Autumn Colours

October 30, 2007 on 9:43 am | In Snowboarding |

The SNP conference were lucky to enjoy one of the most beautiful autumn days of the season in Aviemore this Sunday. They did have a mixed bag though, as Saturday was typically wet and windy. Sunday, however, was a lovely blustery day with a lot of sunny spells which brought out the best of the autumn colours in the landscape. Craigellachie, the hill behind Aviemore, shone with the yellows and oranges of the turning birch trees, which contrasted amazingly with the sapphire blue of the sky. The gloden yellow of the ripe grain in the fields also added to the patchwork quilt effect in the landscape and gave the phesants a good place to hide, until they were disturbed like the one in the picture.

One of my favourite places to go walking in autumn is on Ord Ban at the back of Loch an Eilan. This hill is also covered in many coloured birch trees. These are well mixed in between the pines and rowans making for a truly stunning aray of autumn colours. The view from the top of Ord Ban gives you a great line of sight up towards the Larig Ghru and the Cairngorm Mountain on one side and down towards Inshriach in the other direction. Loch an Eilan is right below you, like a gem set between the mountains. There are some lovely little crags at the top of the hill on the Loch an Eilan side where you can sit and watch the world go by and admire the scenery, which is exactly what I did.

Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.