Never mind the forecast, the weather sucked. Not only did the morning suggest poor photography, but it also wasn’t the most pleasant conditions for a walk. Grey, gloomy and cold with a cloud base of around 400 metres, it certainly wasn’t the best. Still, I had decided on a walk up the Paps and I was keen to get on with it. In addition to the aforementioned biscuits, I was loaded with hot soup, chilli crisps, outdoor kit and of course lenses… Very heavy lenses! I should have rationalised my load here, but it was one of kitchen sink moments where I convinced myself of the apparent need for every focal length between 10mm and 400mm.”

The most exciting element was guessing whether each footfall would sink 6 inches or 3 feet into the peaty gloop. Climbing up on to the saddle between Beinn an Òir and Beinn Shiantaidh saw matters get a little hairy, and I was now within the cloud base and also above the snow line. I guess motivation was fair to moderate (becoming good) at this stage, having negotiated the lowlands I was now hitting the stairs, so to speak.

Anyone familiar with the paps will know that they are a serious undertaking. Whilst not especially high, they are remote from civilisation, steep, covered in loose scree and most importantly Scottish. This final point (combined with winter conditions) means that you shouldn’t really under-estimate them, and I would only advise experience winter hillwalkers attempt them in these conditions.

I knew that there was a diagonal line across the East face, but finding it in a whiteout was pretty tricky. The next hour or so was to be quite a test as I navigated onwards and upwards in the snow. I’m never afraid of admitting defeat in these situations and I made a decision at around 600m to abandon the climb but when the skies cleared briefly and offerred the first visibility in hours I took this a good sign and within a few minutes I was on the summit ridge. I was met with fierce South Westerlies and the wispy cloud was flying past. The scenery below was flicking in and out of visibility by the second. It was pretty exhilerating to be up there, and I moved freely and happily along the ridge to the actual summit.

In the gallery you can see the actual views James enjoyed and I believe the word breathtaking describes pretty much what he saw that day! Make sure to visit the website of James Deane for lots more beautiful photography on www.jamesdeanephotography.com

Visit the Walking the Paps in Jura in Winter Gallery here

On an island like Jura, with almost 7,000 deer, the rutting deer can’t be missed, both by vision and sound. On Jura you can see almost anywhere small groups of deer which usually consist of a stag and a couple of hinds. The mating season for the red deer starts late September and ends at the end of October which makes this one of the best periods to visit the island. Friends of mine were on Jura last week and they sent me a lot of beautiful images of the landscape and the impressive stags and hinds which you can find below.

View from Three arches bridge

13 Pointer stag and hinds

Tarbert

Beinn Shiantaidh

Hind and Calf

Hind Calf and Stag

Roaring Stag

Lagg

Loch an t-Siob

Images courtesy Teresa Morris of Islay Wildscapes

This is a Landscape panorama created from six images which I took in May 2007. The image is from the North of the island between Tarbert and Lussagiven. I took it from a passing place somewhere along the road. This part of the island is very remote, extremely beautiful and lonely. Every half hour or so a car passes by and the tranquility is overwhelming. Just park alongside the road, have your binoculars ready and carefully observe the landscape. Watch out for deer on the hills and if you’re lucky you can spot Golden Eagles or Hen Harriers.