Trip report part 5 - Final day

Regeneration of native Pinewood in Abernethy Forest

The last excursion of the holiday was to an area of Abernethy forest that I had reconnoitred earlier in the week, the attraction was the area of old growth native pine woodland. I would have liked rain and no wind, instead it was bright, dry, overcast and breezy, oh and midges were conspicuous.

Lichens

Field layer ~ Blaeberry, Cranberry, Juniper and Ling 

Bracken in the field layer

An unusual Elfin Saddle mushroom was also chanced upon.

The highlight of the day was finally catching sight of a Golden Eagle gliding above Abernethy forest on the walk back to the car.

It had been an interesting holiday, instead of cetaceans, puffins and other marine life, Nic saw an impressive selection of the World's rare and endangered terrestrial mammals at the Highland Wildlife Park and from the talks learnt more about the conservation issues. Pine martens and Badgers were viewed at dusk from a hide. An Osprey over Loch Insh and a Golden Eagle on the last day were memorable too and I enjoyed seeing Ptarmigan and Mountain Hares, in close proximity on the Cairngorms. It was also good to revisit the Black Wood of Rannoch. The excursions identified some promising locations for a future autumn visit and an extended wild camping trip maybe in late summer. A good trip all things considered.

Trip report part 4 - The Cairngorm Plateau

The Mountain Weather Information Service delivered a very promising forecast for a hill walk, with the only concern being windchill in the worst scenario below zero, necessitating winter clothing to be packed. The Cairngorm plateau seemed an easy option with an elevated start point at the Cairn Gorm mountain carpark at 650m and mindful of the wind direction and sunset azimuth, it seemed wise to keep to the western edge of the plateau.

Nic had booked onto a dusk wildlife watching event in Rothiemurchus forest from 21.00 hrs lasting 2 to 3 hours, which meant she could drop me off at the Cairngorm mountain carpark and I could spend an afternoon and evening up on the plateau of the central Cairngorms massif and then walk off at dusk to be picked up. I started out from the Cairngorm mountain car park at about 14.00 hrs taking the path up onto the plateau west of Coire an Lochan.

Ptarmigan

On the walk up I encountered two workers repairing the excellent path from the carpark and stopped to give some positive comments on their workmanship, they seemed genuinely surprised and happy their efforts were appreciated by someone. A while later I too was soon genuinely surprised to walk straight past a pair of Ptarmigan by the side of the path in low cloud and more surprised that I managed to take a photograph, my usual attempt at wildlife photography are best described as abject failure. There were a visible and audible number of Ptarmigan that had congregated that afternoon in Coire an Lochain and chatting to a couple descending from bagging Ben Macdui, it seems that Golden Eagles shy away from popular walking areas and Ptarmigan take refuge in these safe havens.

Granite exposure in the headwall of Coire an Lochain

Coire an Lochain has been formed by glacial ice quarrying into plateau and has exposed the geological structure of the Cairngorm granite in the headwall which cuts into the summit dome of Cairn Lochan. Primary vertical joints are attributed to cooling and secondary joints that parallel the surface topography are attributed to exfoliation., the exfoliation joints can be seen to increase in thickness with depth.

The lochans in Coire an Lochain

On the corrie floor were three small lochs, one of which was holding a quantity of snow, recently avalanched off The Great Slab. On the sides of the corrie and on the floor, there appear to be several boulder moraines charting the advance and retreat of a glacier that last occupied the corrie. There has also been some discussion on whether a glacier also developed in the corrie during the 'Little Ice Age'.

Cairn Lochan and Coire an Lochain

The benefit of good weather and with plenty of time until dusk, was the opportunity to explore the plateau, mindful of my footfall and trampling away from the path. That entailed keeping to more durable ground and avoiding the more obvious fragile environments and a note to self: establish exactly what my wanders had on the environment. The plateau is an upland area of the UK noted for its harsh climate and an assemblage of arctic/alpine flora. I soon discovered just how long winter endures on the plateau, as only the green leaves of Trailing Azeala and Alpine lady's mantle were apparent. My knowledge of montane grasses, sedges and rushes has scope for vast improvement and observations were limited to noting the transition from Nardus grassland around Feith Buidhe and the March Burn to Wooly Fringe moss blanketing the slopes down to the Lairig Ghru exposed to prevailing wind. The vegetation on the exposed Cairn Lochan dome and exposed slopes, is best described as fell field, with a mosaic of sparse vegetation communities dependent on the amount of shelter afforded by boulders and topographic depressions.

