1. These photos were taken from Sròn Riach to the south of Ben Macdui on Saturday 14th August and show two snowpatches in Coire an Lochain Uaine below Ben Macdui. The first photo shows both patches, one is very small at the foot of a buttress and hard to see and off to the right of the obvious patch, this patch would have melted pretty soon after the photo was taken. The second photo is a closeup of the larger patch, and there isn’t a lot of apparent depth to it, so perhaps this patch has gone now also.

2. This photograph was taken on the evening of Saturday 14th August and shows the highest snowpatch in the Snowy Corrie east of the northern top of Ben Macdui above the headwaters of the Garbh Uisge Mòr at an altitude of about 1260m and a grid ref. of NN 9920 9936. There might have been a depth of nearly a metre in the centre of this patch, so it may well still be surviving.

Interestingly, on my last visit to the Snowy Corrie on 22/08/09 (see the blog posting (’Summer snowfields in the Cairngorms (2)‘), there was no snowpatch at this location but I did observe on that occasion a larger patch about 100m to the south at grid ref. NN 9929 9930 (see a photograph of this patch here), which was not there on this recent subsequent visit. I believe this is an indicator of the prevailing winds this winter being from a slightly different direction and leaving patches in different areas.

3. This photograph was also taken on the evening of Saturday 14th August and shows a quite astonishing alignment of objects - the summit plateau of Ben Macdui, the snowpatches in Garbh Choire Mòr south of Braeriach across the Lairig Ghru (there are 8, although 4 of these are small and obviously remnants of larger patches that have recently split in two), the ‘Window’ on distant Creag Meagaidh, and just visible above the snowpatches, a hovering RAF SAR Sea King that obligingly posed for me.

And to round off the alignments, a short while after this photo was taken, the sun set over Braeriach, and the new crescent moon and Venus set over Cairn Toul. I also saw some of the Perseid meteor shower later on - quite a show!

4. This photograph was taken early on the morning of Sunday 15th August and shows the snowpatch in the Snowy Corrie that I visited the evening before with another smaller one to the east - and the resident semi-wild Reindeer herd also obligingly posed for me! With the clear morning blue skies, fantastic light and no wind, I really felt that the gods of photography were smiling on me this trip!

5. This photograph was also taken early on the morning of Sunday 15th August from the unnamed ridge east of Garbh Uisge Mòr. It shows another two snowpatch areas east of the northern top of Ben Macdui and above the Garbh Uisge Mòr. The patch to the left is the one I visited on my 22/08/09 trip last year (at grid ref. NN 9952 9986; see a photo from that trip last August here), but seems noticeably smaller this year, at an earlier date, although it is a bit difficult to judge the scale from such a distance. The patch to the right (which actually appears to be two patches in close proximity) is a new one to me, and one I’ve not seen before.

6. This photograph was taken on the morning of Sunday 15th August from a point just to the west of Creagan a’Choire Etchachan, grid ref. NO 0091 9964. It shows a snowpatch above Loch Etchachan, at the point where an unamed river descends from the Garbh Uisge Mòr area eastwards down to the loch (near my favourite grid ref. NJ 000 000!).

It’s interesting to note that all of the 5 patches I saw in the Garbh Uisge Mòr area (and also the patches in Coire an Lochain Uaine below Ben Macdui) have a south-facing component to their slope aspects. This is perhaps another indicator of the prevailing winds this winter being from a slightly different direction and leaving patches in different areas, but is also interesting because these patches have survived into August despite their slope aspects receiving a lot of solar radiation - it does seem to me that prevailing wind direction in the winter months seems to be the major factor contributing to snowpatch survival, at least in the case of the patches around Ben Macdui this year.

Early morning on the summit of Ben Macdui

A few weeks ago I travelled to Linn of Dee near Braemar and cycled along Glen Lui towards Ben Macdui with the intention of walking up to the summit via Glen Luibeg from the south. The weather was very wet and low clouds meant there wasn’t very much in the way of views, so I ended up changing my plans and walking to the summit of Sgòr Mòr instead. Sgòr Mòr is a Corbett summit in the middle of the Cairngorms and is completely overshadowed by the huge peaks surrounding it, but its saving grace is that it offers exceptional views of these mountains. However, on the day of my walk there wasn’t much to see, so it ended up being a fairly unrewarding trip.

Last weekend the weather forecast was much better so I tried again, and this time planned a 2-day trip with a high-level camp. I cycled in again from Linn of Dee, left my bike at Derry Lodge and made my way along Glen Luibeg. Conditions were much better on this trip and I was able to identify a lot of flora and fauna on the route (something I have been trying to pay more attention to recently) including Devil’s Bit Scabious, Heath-Spotted Orchid, Cowberry and Blaeberry (which provided a tasty treat) and also a couple of Viviparous Lizards. Higher up towards the summit of Ben Macdui I saw Crowberry, Alpine Lady’s-mantle and Prostrate Juniper. The Cairngorms in Summer are an excellent place to see all these plants as there is very little grazing from sheep and deer which would eat them.

Reindeer on the summit of Ben Macdui

Crossing the Luibeg Burn before heading up the ridge to the subsidiary top of Sròn Riach took a bit of care - this would be an extremely difficult crossing when the river is in spate. Then it was a long slog up to the summit of Ben Macdui. Once on the summit plateau I wandered around a bit, exploring the Snowy Corrie directly to the east of the summit and meeting three friendly reindeer from the resident semi-wild herd that roams the Cairn Gorm - Ben Macdui plateau in the summer months.

I decided to camp right on the summit as there is a handy little windbreak structure of boulders there with a flat area of gravel with enough room to pitch a tent. I knew the forecast for the night was for light winds, so camping on the summit wasn’t too much of a risk. At 1309m, this was the highest elevation camp I’ve ever made in the UK (I have camped at higher altitudes in California and Norway though).

Spending the night on the summit was quite an experience. I had incredible views over the Lairig Ghru towards Cairn Toul and Braeriach, and after I set up my tent, Venus and a new crescent Moon set behind Cairn Toul in the twlilight. An RAF SAR Sea King helicopter spent the evening hovering and flying up and down the Lairig Ghru. A pair of Snow Buntings, a Seagull and a Dotterel also seemed to see the summit as their home, obviously making a living from all the crumbs that walkers drop when they eat their lunch at the summit.

The night sky put on a show as well, with the Milky Way arching high overhead and some meteors from the Perseid meteor shower visible. Despite being August it was pretty cold though and I didn’t spend too long outside my tent. I also heard walkers on the summit at 3am - it was definitely not a quiet night!

The following morning was one of those magical moments in the mountains that happen all too rarely. I crawled out of my tent on the rocky summit to a crystal-clear calm day with bright sunshine and perfectly blue skies. The clarity of the views over the Lairig Ghru towards Cairn Toul and Braeriach was tremendous, and I ate my porridge breakfast with perhaps the best view of anyone in the world at that moment.

I then carried on my walking route eastward from the summit, passing more reindeer and towards Loch Etchachan, passing many groups of young walkers doing a silver D of E trip on their way up to the summit. The conditions and scenery remained astounding, all the way over Derry Cairngorm and back to Derry Lodge to pick up my bike.

You can see the photos from the walk on my website here.

Coire Mhic Fhearchair and the Triple Buttress

On Tuesday last week I travelled to Torridon to hike to Coire Mhic Fhearchair, a three hour walk to a hidden corrie behind Beinn Eighe. Coire Mhic Fhearchair must be one of the most dramatic corries in the whole of the Scottish mountains, with the impressive backdrop of the Triple Buttress.

The day started off with blue skies and very little wind, and the walk along Coire Dubh Mhor beneath the eastern cliffs of Liathach was almost idyllic (there were a few midgies about), with a great view in the morning light of the glacial ‘hummocky moraine’ deposits in Glen Torridon called ‘The Corrie of a Hundred Hills‘.

When I got to Coire Mhic Fhearchair the views were exceptional, with the steep cliffs on the south and west sides of the corrie reflected in the still waters of Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair reminding me of similar views in the Canadian Rockies.

Wreckage of a Lancaster propellor below the Triple Buttress

I walked to the scree slopes at the southern end of Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair below the Triple Buttress and explored the remains of a Lancaster that crashed into the Triple Butress in 1951. You can see my page about this wreck site on my website here.

In the afternoon it clouded over and started to rain and I made my way back out of the corrie the way I had come, without walking up to the many summits of Beinn Eighe. The weather throughout all my trips this month has been pretty wet, it’s been another rain-filled July for Scotland. Here’s hoping August does not go the same way.

You can see the photos from the walk on my website here.

Looking west from Sgurr nan Ceannaichean over Glen Carron

On Monday I travelled to Glen Carron and climbed up to the summit of Sgurr nan Ceannaichean. I did not walk up the usual way recommended in guide books but instead walked up via Coire an t-Seilich and the north-western slopes of the mountain. This was over difficult terrain and the overgrown vegetation, boggy ground, steep slopes of wet grass, insects, humidity and heavy rain made it a pretty unpleasant climb! Once I was near the summit however, the weather cleared and I was able to take some photos of the great views, which included the peaks of Torridon and Letterewe to the north.

