Christmas Day 2019 and the weather finally turned nice for a while. The wind dropped and the cloud and sea spray disappeared - it was a joy to be out at first light with the camera. :-)

Leaving the truck in the little car park behind the tea shop the sky was still dark but with a few stars twinkling overhead I knew it was at least partly clear. So, with a growing sense of anticipation I stumbled up the narrow track to the top of the cliffs.

Wind the clock back to December when this trip was conceived and it was to be a week in the Scottish Cairngorms surrounded by snow-covered mountains and fabulous light.  Well, that was the idea.  With hind-sight, perhaps the idea was a little optimistic but, at the time, sat in front of a warm fire with a glass of Jura anything seemed possible.  The closer the trip came, the less it looked like my fire-side dream would be realised.  The Cairngorms were devoid of snow.