The Scottish Highlands
New Year 2002 / 03

  As usual, it was cold over the New Year trip but for once we hardly saw any snow. The other unusual thing was the presence of Mark and Pat, so we actually got to spend some time with them before they jetted off to holiday in sunnier climes, leaving us to look after the house, the dogs and the freezing temperatures.

  We used the new mountain railway to get to the top of the Cairngorm. Even at the top there was very little snow, although the temperature was well below freezing. The place was crowded, especially in the cafe and shop. All of the ski lifts were closed, and all of the local businesses looked as though they were having a bit of a hard time without the skiing weather that they rely on. Still, there were some good bargains in the clothing shops.

  Another bitterly cold winter day and we were still suffering the change from our recent hot Spanish holiday, so we wrapped up warm and headed for the hills. There's lots of wild life in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature reserve, although we didn't see anything other than a few other walkers on this day.
   Driving back from Creag Meagaidh, we caught the sun setting and casting a beautiful light over Strathmashie and across the hills North of the Spey Valley.

  This is the view from the top of Black Wood, looking down to Strathmashie and the Spey Valley, and we were still amazed that there was so little snow. We've walked up here during previous winter holidays, with several feet of snow on the surrounding hills, we'd even been snowed in for a couple of days during the previous year. This year, the snow wasn't bad although it was bitterly cold.

Scottish Highlands	Easter 2003

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