Sgurr nan Ceannaichean is an unusual mountain in that it only became a Munro summit in 1981 and in 2009 it stopped being a Munro summit. This sort of madness really soured me on the whole idea of Munro-bagging (see my blog posting ‘Munro nonsense‘).

On the climb up the mountain I also looked for any wreckage from the wartime crash of a Whitley bomber that crashed near the summit in 1941 but only managed to find a small number of insignificant pieces of metal from the plane in Coire an t-Seilich and on the north-western slopes of the summit. I believe the majority of the wreckage was cleared in recent years.

You can see the photos from the walk on my website here.

It was probably the longest bike trip I’ve ever done, but wasn’t too physically challenging as the roads were good and although there were some hills on the second day’s route, they weren’t too difficult. What did make the trip a bit of an endurance test was the weather which was mostly awful, with heavy rain at several points in the journey. I had purchased a set of expensive Ortlieb bike panniers for the trip and I’m glad I did as they kept my kit dry.

Striding Edge

On Thursday last week I travelled to the Lake District to walk up to the 950m summit of Helvellyn. This was my second walking trip to the Lake District (the first being to Skiddaw in March, see the blog posting ‘Skiddaw‘)

I walked up along Mires Beck river from Glenridding and onto the broad ridge of Birkhouse Moor before the arête of Striding Edge itself.

Walking along Striding Edge was mostly pretty straightforward, the exception being the few metres of scrambling descent down a step (see photo at left) required near the end of the arête before the final steep climb up to the summit plateau of Helvellyn.

I descended down off the busy summit Helvellyn via Swirral Edge, which again was steep and bouldery requiring care, but with no real difficulties. It was a good day, but I was left feeling a little bit confused by all the reviews I had read of this route which had mostly described it as difficult and challenging.

In my view, almost the entire length of Striding Edge is equal in difficulty to the route between Sgùrr Chòinnich Mór and Stob Coire Easain that I walked last month (see the blog posting ‘Sgùrr Chòinnich Mór‘) but which receives absolutely no mention at all in any guide or review that I have seen, because in the context of the Scottish mountains that ridge is fairly unremarkable in terms of difficulty.

Striding Edge’s reputation for difficulty seems to arise entirely from the sharp but short scrambling descent mentioned above, but I actually chose to descend by a different route on the other side of the step for more of a challenge!

An ice-cream at the end of the day in Glenridding was very welcome, and cushioned the blow a little bit of the £6.50 charge for the car park!

You can see the photos from the walk on Thursday on my website here.

The Ciste Mhearad snowpatch

For the past few years I’ve made summer trips to the Cairn Gorm - Ben Macdui plateau in the summer months to check on the snowpatches that remain at high altitudes on the plateau (see the previous blog postings ‘Summer snowfields in the Cairngorms (2)‘, from August 2009 and ‘Summer snowfields in the Cairngorms‘ from July 2008). See my website page here for more information about ‘perennial’ snow in the Scottish mountains.

Last Saturday I made another trip to the Cairngorms for a walk to have a look at these snowpatch areas. I was particularly interested to see how the large snowfalls and low temperatures of the recent winter in the UK have affected the summer snowpatches this year.

Perhaps surprisingly (and possibly counter-intuitively), the snowpatches that remain on the Cairn Gorm - Ben Macdui plateau this year are almost identical to those that remained on my last July visit, in 2008. From what I saw during my walk on Saturday, it appears that the severe winter has not contributed in any special way to increasing the size and number of the remaining summer snowpatches. Patches near the Fèith Buidhe river, in Coire Domhain and along the Garbh Uisge Beag and Garbh Uisge Mòr rivers towards the summit of Ben Macdui were, if anything, slightly smaller than they were in 2008.

It seems that the winter this year was very unusual, in that the snow that fell on the UK came on northerly and north-easterly prevailing winds, which are not conducive to filling the north and east-facing corries in the Scottish mountains, and hence these corries (which are the locations in the Scottish mountains that best retain snow late into the year) were not filled with any extra depth of snow this year. There has also been some strong periods of thawing in the spring months this year, which have radically depleted the huge snow cover on the plateau that I saw on a walk only 14 weeks previously to this visit  (see the blog posting ‘Cairn Gorm winter walk’). This was also despite the cold conditions I encountered in the Cairngorms in early May, see the blog posting ‘ML refresher course’).

The snowpatch at Ciste Mhearad near the summit of Cairngorm was about as large as it was in July 2008, although there was an impressive depth of snow on its south-eastern ridge (over 2m), which also contained large scalloped indentations which I assume are the remains of snowholes from winter skills courses.

