Return to the Buachaille...

It was about time to return to Buachaille Etive Mor ( trans. big herdsman of Etive) for a fifth time, probably the most photographed mountain in Scotland, on most calendars, but what you don’t see is imagery from the summit! The standard route is up through the main gully of Coire na Tulaich, easy to start but steepens until you are on slippery rocks that follow the line of the river. It just gets harder from here on up as the gully starts to open a little it gets steeper and steeper, rocks under foot turn to scree, lots of it; all loose. One step forward two steps backward with worse to come and on it goes, sapping strength out of your poor tired legs.

Buachaille Etive Mor

To top it off it was still dark and my headtorch went to half power to conserve energy resulting in light about as bright as a candle, I’d forgotten to recharge the battery. At the top of the gully it’s almost vertical and a little bit of a scramble required.

Having broken over the top of the gully I peered back down, hot and well out of breath, wow what a sight, the scene before me fading in and out as the mist would open and close. I was pushed for time to make it to the summit for sunrise, but I knew I had to capture this view. I set up and the view closed in, nothing to see but shifting mist, I looked at my watch and did a rough calculation. Damn I could only afford to wait here for a little under ten minutes, I would have to go after that and it would still be a push. I was being optimistic at best.

I waited, the minutes ticking away and the mist refused to clear, I checked the time, looked at the route to the summit. It was still around a kilometre distance and about 130m ascent though solid under foot from here, still no view and being stationary I was beginning to feel the chill. I would have to go. Then it happened, just a brief opening in the mist WOW. I fired the shutter, rechecked the focus was good and fired another shot and that was it, the mist closed in. A practiced high speed pack up of camera gear and I was off.

View down the gully, Coire na Tulaich

Now as is often the case it was a push to the summit and I was racing the sun, heart pounding, lungs bursting to capacity and with every step upwards leg muscles complaining. For once I’d left home with good time in hand but had forgotten the torture of the scree gully; now it was back to the race against time.

Ideally I would have liked to have made the summit five minutes earlier, but I had to get that shot down the gully, sacrifices had to be made. However the summit position did not disappoint, it was still a game of see a composition set up and it would vanish in the mist, then I would have to wait patiently for the view to reappear and fire the shutter. The image on the right is of a misty Rannoch Moor in the early morning golden sun, but what can’t be seen is the sound track of Red Deer calling out in the rutting season, echoing up eerily from way down below.

So the game of hide and seek carried on with the mist revealing tantalisingly beautiful views only for the scene to close to that grey swirling mass of moisture.

Beinn à Chrulaiste

Any onlooker would have laughed as I hopped, skipped and tripped my way back and forth from one side of the summit to the other as views opened and closed, resetting the tripod and camera as I went.

Misty flanks of Meall à Bhuiridh and Creise

It is truly amazing how quick time can pass during these operations and it was soon time for the traditional mountain breakfast.

Croissants filled one with salami and cheese, the other butter and apricot jam plus of course lashings of hot coffee…

Following 2nd breakfast I’d planned to head on down, but it was turning out to be a beautiful day so decided to head on over to next summit, poor legs :)

Checking out the view

Glen Etive

Finally it was time to call it a day, time was going on and energy levels were low, I hadn’t planned on being on high for so long so hadn’t any lunch with me and I’d drunk all the coffee.

After the long descent and extracting every last ounce of energy from the legs there was one more surprise in store, a light shower followed by a rainbow.

It had been a long hard day out on the hill, just a little over 12 hours to this point, but it was worth that torturous climb up the scree filled gully in the early hours of the morning, what a day. Now it was time to head home to collapse in front of the TV with a pizza and probably fall asleep before the end of the film… :)

Have a plan 'B' and 'C' for success...

I’d planned to go to climb the infamous Buachaille Etive Mor, but a check of the weather forecast last minute indicated that the ‘sunshine and showers’, and the potential for rainbows had descended into heavy showers, most disappointing. So to plan ‘B’ another hill I’d not climbed in a while, Carn Chois above Loch Turret, I was getting excited only to find on arriving at the start of the single track road; that two big red signs declared that the road was closed. Things were not going to plan.

No how can this be? So to execute plan ‘C’, which ironically I’d considered and discounted on the way to the Loch Turret road and plan ‘B’.

Finally I was off and on making it to the top of Torlum it didn’t look too great, a bit too cloudy although it was supposed to clear, I wasn’t convinced judging by the amount of cloud, fingers crossed.

