Sunday afternoon

Lime Craig from Creag Mhor

Loch Ard and Ben Lomond

Balquidder Munros

Campsies and the Forth and Ettrick Valleys

Ben Venue

Heather, imposible even in the snow

The snowfall had become a regular occurrence over several nights but it had never caused any disruption on the roads. By Sunday the winds had gone and I decided to take advantage of the afternoon sun and climb the hill behind the house. It normally takes about half an hour, it is steep but only 400 metres of climbing. It was not that easy today, once above 200 metres the snow was soft and deep and tiring, each step a foray into an unknown abyss and on several occasions I was thigh deep in soft snow. Although the temperature was just about freezing, I was working up a good sweat and it was a relief to reach the summit.

The views were tremendous in all directions as the sun was getting lower in the sky. I set off down and met my neighbours on the route up, they were following my body prints and thanked me for making a trail for them. I let gravity take over on the descent and had several spills in the snow. I didn't think anything of it at the time, just another short and enjoyable outing, but a week later I am still struggling with a sore back and finding walking quite painful, my first run for a week today did not do me any favours either.