Haar mist

Woke up this morning to a strange but beautiful haar mist rolling in from the west coast travelling all the way up The Great Glen. Even though it was very misty there was a reflection in Loch Ness which added to this weird but wonderful picture.

Visit to The Cairngorms

Drove down to Aviemore on the A9, a pleasant journey of about 50 miles. Not alot of traffic and when the sun came out it was glorious. Had a saunter along Aviemore's bustling main high street collecting various bits of shopping along the way. Drove through the village and stopped for a picnic at Loch Morlich enveloped by the snow capped Cairngorms. It was very relaxing watching and listening to the ducks go about their business. Drove up to the funicular railway station which takes you to the top of the mountains but it was so unbelievably busy for this time of year that we decided to leave this trip for another day. Stopped off to go in the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre but we had just missed the organised visit to the reindeer herd. Obviously we were not organised enough so we will just have to come back another day - any excuse!

River Farigaig

The rainwater and melted snow of the past few months is flowing down from the mountains and into the rivers. The water in River Farigaig is swirling round the huge rocks in its path and finally gushing out into Loch Ness. Last month the river was so high that the boulders were being pushed along by the sheer force of the water and the water level rose quite drastically. Visited a neighbour in Inverfarigaig whose property borders on to the river and the noise of the water was amazing.

Horse and gorse.

On the way to Dores we always enjoy looking out for the horses and smaller ponies out in the fields beside Loch Ness. Today they seem to be enjoying the frost free grass and temperatures on the plus side. The lanes are lined with flowering gorse bushes which are in bloom a couple of months earlier than usual. The seasons do seem to have become unreliable and we wonder what Spring will be like.

Working trawler on Loch Ness

We do not see many boating craft on Loch Ness during the winter months and pleasure boats are out of the question mainly due to the short daylight hours as well as being a bit chilly out on the water. However several working trawlers use this short cut instead of going round the top via the Pentland Firth which can be rather turbulent. It is always good to watch them go on their way and we realise we miss seeing boats of all shapes and sizes travelling along the loch. The snow here has disappeared except for the mountain tops opposite. There is a sharp frost in the mornings with a clear blue sky after a night full of stars.

Highland cattle

Beautiful bright crisp day today with the temperature about 8 degrees with a fairly cloudless clear sky. The large herd of highland cattle near Inverarnie seemed to be enjoying basking in the sun and posing for photos. Could be a slight frost tonight as there is very little cloud cover this evening.