I bush wacked my way through unforgiving pine trees, stumbled and tripped through rough heather, cursed a little, okay a lot, on the soft mossy ground to a spot where I knew you could see the mountain called Ben Vorlich, nope too much low cloud. But there was a small opening in the cloud as a couple of sun beams ( crepuscular rays) started to burst through.

Oooh, ooh, with the 100-400mm lens on this was looking like it might kick off with a dazzling display, I was not disappointed, it just got better and better, expletives were replaced with much more complimentary dialogue; the excitement kept on building.

I had to use the tripod like a monopod to shoot, it was too breezy and the ground underfoot too spongy for the tripod to be used normally, I tried single shots and multi shot panoramas as the one above, all the time hoping something was in focus. The breeze and the trying to stand still on this giant sponge were a challenge and I seemed to be swaying and rocking to the beat of the wind. Exposing for the highlight and keeping the shutter speed up helped keep me on track.

This was a truly magical light show, this was reality unfolding before my eyes in a spectacular fashion as the beams of light played across the landscape, dropping small spotlights here and there; forget so called virtual reality.

The last image on the hill, the one above was funnily the location of plan ‘B’, looked good from here but glad it didn’t pan out.

With the light fading it was time to head out, there was a pizza and a wee drop of red to wash it down with calling me.

I was forced to make one last image as I made my way down through the now spooky darkening forest, frightened me? Nah… of course not… ;)

So sometimes when things don’t go to plan it can turn out far better than expected, don’t give up, I was sure glad this day went a bit pear shaped. :)

Adventure to Sgurr Mor

It started warm and sunny, it continued to be that way together with high humidity for the rest of the day, starting on a good path that soon fizzled out; and the rest of the way was a hard slog over boggy rough ground. I new having looked at the map this would probably be the case, but did I have to be so right?

Perhaps I should have chosen something a little easier, it was the first big hill of the year and the poor legs were thrown in at the deep end, they were not to let me forget either. After trudging to the base of the mountain and a bit of rock hopping to cross the river at its base the only way was up.

The legs wanted to stop but I drove them on with just a brief pause to put on a rain jacket as a band of showers blew through. Twenty paces, rest, twenty paces rest, pick a target and don’t stop until reaching it; all the tricks to keep going until you get to your destination.

Room with a view

It was bliss to arrive and set up camp and get a mighty brew of tea on the go. Camp set, a short rest, dinner and away up Sgurr Beag armed with the camera and my first taste of the views to be had from this lower neighbour to Sgurr Mor. On returning to my room for the night it was 11o’clock already, ouch I would need to be up 3am, it was going to be a short night.

All too soon the alarm was singing, it was time to get togged up and move, poor legs.

Earth shadow

What a fabulous morning, chill at 2ºC and I was glad of a down jacket, hmm summer… The air was misty and an eye had to be kept on the front lens element for condensation.

The sun finally warms the slopes of Sgurr na Ciche

The views were spectacular, worth the slog to get here and the return journey yet to done.

Ben Nevis from afar

All too soon it was time to head back to the tent for breakfast, but I had to linger a little longer slowly turning and drinking in the views that surrounded me. It was difficult to leave.

It had been a hard outing with little in the way of paths and taken a little longer than expected, the legs were well and truly done in and on returning to the car their would be a long, tiring drive home. But wow what a trip.

If You Go Down To The Woods Today...

Well there was no teddy bears picnic, in fact the intent with sunshine and showers forecast was to hopefully shoot a timelapse of a rainbow over the hills. However the rainbow never really fired up and was just shy of where I was hoping it would be. I did get a great timelapse of sheep fervently mowing the field in front of me which looked quit exhausting.

Although I was stomping up through the pathless woodland to my proposed timelapse shooting spot with little thought of stealth, it had rained heavily the night before so the crispy, crunchy leaves were now silent and my progress was pretty quiet compared to other forays to this spot. I did find something rather unexpected though.

As I worked my way around fallen trees with there upended root systems, earth and rocks still clinging on, I saw a movement low in the undergrowth, now I was in stealth mode moving slowly and careful of foot placement not wanting to step on any crackly twigs. To my surprise I saw another movement, a furry coat moving through the greenery; a fox cub.

Camera in hand just in case I saw a Roe Deer, I powered it up and checked the settings and changing the focus point to the smallest available in the hopes of being able to focus through the dense foliage.