Rock mosses of the Andreaea genus, Rhizocarpon lichens, unidentified crustose lichen communities and Fir Clubmoss

Of the lower plants, I did show willing and photographed some lichen and bryophyte communities, some of which I am happy to assign to a genus. Attempting to identify beyond the genus requires more knowledgeable and committed investigation: collecting specimens for microscopic examination, treating with chemicals etc

Rhizocarpon community and Rock Moss of the Andreaea genus

Sphagnum moss ~ Feith Buidhe

The plateau surface isn't level, but has a topography of broad domed summits, gentle slopes and open shallow valleys. The low topographic relief of the plateau appears to be relatively unmodified by glacial ice during the Late Glacial Maximum in contrast to glacial landforms that cut and dissect the plateau. The current paradigm is that the Cairngorm plateau is a palaeo land surface that stretches back into Deep Time.

View over Feith Buidhe to Cairn Gorm

It was evident from the depth and extent of snow lying, that the upper reaches of Feith Buidhe is an area where a significant quantity of snow accumulated over the winter and I later discovered that the area was where the events of the 1971 Cairngorms tragedy occurred.

View over Feith Buidhe grassland to Beinn Mheadhoin and its granite tors

The fresh easterly wind blowing up the Feith Buidhe valley, discouraged lingering and an impromptu visit to Beinn Mheadhoin's granite tors was discounted following careful scrutiny of the map. The sheltered slopes on the west side of the plateau held more appeal for continued exploration of the landscape.

View of the Cairngorm plateau over the March Burn to Ben Macdui

One of the impressive Quaternary glacial modifications of the plateau is the Lairig Ghru, a glacial breach of the plateau and a trough eroded by glacial ice. The light was all wrong for photographing the Lairig Ghru and haze in the Spey valley obscured the Monadhlaith, but nonetheless the photograph illustrates the breach and trough profile..

Whilst exfoliation joints in granite are well displayed in the headwall of Coire an Lochain, it was interesting to view close up the exfoliation joints on bedrock outcrops and easy to see why they are also called pseudo bedding.

Foreground : Granite pavement.
Middle distance : Block field transitioning to Block slope.
Background :  The glacial corries of Coire an  Lochain Uaine and An Garbh Choire  

The plateau slopes down to the edge of the glacial trough of the Lairig Ghru providing an insight into periglacial landforms on slopes. Freeze thaw of ground water, ice and gravity causes mass movement of rock debris downslope and the slope gradient, aspect and character of the rock debris, all appear to contribute to the nature of the resulting landform be it stripe, lobe, terrace or sheet.

Boulder stripe and Wooly Fringe-moss heath ~ Cairngorm plateau

There is compelling evidence for frost weathering (macrogelivation) of vertical cooling joints of the granite bedrock outcrops to generate autochthonous debris mantled slopes. Bedrock outcrops with dilated joints, had  edges rounded from the effects of microgelivation, although elsewhere the rounded nature of boulders possibly indicates additional eolian erosion from wind abrasion. On some bedrock and loose rock surfaces there were large specimens of Rhizocarpon lichens and was reminded of research papers on Lichenometry that extrapolated ages for growth rates of lichens in high latitudes and reporting some significantly old ages for the lichens.

Frost weathering of granite cooling joints

One patch of ground the size of a snooker table was bare of vegetation, fairly level and composed of decomposed granite surrounding a  quartz vein, I can only speculate that the hydrothermal fluids associated with the vein quartz have lowered the competence of the adjacent granite to weathering processes. The unvegetated nature of the surface was most likely due to deflation by the wind, as a clump of Wooly Fringe moss was growing on a NE aspect of the quartz vein, in the lee side way from the prevailing wind.

Vein quartz su decomposed granite, Unbilicaia and Rhizocarpon Lichens.

Some of the periglacial landforms are of a significant size and probably best appreciated from a distance, ideal subject matter for a telephoto lens to abstract the landscape and a small regret at jettisoning the telephoto lens from the rucksack for this trip. The Cairngorm plateau has plenty of opportunities for making landscape photographs with a narrative of landscape evolution in a montane environment.

View over a soliflucted boulder lobe to the Braeriach massif.

I thought a rounded granite boulder emerging from the edge of a snow bed and covered with lichens, an abstract visual metaphor for the Cairngorm plateau.

The fell field on the slopes of Cairn Lochan provided a view of Braeriach.

Braeriach and the blockfield on Miadan Creag an Leath-choin

On the way up I had thought there was potential for an image of last light falling onto the lower northern slopes and also illuminating the northern corries and descended, disturbing a few Mountain Hares on the way. Things didn't quite pan out for an image of the northern corries of the plateau, however a burn draining Coire an Lochain into Loch Morlich provided some inspiration.

The excursion up onto the plateau had been a good one, providing insight, things to ponder, views and a walk over some interesting terrain. I was surprised given the weather forecast that aside from a couple and their dog descending Cairn Lochan at about 17.00 hrs, I saw no one else until arriving back at the carpark around 23:00 hrs. Nic eventually arrived to collect me and her guided wildlife trip had been good too, with extended viewing of Pine Martens and Badgers from a hide in Rothiemurchus forest.

