A Winter Walk & Camp In Coire Ardair

 

James Roddie in Coire Ardair

Several weeks ago I was asked to do a photo shoot feature with photographer James Roddie for The Great Outdoors magazine. The editor asked for an overnight trip in cold, wintry and ideally sunny conditions. On a walk into Coire Ardair on Creag Meagaidh we got the first two.

Entering Coire Ardair

James wasn't camping so after photographing me setting up camp he departed, returning early the next morning.

View from camp at dawn

The idea was to take some old well-used gear and see how it performed. I'm pleased to say it all worked well.  I had a comfortable camp. The temperature fell to -7C and there was light snowfall overnight but it wasn't hard staying warm.

A fresh covering of snow at dawn.

After James had photographed me packing up camp we continued up Coire Ardair to its dramatic head where the mostly frozen Lochan a' Choire sat under massive cliffs, their tops shrouded in cloud. A Scottish winter mountain landscape at its best.

Lochan a' Choire

At the lochan we turned and walked back down the corrie. Soon afterwards the clouds lowered and the cliffs vanished. A few minutes later and we'd have had no views of them at all. Light snow fell as we retraced our steps.

Black grouse, birch tree

As we entered the first birch woods we spotted half a dozen black grouse sitting in a birch tree, a wonderful sight. The above image of two of the grouse was taken with the long end of my 18-135mm zoom lens ((202mm full frame equivalent). Below is a severe crop showing the lower bird.

The full story of the trip including the gear I took and how it performed along with James's photos will appear in a forthcoming issue of The Great Outdoors.

James Roddie in Coire Ardair