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

The view from the road between Ardlussa and Tarbert

Mention must now be made of an extraordinary curiosity of the Jura Forests, called “the cromie stag,” Gaelic for “crooked.” In Jura only do
these stags exist; how they got there or whence they came no one knows, but there they have been from time immemorial, and confident I feel either that they are a distinct race, or that some stag from foreign lands once managed to get to Jura in days gone by and left his mark behind him. Even in Jura these “cromies” are very scarce, living only in certain parts of the island, where perhaps three or four “cromies” may be seen to one hundred others, and the whole forest may not contain a score of them. In twelve years Mr. Evans has shot but eleven, and for several seasons past none at all, although by this it must not be inferred that absence from the larder means absence from the hill, for, thanks to Mr. Evans’ care, there are still ” cromies ” in Jura.

The horns of the “cromie” slope backwards and are set on the head at a totally different angle to those of the ordinary stag ; likewise the beam is seldom round like the usual horn, but tends to varying degrees of flatness, and in a cast horn, kindly sent me by Mr. Evans, that part above the coronet is nearly quite flat. I consider these “cromie” heads so curious, so interesting, and so difficult to convey any idea of by words, that I have deemed the head of the ” crooked one ” well worthy of illustration, and the drawing shows most accurately the remarkable features of the best ” cromie ” head ever got in Jura, and though at first sight it may appear ugly as compared with that of the usual monarch of the glen, I am sure all deer fanciers will eventually agree with me in regarding the head as a wild and beautiful one, while the sight of it cannot fail to arouse speculation as to its origin.

The online publication contained no images but the magnificent images of Teresa in this post show exactly what is referred to in the quote above. The complete article is available from this link

I’d like to state that the images shown in this post may not be of a 100% pure Cromie Stag but they show the features of a typical Jura stag. I’d like to invite the readers of this post to send in any images of a true Jura Cromie stag, they will be added to this post. Please use the email address in the contact page. Thanks very much for your help.

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

Paps of Jura Landscape Panorama

Below is an overview of the current Jura panorama’s or you can have a preview at Isle of Jura Panorama Images