Trip report part 3 - Abernethy and Rothiemurchus woodlands

Nic declareed she would visit the Highland Wildlife Park, which she did and thoroughly enjoyed it too, with informative lectures and some unusual fauna: the Snow Leopard and Amur Tiger were noteworthy. Captive wild animals, however well intentioned the reasons, I am not a fan of, so I dropped Nic off and visited Abernethy forest for a reconnaissance of its potential, as sadly the wind and weather were not the best for woodland photography.

Scots Pine plantation, natural regeneration and lichen heath, Abernethy Forest

Woodland floor, Abernethy Forest

I learnt that Abernethy Forest is growing on an extensive suite of glacial deposits and landforms, has extensive areas of Scots Pine plantations of varying ages and smaller areas of older growth woodland. There is evidence of natural woodland regeneration and areas of old growth native pinewoods have a highly visible lichen and bryophyte communities, the plantations not so much.

Harsh lighting and Granny pines, Abernethy Forest

One area in particular stood out for holding some photographic promise and was worth returning to. It was soon time to head back to pick Nic up from the Wildlife Park, grab some dinner and out again for an evening trip to Rothiemurchus Forest.

Regeneration in Rothiemurchus Forest

The plan was an evening circular walk taking in Loch an Eilein, Am  Beanaidh and the views from Whitewell. A navigational faux paux on my part meant we missed the path for Loch an Eiliein, sigh, the walk was extended along the Am Beanaidh to compensate.

Am Beanaidh

We stopped to have a chat with a backpacker, who turned out to be Nigel Schofield, Chairman of the Long Distance Walkers Association. He was on his way to Aviemore and had started walking from South Wales, 8 weeks previously, on a 950+ mile quest to reach the remotest hill summits in Wales, England and Scotland. A remarkable individual and an interesting life story, if he ever publishes a book on his exploits, I'll be sure to order it.

Rothiemurchus Forest

This area of the Rothiemurchus Forest, had much to commend: views to the Cairngorm hills, native pinewoods, bog woodland, moorland, stillwater, dynamic water courses and an interesting suite of glacial landforms. Inclement weather would provide great photographic potential for some sections of watercourses draining the hills, with rain bringing out the colours.

Bog woodland, Rothiemurchus Forest

Towards sunset, cloud increased and lowered, photography ended with a view to Lairig Ghru from Whitewell. A good walk, for the varied scenery, native woodland and habitats.

The next day was an iffy forecast for the hills and trips were made to Loch an Eilein, the RSPB nature reserve at Insh Marshes and an evening visit back to photograph large woody debris in Am Beanaidh and a silver birch wood in Rothiemurchus Forest. On the way to Loch an Eiein, we stopped off for look at Loch Insh from the North Shore and upon walking out from under a railway bridge were confronted with a close up view of an Osprey! No images, but we watched it for a while as it quartered the loch into a headwind before it disappeared from view to the east. Loch an Eilein is a popular visitor attraction and once again confirmed my belief that popularity has more to do with marketing, proximity of car parking, facilities and ease of access.

It was depressing to witness at Loch an Eilein the number of dog's unleashed by their owners, despite notices asking visitors to keep their dogs under control, I would estimate responsible dog walkers were in a minority of ~25%. Interestingly we had seen plenty of Lapwings, up in the wilds of Sutherland and Nic had seen Lapwings at the Highland Wildlife Park, where dogs are not permitted outside of owners cars. Anywhere dog walkers were prevalent and we didn't see any Lapwings.

The RSPB Nature Reserve at Insh Marshes was an interesting visit, sadly the Aspen stands were not in leaf, but an interesting walk nonetheless.

River Tromie ~ RSPB Insh Marshes Nature Reserve

In the evening I revisited the Rothiemurchus forest, where we had walked the evening before, as there were a couple of areas we had walked past the night before, that hadn't been photographed as we were endeavouring to reach the car without the assistance of head torches.

The attrition of storms and floods on riparian trees

Birch and Juniper ~ Rothiemurchus Forest

On arriving back, the Mountain Weather Forecast for the next day was about as good as it gets for hill walking and thoughts turned to a trip up onto the Cairngorms plateau.

Trip report Part 2 - The Cairngorms National Park

On the drive down the A897 through Sutherland, we took in the impressive views along Strath Halladale, the flow country around Forsinard, the Strath of Kildonan, before picking up the A9. Potential itineraries were  discussed for the Cairngorms National Park. Some years ago I purchased The Nature of the Cairngorms that outlines why the area is so important for conservation and anyone visiting the Cairngorms would be wise to purchase this book. Also the Native Pinewoods of Scotland by Stevens and Carlisle would have been a helpful resource. Sadly the books and Ordnance Survey maps were languishing back home.

