Day 4 - the road trip

After stopping off to see some wildlife at RSPB Loch of Kinnordy, the plan was to drive from Kirriemuir (near Forfar) across to Fort William, skirting the Cairngorms on the A9 as I did so.  The day was bright and the prospects were good.  Especially through the Drumochter Pass



There hasn't been much snow at low levels - but enough to make me think of mountains! I left the A9 at Dalwhinnie - its distillery looking for all purposes like Kubla Khan's might pleasure dome.  And cross country I was reminded of how hard it is to capture these mountains properly.

BUT there's always water this high up - here alongside the A86




And Scotland being Scotland the architecture can surprise, amaze and amuse too. Don't ask - I can't find it on the map - but its a gate house!




Sadly it was too wet and too dark to make any attempt to photograph the Laggan Dam (where a party of tourists were valiantly snapping - with flash - into a cloud of mist about 200ft tall with their phone cameras).  Nor did I capture Fort William still resplendent with Christmas street decorations - by this time it was dark and bleak.  I was worried about what the next day would hold as I lie in bed thinking about what I would need for a 60 mile round trip that would take four hours of solid driving!

More photos here