I walked over to the western edge of the plateau, where the March Burn plunges down to the Lairig Ghru. I had  wondered if the unusual winter conditions had left a snowpatch in this area, and sure enough, there was a patch, one which I had never encountered before. The burn had melted a tunnel through the patch which I crawled into, which was very impressive and gave me a good view of the hard and icy interior of the snowpatch. It was also possible to see the layers of snow that had built up the snowpack over succesive snowfalls in winter storms. The interior of the snowpatch was noticeably colder than outside and reminded me a lot (albeit on a smaller scale) of the Snøhetta glacier that I visited in Norway in 2003 , which also had a tunnel carved by a stream at its tongue (see photograph on my website here).

I descended off the plateau via the Goat Track into Coire an t-Sneachda, which still contained several large patches of snow, perhaps unusually so for June.

You can see the photos from the walk on Saturday on my website here.

Sgùrr Chòinnich Mór from Stob Coire Easain

Last Saturday I walked up to the summit of Sgùrr Chòinnich Mór in the Grey Corries with Norma. This was our first munro-bagging trip for two years, since our long cycling and hiking trip to An Sgarsoch and Carn Ealar in June 2008. In April 2007 I walked on the same route up to the nearby summit of Stob Coire an Laoigh but did not go further along the ridge onto Sgùrr Chòinnich Mór.

It was great day, with blue skies and hot sun, but on the tops there was a strong and cold northerly wind. Views from the summits were very impressive, particularly towards Aonach Mór, Ben Nevis and the Mamore range. There were still some large patches of snow about, particularly on the eastern slopes of Aonach Mór to the west. We saw a lot of walkers on the route, which was not too much of a surprise as this was a sunny Saturday in June.

Unfortunately there was one fatality during the day - before we set off for the walk I noticed a small bird wedged into the front of my car that I must have collided with on the journey, totally dead. R.I.P.

You can see the photos from the walk on Saturday on my website here.

Wreckage of a USAF jet fighter at the head of Coire nam Frithhallt in Morvern

Last Sunday I did some walking in the hills of Morvern, a quite anonymous and hidden part of of Scotland. The area has no high summits, but has some amazing scenery and views. After a quick trip across Loch Linnhe on the Corran Ferry, I walked up Coire nam Frithhallt from Glen Tarbert towards the site of some wreckage from a jet that crashed here in 1964. A USAF Voodoo jet fighter came apart over Maol Odhar and there are aircraft parts littered over a large area, including the jet engines. Unusually for such a relatively recent military wreck, the parts were never cleared away. You can see my page about this wreck site on my website here.

I then walked up a steep slope at the head of Coire nam Frithhallt towards the summit plateau of Maol Odhar (where there are some more parts of wreckage from the Voodoo), before heading along a narrow ridge to the 853m Corbett summit of Creach Bheinn. The views from this ridge were spectacular, taking in the lochs of the west coast, the inner hebridean islands of Mull and Rum, and the summits of Glencoe and Ben Nevis on the mainland.

This was another walk that proved that some of the best hillwalking in Scotland is to be had on mountains that are not necessarily the highest.

At Losgaintir beach, Harris

Two weeks ago, Lesley and I went on a trip to the Western Isles, travelling the entire length of the Islands from north to south.

Highlights of the trip included the standing stones at Calanais on Lewis, eating at the Gallan Head restaurant (a converted building on an ex-RAF base), the mountains and beaches of Harris (Losgaintir beach looking like it should be in the Bahamas or the Caribbean, although definitely not as warm!), staying on the remote island of Baleshare off North Uist, the desolate panoramic view of Benbecula and South Uist from the radar station on the summit of Ruabhal (used for the nearby missile range), walking in the flat machair landscape of the west coast of South Uist, sampling the nightlife of Castlebay on Barra (curry and pubs full of drunk young people) & walking on Vatersay.

We had fantastic weather for most of the trip, and the walk we did on Vatersay, at the very southern tip of the island chain, was idyllic, with blue skies, several empty beaches of golden sands and warm grassy hillsides of flowers and birds.

The ferry crossing from Ullapool to Stornoway was perhaps the worst part of the trip; even though it was not particularly bad weather that day, the rolling of the ship in the waves made us both feel a bit rotten. All the other ferry crossings were amazing though, and the last ferry from Barra to Oban was almost like a mediterranean cruise across calm blue water and past mountainous islands.

On the drive up to Ullapool we also stopped off at the the Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig. I’m not really much of a fan of zoos and wildlife parks (would much rather see animals in the wild than cooped up in a prison), but the park does have some great animals to see including Scottish Wildcats, Pine Martens and Siberian Tigers, which we saw all getting fed. Mercedes the polar bear was asleep under a big pile of hay so we didn’t see much of her.

You can see all my photos from the trip on my website here.