It was a struggle to keep focus through the stalks of old bracken and tall grass having to refocus regularly as the wee fellow moved in and around his domain, exploring his new world on this warm sunny afternoon. I crept closer behind the 2 metre or so diameter disc of the root system of the fallen tree to get a little closer, trouble was that I was now in a small dip where the roots of the tree had been and now had to almost stand on tiptoe whilest keeping elbows in and braced to reduce camera shake.

So cute to see this tiny beast first hand and what I failed to notice was that there was a sibling that must have been even closer which came scooting into view and on joining up they booth shot off disappearing under a mass of fallen trees and brambles. That was the last I saw of them and although it had only been a few moments it felt like much longer, at which point I remembered to take a breath.

I returned a number of times since that outing but saw now sign of either of them, but the memory of those few magical moments lives on together with a smile on my face. The timelapse failure?, long forgotten

Walk Slow

I once saw a slogan on a T-Shirt that said, ‘Walk slower and make the world a bigger place’, wise words for a day and age where most are rushing around from one place to another oblivious to their surroundings. Typically I would drive or cycle this road, but even the relatively slow pace of cycling I never realised how much I missed.

Taking a slower pace I started to notice the smaller things that form a part of the eco system of this road, first up this butterfly (Black-veined White).

This bee was certainly working hard and not taking it easy like me, I almost felt guilty.

In the spotlight

Distant views towards Ben Chonzie with its crescent of lingering snow had me yearning for a trip to the hills, but for now the local lanes would have to do. I captured this image while enjoying the warm afternoon sun together with some coffee and a pain au chocolat, I think the ewe was eyeing up my pastry but decided against trying wrestle it away from me.

It was a lovely afternoon that was meant to be about two hours but turned out to be nearly three hours instead, but taking a more leisurely walk I started to notice so much more and greater was the reward.

Go on make the world a bigger place. :)

In The Company of Swans

Out for my exercise walk, which seems to get longer each time; I decided to head for a small stone bridge where often a Heron can be seen on the banks of the river down below. The closer I got the slower I moved and started to crouch lower and lower, not wanting to scare the Heron off. What a passer by in a car thought I dreaded to think, but I didn’t care; I was on a mission.

Slowly I raised my head over the stone wall higher and higher… Hmm, nothing, not a sign of any beast let alone a Heron; all my stealth movements for nought. I was by now close to Kinkell Bridge, another much larger stone bridge and decided to push on to see what I could see.

I spotted a couple of swans, took a couple of shots and picked up the pace seeing some more just near the bridge. By the time I’ made it to the bridge they’d drifted further down the river, I was too late the moment missed. I turned about and headed back the way I’d come heading for home just a little disappointed.

I reached a gate and suddenly noted a path to the riverside that fishermen take, I wriggled through the swing gate and headed over to the river bank crunching on fallen tree branches as I went. I crept closer and closer to the edge of the steep crumbling bank and crouched precariously down as low as I could, not wanting to slip into the river. This was it, the swans were drifting back and forth in this spot almost as if just for me. It was a magical moment in the warm afternoon sun that went on for quite a while and it was only protesting knees at crouching for so long that insisted I stand up and call it a day.

What a magical few moments I had in the company of these swans and I almost started skipping on my way home but for the thought of seeing that motorist again. I think my walks are going to get longer.

Henri Was Right...

The famous French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said he always carried a camera except when he was shaving, I try to follow these wise words and 99% of the time my camera never leaves the bag. But for once on this occasion it paid off. While walking some local lanes, not something I would normally have done preferring to go to grander outings in the mountains; I was glad I brought my camera and it finally saw some action.

Late afternoon sun illuminates the clouds in the sky leaving the strong outline of this tree in silhouette, in the far off distance the horizon is filled with Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Croin.

This hare was kind enough to give me all of a second for me to realize it was there, drag the camera up and fire off a wild shot before scampering off across the ploughed field. That’s one of the great things about outdoor photography especially when out with no particular plan, you never know what surprises await. Thankyou Henri and I’ll continue to follow your advice.

All Was Still In The Woods...

A short visit to Uath Lochans a couple of weeks ago, what a great place, it took some time waiting for the right conditions, time off, a clear night and no wind.

It was worth the wait though, the night so still and quiet, the only weak link being me and being able to keep going. Eventually fatigue set in and I had to return to my room for the night, err, well the back of my car anyway; I’m sure my back will forgive me soon.

It was worth every moment and look forward to being able to visit in these conditions again. Oh, and that rustle in the trees behind me when taking the night shot, I wasn’t spooked at all…

Like a sheet of polished glass

Clear skies with the glow of Aviemore on the horizon