Compasses & Reindeer

Out on the lower hills above Rothiemurchus forest yesterday, to trial some new areas for navigation training. Lovely wild feeling despite being so close to the ski road. Not much sun, very windy, but not cold and it stayed dry. We saw the Cairngorm reindeer, who often frequent this area.

Here be dragons......

A quick blast on the bike today over at Moray Monster Trails at Fochabers. It was raining when we left home but the sun came out for the ride. I did the red loop here, which wasn't at all technical but a good hour's exercise in lovely surroundings. At the top of the trail there is a memorial to a previous Duchess of Richmond & Gordon. It's a great spot for it with fantastic views north over the Moray Firth and up the north east coast. 

Glen Feshie

Some photos from previous trips to this magical glen of the Cairngorms. It is utterly beautiful at all times of year, and offers everything from gentle strolls to appreciate the scenery and wildlife, to challenging Munro summits to fantastic mountain biking. If you would like to explore here with On High Hills then get in touch,

Schiehallion

No diary updates for a couple of weeks.....a good excuse though, as I now have a beautiful new baby son! It must be a good omen, because the weather in the first half of September has been great.  The Indian Summer definitely here.

Time now to draw breath just enough to post some photos from a previous trip. New client Nicholas was visiting Edinburgh for a week, and being a keen hiker got in touch to see whether he could be guided up Schiehallion, a lovely accessible Munro in Perthshire that offers great views in good weather. I met Nicholas off the 10:28 train at Blair Atholl railway station, and we motored over to the mountain. We enjoyed beautiful weather except for some cloud right at the summit, and some stimulating conversation along the way. Really interesting to compare goings on in Greece to those at home.

After a great day out Nicholas caught the 17:20 train back to Edinburgh. Thanks Nicholas for a great day out.

Indian summer

There is talk that the great weather may be returning for the start of September. It's certainly a damp, windy day on the hills today, but I thought I'd share this photo from earlier this week to whet the appetite for things to come. Looking South towards the main Cairngorms, just a perfect day. On a day like that it's easy to think the mountains are benign, but things can change so quickly that it's always important to be able to cope with whatever they throw at you. If you have no problems navigating when it's clear like this, but lose confidence when the cloud rolls in, then get in touch for some personal tuition.

Return of summer?

Quick route over the Cawdor moors on the bike today. For today at least summer had returned, a lovely warm day with lots of sunshine. These are very quiet hills, their loneliness and peace are quite beguiling, especially on a day like today. Great views north across the Moray Firth to Ben Wyvis and beyond.

Dodging the showers at a run

Short run today up a lovely wee hill overlooking Lochindorb. This area is just outside the northern boundary of the Cairngorms National Park,and at first glance can seem a lot bleaker, but when the sun comes out it is big sky country with a great feeling of open space. Can be a good place to practice moorland style navigation too. Some atmospheric lighting across the Loch, with the ruined castle of the Wolf of Badenoch always adding that extra twist.