Hi Steemians!
As we are nearing winter I was looking back at some old trips we took last winter to get me all excited, and when I remembered this one I got very excited indeed. I think at the time, especially when its been so cold and dark for so long, all you can do is wish for it to end and for spring to arrive but looking back at these trips it makes you realise how beautiful it is when all the snow is around and everywhere is very quiet and still. Today I am sharing a trip we took to Glen Lyon. I hope you all enjoy it!!
Glen Lyon is near Perth in Scotland and its the longest glen in Scotland. It was once described as the "longest, loneliest and loveliest glen in Scotland" by Sir Walter Scott. I think having been there I kind of know what he means. It takes a while to get there and when you get there it feels very isolated surrounded by so many mountains and fields for miles. In this cold weather it definitely felt a little lonely too, but it also was very lovely! It was so beautiful, everywhere you looked there seem to be something pretty to photograph. The aisles of trees covered in snow that you drove through to get there definitely added to its charm, I was excited to go and explore more!
The views of the high up mountains were just stunning, covered in a thick layer of cold mist, possibly even more snow on the way! It was amazing looking up and having the view distorted in such a way the mountains seemed to blend into the sky!
Pretty little rain drops hung from branches, still from being so cold. It was so nice to have some light shine down on us in the valley, even though it was so cold the sun added some warmth to the photographs and I loved getting these little details of the little water droplets!
Some lovely snowdrops were bursting from the fresh snow on the ground, also covered in lots of little droplets. I always love seeing snow drops come out of the ground, its a sure sign that spring is on its way, although not for a while its a nice little flower to see pop up in the cold months of winter!
Near the entrance of the geln are the the stones of Fortingall that stand on the banks of the River Lyon. They are megolithic remains of stone circles that once were here. This area is one of the most remote areas of Scotland so to have stone circles here is just amazing. Who knows what they were for or why they chose this amazing location for the circles, but it definitely was amazing to see them still there and covered in an amazing bit of snow.
We braved the cold and got out of the car a few times to walk to the stone circles and explore the area on foot, not for long though, and retreated back to the warmth of the car! But it was also nice to get out and take photographs of the road, it was clear to see how remote this place was and also how vast it was by the views on the drive through the glen. Nothing to see for miles apart from mountains and fields, it was such an amazing view though! We were so glad to see it in the snow and also have some sunshine with us too!
Just as we stopped the car a little Grouse came to say Hi! I loved these birds so much, possibly because my dad paints them a lot and remember when we were younger going on trips to see them and get photographs of them for reference! I love their little eyebrows that are red and how they stick out from all the snow so well, its amazing to see them everytime as they aren't always that common. The make amazing noises and this one didn't seem to afraid of us getting a few photographs of them!
You could see how cold it was by how the ice was forming on the trees leaves. It was hard ice and only getting colder. Some of it was melting in the sunshine which was lovely seeing the little startbursts form off the droplets!
More different angles of the standing stones before we headed on, it looked so great from so many different angles and we wanted to make sure we were doing it justice. So far it was definitely worth the drive to get here! We were loving our trip out!
Another view down another route we took, the roads were a little icey but safe enough to drive on which we were very glad about. It was so nice to see it without anyone else there, the whole time we were exploring this vast glen we didn't come across another person, something that is quite easy to do in Scotland. Its amazing being able to have these views and sights all to ourselves, we felt so lucky!
The loch was alsmost completely frozen over, you could look quickly and think it was glass! The reflections of the suns light coming off it were sometimes blinding! It was amazing to see so much white and silver in nature and admire its beauty! The loch must have been unbearably cold and we weren't going to test it so didn't get any closer!
Everywhere you looked the snow and ice has created lovely little environments, so many pretty little scenes to photograph. The patterns in the snow left by animals or the wind looked like they could be works of an artist, it was really a winter wonderland!
It was so amazing to get such a nice day to explore this amazing place. The skies were so blue making it look even colder and even more beautiful! I'm sure there are days in this remote glen where things look and feel a lot more isolated and different to how it was making us feel today so we were very grateful for this amazing weather!
The views across the loch were just stunning, it was like time had stood still, there was no wind and no noise it was just us and nature. It was so beautiful and peaceful, looking out over to the loch and just admiring the new beauty of this season.
The roads did start to get a little bit harder to drive along! It looked like only one other person had goen down certain paths and sometimes we must have been the first, luckily we were in a 4x4 so it was fine but it was definitely not the easiest of driving. But driving in the snow always feels like an adventure and it all added to the wonderful experience!
The views went on and on, every corner we turned you could see another part of this long glen, it just didn't ever seem to end. The light on the moutanins was just amazing and against the white of the snow really looked incredible.
We were even greeted with an amazing site of a roe deer, we love all types of deer and this one didn't stay around for long but we managed to get a nice little shot of it as it made its way over the bank in the distance!
The trees into the forest look dark, I bet they are very cold and isolated places for the animals to be at this time of year but they looked lovely from this side of the forest anyway!
The views just kept on it was so pretty, like driving through a different world with all this snow. Snow really does change the way the world looks, if only for a day or two its so nice to get out and experience how good it all looks!
We were sad to leave this amazing glen but so happy with the day we had! It was so great to go to this glen and due to its location I am not sure if we will ever get there again. It was definitely a trip that has made me excited for more wintery adventures this year! I hope you all enjoyed this post and are now looking forward to seeing the snow back too!
Thank you for stopping by! - Verity x
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