Sea to Summit

This journey begins in Aberdeen, The most easterly city of Scotland.

The 'mounth' mountain range begins here, at the sea cliffs overlooking the bay of Old Cove, where a great fold in the granite rock that forms this part of the country emerges up from the surrounding land.

Today we travel west south west, along General Wade's miltary roads, flanking the mountains of the Grampians

I'd like to introduce, at this point, my travelling crew. A solid team of two scent oriented navigators, Xena and Chance https://www.instagram.com/xenaandchance/ , Jo is our morale sustainer and lead vocalist for the duration of the trip, and i am reins commander of the K9 crew and photographer.

Here they are at Loch Muick, near Ballater.

Above and left of Jo you can see an old drovers road nicknamed 'Jocks Road' which joins Glen Muick to Glen Clova.
These roads have for centuries been used by sheep farmers, message carriers, kings and queens and criminals to pass this most impassable section of Scotland, that literally divides north from south.

A short rest in the woods near Queen Victoria's highland residence, and then back to the van and onward toward the Braes of Mar.

Higher we climb, now the air temperature is dropping and the land rising, we stop here after a warning transmission on the radio tells us the road further on is blocked due to snow drift. Unprepared for deep snow climbing we reluctantly venture back down the valley, hoping that the next day might bring us a clear pass into the oldest pine forest of Scotland.

So a night spent in the van, with two dogs, is a warm affair even in the depths of winter.
And what better view to help us rest? In my own opinion the winter sun slinking beneath the hilltops and igniting the sky with fusia pinks and vermilion reds is a common wonder that goes often unseen.
Find some high ground and watch it with us.
jjxc