After an enjoyable morning leading an excursion for a lovely bunch of BWWC guests in Abernethy forest (see last post), Amity and I decided to head for the Cairngorms. Despite the thick fog blanketing the forest and pretty much the whole area, we gambled on conditions being better at a higher altitude - and it couldn't have been any better....
Clear, blue, sunny skies, barely a breath of wind, deep, thick, fresh snow and temperatures well below zero - exactly the conditions we wanted for a visit to Cairn Gorm. Time of year and topography meant the sun would soon disappear, however, and we crunched through the snow beyond the visitors centre to where the track gives a decent panorama of the surrounding slopes.
It was beautiful eough to not get too concerned about the distinct possibility of not connecting with our two targets up there, but to cut a long story short, we needn't have worried. After a bit of patient scanning, the first of several entertaining Mountain Hares materialised in the snow of the upper slopes - Amity's first, and my first in many years - with frame-filling views via the Harpia.
Which would have been quite enough, and as the sun began to set and fingers began to freeze, we considered the hot chocolate and open fire option of the nearby cafe; but in classic lets-give-it-five-more-minutes fashion, a last-ditch scan of the ridge to our left produced a tell-tale movement against the blue sky, and then another....
.... and before long, four beautiful Ptarmigan were putting on a show on the snow-covered boulders. A real treat, and the perfect end to another fine day up in the Highlands.
