Deeside Winter
March 2010
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The winter of 2009-10 proved exceptionally severe throughout Great Britain and particularly so in Scotland.
Even so, I was taken aback when, in early March, I set off from a snow-free Aberdeen for a trip up Deeside, ostensibly to walk round Loch Muick, a popular and picturesque destination in the shadow of Lochnagar, a few miles west of Ballater.
Long before reaching Ballater, the scene had changed dramatically: everything except the main road remained under knee-deep snow and on arriving at the road leading to Glen Muick I was confronted with Road Closed notices. A quick change of plan resulted in a motoring tour of upper Deeside. Some of the scenes that I encountered are shown below.
Snow piled up at the roadside
near Ballater
Tractor tracks in the snow
Creag Ghiubhais rises behind a farm
near Ballater
A Snowbound Cottage on
Invercauld Estate
River Dee viewed from the
Invercauld Road Bridge
View south towards Lochnagar
from the Old Invercauld Bridge
Knee-deep Snow on
Old Invercauld Bridge
The Old Invercauld Bridge seen
from the Bank of the River Dee
Snow-capped Lochnagar
rises above the trees
Beinn a'Bhuird looms above
the River Dee near Braemar
Tullich Cemetery near Ballater
Cambus O'May Suspension Bridge
near Ballater