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My friend Chris and I went snowboarding yesterday in the Cairngorms in Scotland. We left Glasgow just before 6am and for practically the entire drive it was grey and miserable. I kept thinking "what a waste of time, we'll get here and have to turn right around and come home.
I'm so glad we didnt, I had easily one of the best days out I have had in a long time. The snow conditions on top of the mountain were amongst the very best I have ever saw in Scotland.
Battered and bruised from all the falls, I feel totally rejuvenated today and am thinking of going back up tomorrow.
I had promised myself a wee break from photography but somehow the camera gear managed to sneak into the car.
This image is a blend of 5 exposures and I was lucky to catch it as we drove down from the mountain. It's shot at the River Spey bridge on the B970 just past Coylumbridge, Inverdruie and just before Aviemore.
Looking at the OS maps I reckon the peaks are Sgoran Dubh Mor, Sgor Gaoith & Braig Riabhach, if anyone thinks differently please let me know.
<b>About the River</b>
The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the north-east of Scotland, the second longest and the fastest flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishing and whisky production.
Rising at over 1000 feet (300 m) at Loch Spey in Corrieyairack Forest in the Scottish Highlands, 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Augustus, it descends to flow through Newtonmore and Kingussie crossing Loch Insh before reaching Aviemore at the start of Strathspey. From there it flows the remaining 60 miles north-east to the Moray Firth.
The Spey changes its course very frequently, either (relatively) gradually as a result of deposition and erosion from normal flow, or in a matter of hours as a result of going into spate. The Spey spates very quickly due to its wide catchment area in the mountains, as a result of rainfall or snowmelt.
Insh Marshes, areas of roughly two miles on either side of the Spey in the lower reaches are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as are the extensive shingle systems at Spey Bay.
The river traditionally supported many local industries, from the still popular salmon fishing industry to shipbuilding. At one stage, Garmouth was the shipbuilding capital of the UK, with timber from the forests around Aviemore and Aberlour being rafted down to create wooden hulled ships.
The river is also known for the quality of its salmon and trout fishing, including a particular form of fly fishing where the fisher uses a double-handed fly rod to throw a 'spey cast' whereby the fly and the line do not travel behind the fisher (thereby keeping these away from the bushes and trees lining the banks behind him or her). This type of cast was developed on the Spey.
Speyside distilleries produce more whisky than any other region.
The Speyside Way is a long-distance footpath that follows the River Spey through some of Morayshire's most beautiful scenery.
The River Spey is unusual in that it increases speed as it flows closer to the coast, due to the surrounding geography. The mean flow is around 16 m/s making it the fastest flowing river in Scotland, possibly the UK (depending on what constitutes a river.) The Spey does not meander, although it does rapidly move its banks. South of Fochabers the banks are reinforced with a high earth barrier, but this has been broken by the river on several occasions, removing a large portion of Garmouth Golf Course, sections of wall surrounding Gordon Castle, parts of the Speyside Way and some of the B9104 road.
The Spey railway bridge (now pedestrianised) Spey Bay to Garmouth was originally designed with the main span over the main flow of the river, however before construction was completed the river had changed its course and was running at one end of the bridge.
Ptolemy named the river as Tuesis Aest.
from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Spey">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Spey</a>
The River Spey is one of the largest rivers in Scotland, having a total catchment of 3008km2. The river network extends to some 36400km2 of which the main stem comprises 157km. From its source, Loch Spey (350m above sea level in the Monadhliath Mountains), the river travels in a northeasterly direction to discharge into the Moray Firth at Tugnet. In comparison with other UK rivers the Spey is ranked eighth in terms of mean annual flow, seventh in terms of its length and ninth in terms of catchment area.
A feature unique to the Spey is its rejuvenated character. The upper catchment is relatively steep as is the lower river downstream from Grantown. However, the middle part is characterised by a broad meandering channel, wide flood plain and is relatively slow flowing due to the low gradient. This area, known as the Insh Marshes, is more similar to a lowland river in form.
The Meterological Office currently monitors rainfall throughout the catchment at 26 sites. Mean monthly rainfall indicates that rainfall is generally highest in the upper catchment and lowest on the Moray coast. In general most of rainfall occurs from August through to February and is driven by frontal systems. Much of the precipitation during winter can lie as snow, which in the higher altitudes can become semi-permanent snow packs. These play an important role in maintaining flow levels well into summer and give the Spey an essentially alpine flow regime.
Water quantity and river flow is extensively monitored by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) using an array of gauging stations throughout the river. The range of flows experienced by the Spey is considerable, from 9.6 cubic metres per second to 1675 cubic meters per second (recorded during a major spate in August 1970). The lowest flows are generally recorded in summer although severe frosts can also considerably reduce winter flows. There is no general season for floods.
n common with many Highland rivers, the waters are low in nutrients and, with a lack of major industrial developments within the catchment, the Spey has remained fairly free of pollution. Indeed the catchment of the Spey is considered to be almost 'pristine'.
The Spey is similar to many Scottish Highland rivers and supports only a limited number of fish species. These include: Atlantic salmon; trout as migratory sea trout and resident brown trout; European eel; Arctic char; pike; minnow three-spined stickleback and flounder. In recent years a number of local lochs have been stocked with rainbow trout, which have subsequently found routes into the Spey itself. However, there is no evidence that they have established a breeding population.
from <a href="http://www.fishspey.co.uk">www.fishspey.co.uk</a>
<b>About the Mountains</b>
The Cairngorms feature the highest, coldest and snowiest plateaux in the British Isles and are home to five of the six highest mountains in Scotland:
* Ben Macdhui (1309 m)
* Braeriach (1296 m)
* Cairn Toul (1293 m)
* Sgor an Lochain Uaine (1258 m)
* Cairn Gorm (1245 m)
These mountains are all Munros, and there are a further 13 mountains with this categorisation across the area, of which another five are among the twenty highest peaks in the country.
Usually referred to as The Cairngorms - this 'modern' use of Cairn Gorm to represent the whole range is misleading - Watson (1975) refers to it as a nickname explaining that the range's former name is Am Monadh Ruadh - the red hills distinguishing them from Am Monadh Liath - the grey hills to the west of the River Spey.
If you look from Aviemore on a clear evening, the granite screes of Lairig Ghru and Braeriach do glow a warm red in the sun. The name Am Monadh Ruadh still lives among the oldest folk of Strath Spey, but long ago, outsiders had replaced it with 'the Cairngorms', on maps and in guide books
—Watson (1975)
Ironically - naming the range after Cairn Gorm creates a contradiction since Cairn Gorm means Blue Cairn - taking that literally would make the red hills the blue hills changing the old name entirely. This irony appears to have been missed by many for both names were used in the naming of the National Park that incorporates the range. It's official English name Cairngorms National Park loosely translates into Gaelic as the Blue Hills National Park, with it's Gaelic strap-line - Pairc Naiseanta a Mhonaidh Ruaidh loosely translating into English as the Red Hills National Park.
from: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorms">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorms</a>
