Snow – Donich Website

Duke’s Path in the snow

donich_admin — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:57:31 +0000

I took a wander up the Duke’s Path towards Coran Lochan today. The weather was superb, although cold and snowy and the views were first rate.

Obviously no one had been along the path since the snow fell; no one human at least although I saw lots of animal tracks (mostly deer and sheep).

This one was a carnivore.

In the evening the views to the mountains were quite superb – one of the best sunsets I have seen since we have been living here.

Winter back today

donich_admin — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:28:22 +0000

The day before yesterday I was saying to R that the last of the snow was gone off the mountains here for the year. How wrong could I be, because today it was back with a vengeance. Down here at loch level it was only just cold enough to lie a bit in the back garden, but on Bheula and Donich it was white from around 300m.

Intermittently all day it has been rather pretty with the sun shining on the snow, and surpassingly foul with deluges of slush and hail.

The poor daffodils took a bit of a pasting overnight, but being hardy Argyll flowers they had recovered by this afternoon.

Snow on the Steeple

donich_admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:25:39 +0000

The hill just between Lochgoilhead and Cnoc Coinnich is called “The Steeple” although it is not very high at 378m (it’s a nice little climb with good views but a bit muddy and pathless). I was told by a local once (well I am a local now – but I mean a long time local) that if there was snow on the Steeple it meant there would also be snow on the Rest and be Thankful. On reflection this seems odd as the highest point of the B828 is 298m and the A83 is 269m at the pass. Perhaps this takes into account the fact that the Steeple is nearer the salt air from the Loch.

Anyway – there was a sprinkle of snow on the Steeple yesterday but none on the Rest so not sure how true the story is. I checked this by looking at the webcam on trafficscotland.org which seems an altogether more reliable method.

It was very cold in general yesterday but some nice views to snowy hills.

Unfortunately today was much warmer but so dreich you couldn’t see whether the snow was gone off the mountains or not. I guess it mostly have as the Donich is in full spate at the moment and the waterfalls are a sight to see.

Snowy weather

donich_admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 19:51:50 +0000

We’ve had some quite extreme weather the last couple of days. Yesterday R and I went up the waterfalls in bright sunshine, and on the way down were hit by near whiteout conditions. The waterfalls looked pretty though, and there were some nice views of billowing cloudscapes.

During the afternoon we had about 5cm of snow, blowing in in waves off Bheula.

It all stopped about 6pm and R and I took the decision to clear the drive (all 72m of it) before the snow got compacted by cars and turned to ice. Being pretty fit now we made short work of it between the two of us, ably assisted by the cats. This morning we were glad we had because overnight it had frozen solid, and the bits we had missed had turned to sheet ice. I even had to put salt on the steps this morning as they were slick with ice too.

Today (when I was working) was of course a beautiful day, and we took the opportunity to have a short walk at lunch time. We’re off to Glasgow tomorrow and of course the forecast for Sunday which is the only day we are both free is for rain.

Snow’s Back

donich_admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 10:50:46 +0000

Quite snowy when we got up this morning and it is now coming over the mountains in waves, with Beinn Bheula alternately looking alp-like and disappearing behind the clouds. Looking at the traffic Scotland live traffic cams there is two or three inches of snow at the Rest but the A83 is clear. Just as well as R and I are off to the glamorous location of Milton Keynes for a wedding today. Well, I suppose it can’t all be the Orient Express.

Winter Wonderland

donich_admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:44:31 +0000

The weather suddenly turned very cold this week, and unusually for November, we had quite a bit of snow. This would of course be the week R is away in Glasgow, and he ended up having to stay overnight, because he was concerned he won’t get back over the Rest the following morning.

This was the snow in the afternoon.

And the next morning – when of course he would have been fine to get back to Glasgow.

It all looked very pretty – we have yet to experience a cold winter while living here – so maybe this year will be a re-enactment of 2009/2010

Blossom Tree

donich_admin — Mon, 02 May 2016 12:01:04 +0000

In spite of the snow and low temperatures over the last few days, the plum tree is still covered in blossom, so perhaps all will be well for later in the year. I do hope so as Victoria plums are a real favourite of mine.

Today the weather is really ‘goily’ with sunshine and squalls blowing in across the mountains at irregular intervals.

Winter Returns

donich_admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 20:48:24 +0000

With a vengeance…. Yesterday my ASDA order had to be cancelled as there was snow on the Rest, and our road got blocked by cars getting stuck on it. Doubtless this would be tourists in what R calls “summer cars” but actually I hardly blame them – it can’t be too great to be heading for your holiday cottage in time for the first week in May to find the road blocked by snow.

So all yesterday afternoon it was snowing heavily and almost lying – a couple of degrees colder and we would have had a thick covering – even here at near loch level. Today the mountains are white down to about 200m, and this evening the sun has come out and everything is very scenic and alp-like.

Luckily it is not as cold as it was when we got the late snow this time last year – so I am hoping big time that it has not killed all the blossom on my plum tree – last year I only got about four plums off it.

More Snow…

donich_admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 14:29:08 +0000

R and I went for a walk in quite thick snow today. It was coming down all yesterday, and when it stopped for a while, I took the opportunity to clear our (75m!) driveway. An hour or so later it was covered again, but probably best to keep on top of it, as we discovered back in Livingston in 2009 when we let it build up for weeks and then had our car stuck in the drive for weeks more. I just cleared it again, so we shall see….

Anyway, the walk (up to the waterfall, on to the side of Beinn Donich, and back round the long way) was very interesting. No one had been before us since the snow – no human that is. But there were animal tracks everywhere, mainly badger, fox, deer and marten, but we saw others we couldn’t recognize. It was so pristine, and the snow had covered over the ugly mess the construction work on the hydro is leaving at the moment. Coming back, we could see over the village, laid out in perfect monochrome, as though it were a black and white photograph of itself.

Footprints in the snow

donich_admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 17:24:19 +0000

We woke this morning to a beautiful day, with clear skies, sub-zero temperature and a good sprinkling of snow.

Snowfalls are one of the ways you get to appreciate what a rich environment we live in as the tracks of wildlife were everywhere. Obviously a lot of them were down to the cats, but when R and I were out for our 7:30am walk in the pristine snowscape, we came across tracks near our gates of badgers and at least two deer (I’m no Aragon but one was a big deer and one a small one). Other tracks I saw later as we cleared the driveway (Oban Express couldn’t get their van up the drive) were probably a pine marten.

It all makes you think that if we can see this in the depth of winter, what would it be like if the tracks were visible in summer…

Talking about the depths of winter – when I was out taking a photo of the snow, I noticed the first shoots of the grape hyacinths which grow over our patio in spring pushing through.