Moab.in

I was aware of sheep eating eggs, but something I recently learned is that deer do it too.

Forest, moors, view over rolling farmland... and an unusual sculpture. A stroll around Tillypronie, Aberdeenshire

Autumn vibes at Ben Chonzie in Perthshire

A missed chance to probe the hypocrisy of pseudo-conservation orgs such as The Dee Trust. The estates behind it wreak havoc on 99.9% of the upland catchment in the name of antiquated blood sports, 0.1% riparian greenwashing. Every stream full of soot and flubendazole. Photo shows the reality

After a castle visit and lunch by a waterfall, diverted a mellow bike ride at Glen Muick & Girnock, to a short but rough hike to explore a cave at Carn Ghiubhais #cairngorms

Some of the flowers: bugle, butterwort, crane's bill, globeflower #cairngorms

8.6.25 Traverse from Auchallater to Spittal of Glenmuick with 25km, 2 lochs and 3 munros between. A busy day in the hills lots of folk out. Lots of wildflowers (17 species in a day spotted may be a record for me) and wildlife. #cairngorms

5.4.25 Glen Quoich to Beinn a Bhuird. Snow fun, hot and cold. A climb and a glissade, then into a tunnel cool and blue. Dried out on a baking hot plateau, then a slow wander back to the Quoich

5.4.25 Glen Quoich to Beinn a Bhuird. Sundown heads below zero unexpectedly. A night wander was in order to warm up but to also enjoy the clear night skies, a hint of aurora, an odd shooting star and lots of satellites. Dawn sees a frozen lochan

5.4.25 Glen Quoich to Beinn a Bhuird. Up to the corries. A rummage through old howffs.

5.4.25 Glen Quoich to Beinn a Bhuird. First a thrunge up the "old" river path but it does pass some nice waterfalls. The refurbished Victorian picnic hut is great.

30.3 Sgor Gaoith with the Cairngorm Club. Diverged from the main group once at the top to explore off-route. Checked a gully for future winter snowholing, could see others had been there recently. #cairngorms

Mar 15th. Cut intended route short, tired quickly wading thru snowdrifts + lack of sleep. Scenic route towards Braemar, no tops, just sun n snow. Annoyed at muirburn in Glen Callater but explored a lush woodland trail lifted mood before heading to pub in Braemar. Probably last snow trip of winter

Mar 14th. Night hike to the #cairngorms plateau, hastily dug a midnight snowhole after intended camp spot ground was rough sastrugi. Didn't sleep well suffering from cold which is unusual, but meant up quickly for an awesome sunrise

A few more Beinn a Bhuird/ Ben Avon photos #cairngorms

Ben Avon stravaig for snow sculpture off the common ways. My many glissades baffled the ptarmigan. I'd dropped off sleep kit earlier to lighten load + lack of food, else I'd have dug in for the night in the prime snowbanks. Glad I hadn't baled earlier. A long day out, feet ruined #cairngorms

Grey Bhuird, Blue Avon. Night hike to the secret howff, then a sunrise start up Beinn a Bhuird, practiced making a "snow tent" from cut blocks of neve. Cloud closed in and I didn't fancy another grey void like the last trip. Glimpsed sun at the Sneck in time to halt a descent. Onwards.. #cairngorms

You need to get out on the bike

I'll need to finish an article I started writing that goes into detail on all the options of kit and the various pros/cons some of which are not obvious

I see crampons worn too by folk who are untrained and also beyond their capabilities - i.e. no axe or held wrong - and wouldn't be able to arrest a slide. Overall problem isn't so much equipment but folk now can't be bothered building experience over time or wanting to learn. "want to do it all now"

It's not a black & white thing, MS have to talk simply to the masses so leave out subtleties. I have 4x crampons, 3x spikes, sometimes take 1 of each, use cases are different. Anna Wells winter round- mostly done in kahtoola KTS, often wearing trainers. While microspikes have flaws, so do crampons

Alarm goes before sunrise. Reluctant to decozy. Outside it's a howling grey void. Ach well, it's just going to be shuffling through the gloom for 15km, me n the ptarmigan, and a deid frog, they'll stay put and I'll be down to the nearest road then catch a bus back to Aberdeen.

Before bed a brisk night hike to dry clothes out and warm up. Beacon light activated to find my way back. A headtorch doesn't punch through spindrift but a long-throw beam torch held low does. Chem heater sachets into boots overnight, remembering to put laces inside, so not frozen in the morning.

Can you dig it? Yes I can. Through a metre of slab then into hard old snow, 2 hours, 4m³, 400kg, 100 calories later home for the night barely hewn and then another hour faffing, making more space and decorated. -6 outside and about -15 with chill. Inside relatively snug and quiet

Careful nav across barely visible curves of the plateau. Deployed whiteout string like a fly fisherman at times to see the ground. Dire windchill meant find deep snow and dig to stay, or power on for miles before dark. Either way would be tiring. At the 'beautiful corrie' the snow was plenty deep..

sun glints on snow covered trail through pines

above the forest snow capped hills

Sun glaring over the moorland but an ominous cloud bank is rolling forward over the mountains

A stream struggles through snow laden banks

The day started easy, blue skies n chilly, but above the snowline the strong wind, stinging spindrift and trudgy windslab over hard neve soon slowed progress. Stopped for a break where the stream appeared from under the snowpack. I'd give it another couple hours, on and up into the white void..

Also, don't wait for a battery to drain entirely, swap to another and then put the used one into warmth for a while, this sometimes revives it a bit. If it gets too low from cold they don't revive the same from some warmth. Outer pockets can be cold so need to use pockets next to body heat.

Batteries stay in an inner pocket (or a running belt around waist under other layers). Sometimes will have a camera bag in the main rucksack or shoulder pack and will have a couple chemical handwarmers activated in them. Sometimes just a compact kept in an inner chest pocket.

How's the range of these, and are they strictly 'line of sight' only, or do they get any 'bounce' off of e.g. mountain sides.

A mostly misty round of 4 munros east of Glenshee. A bit of poking around looking for deep snow sites, 2 of the 4 locations checked were useful. Some glissading on the way down. A well-earned meal, beer and a whisky in Braemar afterwards #cairngorms