge.

Dunure to Maidens

Blinded by the light 

Saturday January 12th

After our lunch in the bar of the Dunure Inn 

it was time to paddle back to Maidens.

You can see from the picture that Dunure harbour has a 

distinctive old beacon at it's entrance. 

(that isn't a reference to Andy)(or Elizabeth)

Mr & Mrs Lomo at Dunure Harbour 

It was now around two hours after high water and many reefs and submerged rocks were negotiated as we passed under the ruins of the old Kennedy stronghold of Dunure Castle.

Bill can confirm that the rocks were just awash as he left gelcoat on quite a few of them!

Sadly skies were no longer blue - high cloud had filled in and it was noticeably cooler

Dunure Castle remains - 15th or 16th century

Once clear of Dunure Point things cheered up, as a 'hole' sat on the horizon, directly in the path of the setting sun.

crossing Culzean Bay

The further south we travelled and the lower the sun, 
the more dramatic the lighting.

It felt like kayaking to Tir na Og
(although we were heading south, not west.)

Turnberry Lighthouse in the distance

Ailsa Craig was bathed in dusky colours, 

this was turning out to be a very special evening.

distinctive profile of Ailsa Craig

As the sun slipped toward the horizon and moved under the cloud 

the lighting changed in an instant. 

It was both blinding and irresistible-and we loved every minute of it.

passing wooded Barwhin Point

Although difficult to see detail in front of you, we knew if we aimed for Turnberry Lighthouse it was roughly the right direction!

'blinded by the light'

Entering Maidens bay with the sun sinking lower

 the ever changing colours were quite beautiful.

It is not often that you experience such a sunset whilst paddling.

crossing Maidenhead Bay

Reluctantly we headed for Maidens shore - the beach dries out quite a distance at low tide, so there was a bit of a carry back to our vehicles.

perfect west coast sunset

What a tonic this short day proved to be.

The forecast for the following day was good-

so lets go hillwalking tomorrow!

Maidens to Dunure

discovering the Ayrshire coast

Saturday January 12th

Leaving Maidens beach on a cold January morning Andy, Elizabeth and Bill, headed north under the headland of Barwhin Hill. An easterly breeze made warm winter gear essential. 

This was a leisurely 'recce' day; future exploration is imminent.....

Our morning journey from Glasgow had been under dark, dull grey skies; it was something of a relief to find the forecast sunshine.

During the holiday period in Decemebr 2012, the Scottish west coast and western/central Highlands have had very little in the way of blue sky and sunshine. We craved a fix!

Amazing the positive mood an 'open' sky brings.

Barwhin point

Culzean Castle commands a fine position on the cliffs.

We went right under the battlements - giving a few visitors something to photograph - titled 'Mad Kayakers' no doubt!

Interestingly, at the base of the cliffs, cave and castle passageway openings all had yetts.

Heading toward Croy - under Culzean Castle

Crossing Culzean bay was entertaining - It was only 3km - but felt longer. The east wind was funneled off the land, from Maybole direction, and although one kilometer offshore, we could smell the freshly manured fields - 'a fine country smell', said Andy.

'what a smell...was that you Andy?'

We reached Dunure at high tide.  It's a gem, especially as it has a kayaker friendly pub just yards from the harbour wall.

The layout of the village around the harbour makes it feel as if it should be sited on the Aberdeenshire coast.

Dunure Harbour

High water gave an easy landing on the small shingle beach.

A perfect landing spot

As Elizabeth had forgotten her lunch it seemed a great idea to grab a sandwich in the bar.....Bill and Andy did offer some of their lunch, but the warmth of the bar won!

As every man of the Moray fraternity knows, 

Elizabeth has trouble with zips.

'Pull woman, pull.....'

On warm days, drysuits are called 'boil in the bags' - 

for obvious reasons. Just as well we don't have 'smellyvision'

a highly recommended bar

Time, and tide wait for no man (or woman)

better drink up.....