In Search of Snow

There's been a lot of snow & low temperatures in the last few weeks and we got really excited about heading to the hills for some fun & frolicking in the white stuff. We had to contain our elation for an hour or so in the back of the car until we got to Bridge of Orchy. The plan was to do a low level, but long walk along part of the West Highland Way, which should be nice an snowy after how cold its been of late.

But when we got there..... not a sausage, or snowflake, i should say!

Tasty treat to keep us going in the cold

But never mind, we were still out in the vast wilderness that is Rannoch Moor with all our favourite things around. And space.... wide open space. We still had a great adventure, it was bitterly cold but we hardly noticed with all the running around & jumping about we did!

 

Why do dogs love the snow?

Why do dogs love the snow so much?... Its something canine experts have been trying to answer for a long time. Some say its the call of the wild, reflecting back on our common history with wolves. Some believe that it traps scent close to the ground, so being a feast of smells for our sensitive noses. Some say its the change of season, different from the norm... I mean how excited would you be if grass fell from the sky?

Truth is..... it's FUN!!! It's exhilerating! We dive & pounce into it like little Arctic Foxes. We love to go off the trail and plough through the powder. We run full out and lean down to scoop up mouthfuls of snow as we go. We stuff our heads into it as if looking for some hidden treasure and root our noses about. But the most enjoyable bit is rolling around in it!

 

Most of the time all you can see is our white tipped tails wagging frantically as we relish the coldness on our paws and faces.

 

Didn't you like running around and playing in it when you were a kid?? Only difference is... We can't build snowmen!

Clova Circuit

Another epic day out was planned for us. Mel was wanting to have her own awesome winter day out doing something a bit more technical as the conditions are so good just now. But, its so cool how she's always thinking about us. She tells us she feels guilty about having a whole day on the hill doing something where we can't come along, so lucky for us she always tries her best to work us into the plans... and boy its one of the biggest days out on the hills we've ever had. At first we are totally elated, I don't think we'd ever seen so much snow. We played & rolled & tumbled & jumped about, running in all directions. 

Me 'n' my Dawg... well one of them!

 Tho after 3 or 4 hours of trekking through deep snow and still ascending, it suddenly struck us that we weren't just on one of our normal walks and maybe it was best to conserve some energy and settle in for the long haul!

A perfectly placed stone mountain shelter was a welcome place to rest and get some sustenance, out of the wind and driving snow. Although Finn decided the best spot to sit was right infront of the gap between the door & the stone wall where the blizzard was still managing to blow through....his face all masked in snow with icicle eyebrows!

Davy's Bourach

Another hour or so of trudging through even deeper snow and massive drifts was hard going for us as we struggled to be able to bound through it. After a while we sussed it was much easier for us to walk behind and follow in the footsteps rather than trying to make our own tracks. Altho we were so tight on their heels we kept getting knocked on the chin, still didn't learn after 12 miles to just take a pace back! Finally we top out up onto a great flat high plateau, good times you'd think but it offered us no protection from the weather, high winds and driving hard snow in our faces, we keep our heads down and plod on. Mel occassionally stops to wipe our faces as our fur is freezing up around our eyes and mouth. We look like Northern Inuit dogs in the harsh Arctic conditions, but we dont have their fur! Its sooooooo cold! Everytime we stop, we hunker down to try and protect ourselves from the chilling wind. On we keep going, walking blind first because of bad visibility then the fading light of the twilight hours. The last couple of hours we walked by the light of a head torch, glad to be back down on relatively flat ground but still a long way from the car. The depth of the snow lessens but even if we wanted to, we have no energy left to run about daft like we normally do. At last, the Ranger Centre lights come into view... and the car, never felt so happy to see the car. We slept the whole way home that night... and the next 2 days.

Wintery Wanderings

A bit of an epic circuit was planned from Glen Coe, through part of Glen Etive then up over the Larig Gartain pass between Buachaille Etive Mor & Buachaille Etive Beag, back to Glen Coe. The temperature was minus 8oC and didn't look like getting any higher. Hoar frost covered every piece of vegetation and all the burns & streams were frozen solid. Clear blue skies and sunshine ensured a perfect day for winter walking, albeit a long one.

 

However, the doggy duo's daftness of jumping in every ditch, trying to dig and scrape through this hard clear substance that looks like it should be water, ended the epic plans after only a couple of kilometres as Mr Finn (not so McCool) sliced one of his pads fairly deeply resulting in the pack having to head back to the car with him limping along like a poor wee soul trailing behind. So plan B came into action with just one member of the doggy duo... a wintery photo day instead!

Swimming in the Moonlight

A late afternoon wander down to the beach at Seamill after a day of lazing for us (and a day of Sunday graft for the humans). Arriving just before an Autumn sunset, cold & still but beautifully serene.

 

 The beach was so quiet, not a soul in sight, just the gentle crash of waves and it didn't matter to us that it was the moon in the sky instead of the sun, we still ran & swam and played in the waves... although balls and sticks were a bit harder to find in the water!

Autumn in the Park

Shutterbugs!

Sometimes we get a bit excited when we hear we're heading to the beach. We understand the difference between "walk" & "beach"... the beach as everyone knows is our favourite. We eagerly jump in the car, see the sea getting closer, smell the salty air... it all just gets overwhelming and we yelp with anticipation. We race out the back of the car and waste no time in getting our paws across the pebbles or sand and into the cooling waves. Then quickly, as we watch big rucksacks of camera gear & tripods getting lugged out the car, our excitement is shattered as we realise its not a trip to the beach for us but a photographic mission!! Boring!!  We hatch a plan...

Just as we hear that all too familiar sound of the shutter... we run infront of the camera, much to the annoyance of some, but it amuses us no end!!

 

 

 ...or knock the legs of the tripod ... ooooops!!