More Snow

Before sunrise we could see that the Cefas Endeavour, which has been anchored out in the Firth since Sunday - see earlier post here - had been joined by another ship, possibly the one we saw on Sunday and couldn't identify as this one also did not show on the AIS/MT website. I think it's one of the Scottish Fisheries Protection vessels, very likely the Jura.

When the sun finally broke through the low cloud over the sea we could see that the rooftops of the houses below us had a new accumulation of snow, somewhere between one and two inches deep; and when we went out we could see that.... 

....Highland Council's limited fleet of gritters was struggling to clear the roads - this one is usually gritted quite early as it leads to the Council's offices.

One of the joys of a good fall of snow is walking away from human habitation until one comes to the less-frequented areas, listening to the crunch, crunch of each step and finding....

....the tracks of the animals which have passed since the last snow fell, some easy to identify - like this one, which is a rabbit - and some....

....much more difficult. These tiny tracks may be a stoat.

I was enjoying the scenery and the quiet when I was passed by a young man who asked whether this track would take him up to the summit of Beinn Bhraggie. I told him it would but warned him that the last section, up a steep and very rough path, would be very difficult in these conditions.