Cairngorms National Park 

A stop in Braemar to pick up two Ordnance Survey maps, before reaching the accommodation at Kingussie. The accommodation was perfect and a warm welcome from the owners. Things were looking up.

Bog Woodland ~ Invereshie and Inshriach NNR

After unpacking, a quick look at the OS map and an excursion to Invereshie and Inshriach National Nature Reserve, to establish the progress of spring greening and flora in flower. Parking up at the first car park and the rain set in, sigh. I should have checked a satellite view as it would have saved an extended trip through the plantations, the areas of Bog woodland are the reason for extending the NNR boundary and some regeneration of Scots pines are evident. The remnants of a native pinewood that had eluded the attentions of Canadian foresters in World War One and the modern Forestry Commission since, was discernible on the steep hillsides and the rest were plantations of Scots Pines of varying ages, Back at the car, the rain stopped and a drive up Glen Feshie to recce the terrain, forestry designated carparks No's 2 or 3 would have been better options for a walk and then it was time to head back to base at dusk. A plus point was the seeming absence of the dreaded midge, not so good was the lateness of spring in the Cairngorms -  blaeberry, bog cotton, wood sorrel and wood anemone were in flower and that was it, hopes of Twin Flower being in flower were dashed.

An Lochan Uaine

Back at base the internet was consulted, specifically ecology websites for areas of old growth stands of Scots Pines and satellite imagery to eliminate the plantations from future trips. I needed to impress Nic with a walk that would show the best of the Cairngorms and a popular walk in Glenmore forest to Ryvoan pass via An Lochan Uaine, should be the ticket. It was and a delight to follow the Abhainn Ruigh-eunachan upstream before connecting to the track leading to An Lochan Uaine. There were a few Scots Pines that were of a size and appearance, suggesting they were veteran trees.

Wood Sorrel and Veteran Scots Pine ~ Glenmore Forest

Some while was spent at the lochside enjoying the view, noting the relict and active talus/scree slope on the south side and discussing why green water is so aesthetically pleasing, whilst muddy water isn't so. The clarity of water provided a view of the waterlogged tree trunks resting on the loch floor that disappeared in the green loch water, nature giving a surreal take on an underwater wood. The walk continued on through Ryvoan Pass into the Abernethy National Nature Reserve, where we opted to follow the Braemar track into the moorland until a suitable vantage point was reached and the views taken in. It was also apparent that the management of grazing animals had enabled regeneration of native woodland with a mixture of young trees and saplings visible. No sign though of a Golden Eagle, which was surprising given the expansive views in clear air over the quieter areas of the Abernethy NNR. The area appears to be dominated by landforms created by the downwasting and retreat of glacial ice, meltwater and solifluction sheets/lobes at higher elevations. The size of some water bodies points to large masses of ice calved from a retreating glacier. The excursion demonstrated that of the broad leaved trees only Birch and Rowan were in leaf flush, unknown species of Willows were not, which simplified matters for the next few days photography.

Abernethy NNR

Despite clouds threatening more rain and breaks for sunlight to play over the Pines and moorland, the lighting was too harsh and the moorland colours some way from their best, with better light and the heather in bloom there would be some potential for a compelling landscape photograph. An interesting excursion though and some thought provoking points to mull over.

Invereshie and Inshriach NNR

Nic declined a possible successive rain dominated evening excursion and instead declared she would be researching guided wildlife safaris and what the nearby Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Highland Wildlife Park had to offer. Given the the probabilities of showers breaking out, good air clarity courtesy of a northerly air flow and the chance of atmospheric lighting: I thought it worthwhile to head out again. The aspect, contour lines and sunset azimuth, pointed to the native pinewoods on the hillsides of the Invereshie and Inshriach NNR, as the evenings destination.

Invereshie and Inshriach NNR

The excursion was a good one with light winds, good visibility and bursts of sunlight through breaking rain/shower clouds.

Krummholz zone

It is apparent that deer numbers at Inshriach forest are managed at levels commensurate for the conservation and regeneration of native woodland, evidenced from the saplings of Rowan, Scots Pine and Birch that were growing amongst the existing tree line and past it further on up the hillside. There is also an interesting effect on the Scots Pine as height is gained and trees become more exposed to the prevailing winds and climate, the trees start to take on Krummholz forms and morphologies.

Even a half hearted rainbow put in an appearance.

Since I had schlepped a telephoto lens about it seemed a shame not to use its field of view to isolate some of the pinewood catching the very last of the light before the sun was masked by an ominous looking cloud bank that stretched across the visible NW horizon. With dusk approaching and no further sign of cloud breaking it was time to end the trip and walk down. Thoughts turned to the Cairngorm massif and a trip up to the plateau.