Layers

Our walk today took us deep into the Rothiemurchus estate where the heather was just starting to come out. We walked for about four hours and when we started the hills were completely covered in mist. Eventually this lifted and by the end of the walk we were even treated to some blue sky and sunshine, despite the forecast of thunderstorms. During the afternoon we had come across one river which was very full following last night's torrential rain, but the dogs thoroughly enjoyed having a swim. Also we met numerous family groups on bikes, several other walkers and one particular group of young folk who were working towards their Duke of Edinburgh gold award and had started off from Balmoral a few days ago. We picked chanterelles, blaeberries and cranberries and saw unusual wild flowers and a butterfly. Part of area where we walked forms part of an important area of woodland bog (muskeg) where over thousands of years, waterlogged peat lying on bedrock has formed areas marked by mossy pools and stunted pine trees.

When we got back to the car we had a fabulous view of the Cairngorms which had emerged from the earlier mist, so once we had eaten our very late picnic we sat and sketched the panoramic view while the dogs lay quietly at our feet. All we needed to make this perfect was a glass of wine, but we had that back at the apartment.

The blip shows the terrain we were walking through - not a house to be seen - just miles and miles of heather and pine trees with the background layers of blue hills. Hopefully you can see a glimpse of Loch an Eilean on the left, around which we had walked yesterday, and some walkers. Another superb day!