Category Archives: Nature

Covid Dreams 9: The gap in the curtain

Posted on April 29, 2020 by cairngormwanderer

Looking at this I can still feel the snell wind that blew that day, and would wish myself back there, looking up Glen Dee from the illusory shelter of the hilltop outcrops on Carn Fiaclach. It wasn’t a promising day. … Continue reading →

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Covid dreams 8: Regeneration

Posted on April 28, 2020 by cairngormwanderer

Regeneration Loused fae the darg: sunrise on weel kent hills, new trees keekin ower the heather. The picture above was what I had in mind when I wrote these lines, the title referring  both to the personal regeneration of getting … Continue reading →

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Covid dreams 6: The plateau

Posted on April 26, 2020 by cairngormwanderer

The Cairngorms can disappoint those who are thirled to pointed peaks and sharp ridges, but that’s to miss the point… so to speak. The view here is all about size and scale: the expanse of the high plateau, the sense … Continue reading →

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Covid dreams 4: Perfect day

Posted on April 24, 2020 by cairngormwanderer

There’s something so relaxed and relaxing about this photo of Neil Findlay and Alfie descending from Sgor Dubh to Luibeg Cottage. June sunshine dominates, with the occasional cloud-shadow drifting across the hillsides but to wind to speak of. As I … Continue reading →

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Covid dreams 3: Cold winter

Posted on April 23, 2020 by cairngormwanderer

These images speak of the harshness and violence of winter in the Cairngorms. And of the beauty. The weak sunlight flaring through a gap in the wind-torn clouds to light a ridgeline almost scoured of that dry, cold snow that … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Stravaiging, Topography | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Walking through the (ice) ages

Posted on May 17, 2018 by cairngormwanderer

How far did the Devil’s Point stretch? It’s an odd question, but one that occurred to me one day as I sat on the side of Ben MacDui looking across Glen Dee at the rocky face of Bod an Deamhain, … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Topography | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Trees of the Cairngorms

Posted on October 15, 2017 by cairngormwanderer

It had started out a day for the tops. Beinn a Bhuird to be exact. But having emerged into Glen Quoich from Clais Fhearnaig and seen the south top with its head in the clouds, I decided to set my … Continue reading →

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The last snow in Scotland

Posted on October 4, 2017 by cairngormwanderer

You’d think, having just passed the age of 60, I’d have a bit more sense. But no, here I was in the dripping jaws of a Cairngorm gully, boots scraping on grit, slithering on moss, chilled fingers testing protruding rocks … Continue reading →

Posted in Misadventures, Nature, Topography | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

The pictureless post: monolith and a halo

Posted on April 3, 2016 by cairngormwanderer

There are no pictures in this post. There are, however, some of the best pictures I’ve never taken. It didn’t seem to matter on Friday evening when, struggling to make headway – or even to stay on my bike at … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Stravaiging, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Work and wildlife in the Cairngorms

Posted on April 25, 2015 by cairngormwanderer

When you walk in to the woods and sit with your back to a tree and don’t move for, oh, maybe half an hour or more… sometimes you still see nothing. The wildlife, as ever, runs to its own timetable. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bothies, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments