We have just come to the end of the most incredible few weeks of cold weather, in which the lochs and even the rivers have become frozen. Temperatures reached as low as -23 in the Highlands but, more significantly, the cold spell was prolonged allowing the lochs to freeze. The photograph shows frozen loch Morlich covered in snow a couple of weeks ago. This freezes relatively often in winter as it is set high in the mountains. But we saw lochs such as loch Insh freezing too. This is a much less common occurrence due its lower altitude and the river Spey running through it, creating water currents.
The cold weather has created lots of opportunities for skiing, skating and photography. The icicles and waterfalls on frozen rivers have been particularly photogenic. Loch Insh Outdoor Centre even created a mini skating rink on the ice for the weekend. With the ski centres closed, skiing addicts have headed out on ski mountaineering skis while others have used Nordic skis lower down, such as on the Slochd trails, which caught a lot of snow. The photograph shows my Nordic ski tracks on frozen loch Morlich, with Cairngorm mountain in the distance.
We are sorry you could not join us to experience this time but hopefully next winter will be good too!