Durness it is, decision made

Spey Bay 20mins
Portgordon 40mins
Sometimes see from Burhead 15 mins

But at this time of year usually further up the firth towards Inverness for calmer waters
The most I have seen at anyone time was actually just outside Aberden harbour which surprised me given the large amount of oil vessels going in and out
 
Morning

Already had a nice lazy start, woken up by site scraping pathways, opened blinds (ignored the 3 cup rule today) decided the site might think we had died in the night if we didn't look like we were in :)

Only about 5 others on the site, you really can see why sites close in winter, I cant see how this pays, the boilers cutting in all night keeping the toilet / shower block up over 20C all the time and the hottest water I have ever had in site showers

Hovering around zero, going to work my way through my three cups of coffee, see what is going on in MHF world and go a for a walk on the old railway, which runs right behind the site

Then back for a duvet day I think, not had as much snow over night as predicted, but more today they say

Tomorrow back to hunting for my Crested Tit in Grantown woods, I am pretty much certain I heard them yesterday on the road back to the site from Grantown, but light was going and I only had my small binoculars with me, so a probable hearing not sighting
 
Well so much for the duvet day, decided to go for a longer walk, weather was tempting, frosty and sunny so off we went, just above the site there is a disused railway that is now a walk, now the man who routed this railway must have had a creative mind, I am sure it could have gone much straighter, but it seems to be on a constant bend. Makes for a need to keep going a bit longer though and with the sun shining through the trees it did look nice

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They do look like the same view, but they were a 1/2 mile apart, got to the end (not the very end of the railway line, just the bit where somebody had presumably bought the land) and contemplated turning back, but took option to go uphill, it appeared to be a way marked woodland walk. After another 1/2 mile or so the only other tracks in the snow were made by skis, at first I thought their sledges were really narrow

Then noticed a lot of seed like debris on the ground and looked up to find this chap

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taken with cold hands on full zoom, so I am pleased with the lack of shake, my camera does have image stabilising which I reckon must work well, the met another walker who was local so I picked his knowledge of where was I and best way back. Now he has OS maps on his phone, brilliant and must get those, anyway I wasn't too lost and just had to veer right at the road ahead and then when I came to the next road follow it down to the camp site, easy .....

So another mile or so further on, I am out on the moors

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and still hadn't come across this road, but did come across 2 more walkers who said they didn't often meet people this far out!!

Anyway, I can only presume that 'road' was a relative term, although I don't even recall a track I must have missed something, but by continuing on the same route I was now on I would find a road, and did, that went back to the camp site. Infact it was the road the ambulance was attempting in an earlier post.

So I wasn't lost but walked a good few more miles than I planned to, which in snow up to 9" deep in drifts was pretty hard going, but well worth it

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even if Lola was more worn out than me

At the very end of the walk we go under a bridge, I hope this photo lets you see the icicles, I am thinking they might get even more impressive if it stays as cold as forecast, some of them are well over a foot long already

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Most cameras have a self time/delay button:wink:

I'm glad you shared you know, I really didn't want to make a comment about eating all those cobs yourself ::bigsmile:

Looks fab as usual:smiley:
 
icantremember said:
Brilliant pics as usual David ... great to see the Red Squirrel ... no sign of the Crested Tits yet!
Click to expand...


Not yet, but not given up. Best chance I have ben told is Grantown woods down towards the river, when I was here last week it was too windy to risk walking in the woods, tomorrow is forecast nice in the afternoon with more snow between now and then, will be going out tomorrow for a look in the woods

Also been told Loch Garten gives a good viewing opportunity, will try there on my way home, might even overnight there to catch early birds (y)
 
Great pictures and assuming you went right behind the campsite then the moor you came onto would be DAVA moor and there is a DAVA way which you can walk or cycle (not in the snow) all the way to Forres
 
DavidG58 said:
Now he has OS maps on his phone, brilliant and must get those
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I installed the Broken Link Removed on my phone about 3 weeks ago, free app and to browse but you have to pay for the individual maps, Landranger 1:50k £0.69 or OS Explorer 1:25k £1.99. They also have an online App which can be used to view maps but not print or download. Not used it in anger yet but all looks very useful.
 
Neilfg said:
I installed the Broken Link Removed on my phone about 3 weeks ago, free app and to browse but you have to pay for the individual maps, Landranger 1:50k £0.69 or OS Explorer 1:25k £1.99. They also have an online App which can be used to view maps but not print or download. Not used it in anger yet but all looks very useful.
Click to expand...

That's pretty good value, not bought a map for a while. we always used to buy the map of the area we were in as part of our holiday spend and even 10 years ago I am sure they were £6 or so
 
Neilfg said:
I installed the Broken Link Removed on my phone about 3 weeks ago, free app and to browse but you have to pay for the individual maps, Landranger 1:50k £0.69 or OS Explorer 1:25k £1.99. They also have an online App which can be used to view maps but not print or download. Not used it in anger yet but all looks very useful.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, could be VERY useful :)
 
Great photos and updates on your travels. Hope you see the crested tit tomorrow as it's so frustrating if you can hear the bird and not see it. I have heard the woodpeckers here while walking in the woods but am yet to see them!

Kath
 
Brilliant again David - thank you
 
David, I use OS on my lappie, phones may be different. I go OS "Getamap" when it opens and asks "sign me up", below it there is "Visit as guest" click on that and then Bobs your uncle, you can do routes etc everywhere. Been doing that for years. (y)

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I know what you mean about the Arora Dave. I went on a winter holiday to Finland which was billed as a possible sighting. Unfortunately we were unlucky and only had a sighting on the plane on the way home. It was a great holiday however.
Enjoy the rest of your trip and keep the photos coming, I am loving keeping up with your journey.
 
Carol on the box says it will be warmer this week. Still cold and snow about but not such extreme low temperatures at night. It was - 12 last night at somewhere called Lochnahaggis, or something like that.

And talking of haggis, it is Burns Night next Sunday so I guess all the local shops will be full of freshly caught/shot haggii. Worth taking one home if you are not going to be in Scotland then. Should be no problem bringing it back into England but probably best to hide it, just in case of a snap search by customs.
 
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Turned heating off while I boiled kettle (problem with too many amps if I don't) then thought it was going chilly, but I had left it off while I made my three cups, internal temperature had dropped from 22C to 18C in under half hour, problem is now it will take all day to get back to 22C

Might use hob for next coffee, save turning heater off and adds some heat at same time

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