0:00:02 > 0:00:07This is the largest and most remote wilderness in Britain.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12A land of arctic extremes in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Its granite crags and pine forests are a last refuge
0:00:20 > 0:00:26for some of Britain's most rare and spectacular animals.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36People are drawn here because of its challenging nature.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40For some it's a way of life,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44for others it's about finding adventure
0:00:44 > 0:00:46and inspiration in its raw beauty.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Through their love of this landscape, they reveal
0:00:58 > 0:01:04the inner secrets of the Cairngorms, Britain's wildest national park.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35At the heart of the Cairngorms National Park
0:01:35 > 0:01:41is a massive granite plateau 18 miles long and 12 miles wide.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52In many ways it's like the Arctic -
0:01:52 > 0:01:57remote, bitterly cold and treacherous.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00People die up here.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08Only the most skilled mountaineers brave it in the winter.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11John Lyall has pioneered
0:02:11 > 0:02:15many challenging winter climbs in the Cairngorms.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19With 20 years' experience behind him, he can now share
0:02:19 > 0:02:24these remote and remarkable places with other people.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26The Cairngorms have got a vastness,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30a sort of beauty to tap into that other areas don't have.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35I think you need to really explore them, really get to know them
0:02:35 > 0:02:38to appreciate the hidden beauties of the place.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46As a youngster,
0:02:46 > 0:02:48I thought climbing was mad. I didn't think there was any sense
0:02:48 > 0:02:51in climbing up a hard way if there was an easy way.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54But now I take people on adventures,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57trying to fulfil dreams for people, really,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59which is fantastic.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14In winter, daylight hours are limited
0:03:14 > 0:03:19so to access far-distant places, John overnights on the mountain.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24There's only hard snow, really.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28As soon as the light begins to fade from the slopes,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30he needs to make a snow hole.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38It's a bit firmer here.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44John must judge which bit of the snow bank
0:03:44 > 0:03:46is least likely to collapse.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Digging through the most recent snowfall is the easy bit.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06As you dig further and further in, you just get through
0:04:06 > 0:04:08all the ages of the snow, really, all the months going back,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11all the way back to November.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16If there are two of you, you normally dig two tunnels in
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and then you dig towards one another.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Mr Preston, I presume.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30He knows all the tricks to create a shelter that's dry
0:04:30 > 0:04:35and maybe 20 degrees higher than the temperature outside.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40I think over years, mountaineers have improved them
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and learned, as we all do, by our mistakes, like getting dripped on.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Thanks to this snow cave, John will get a decent night's rest,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and be able to make the most of the next day's climbing.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07I think it's great, one candle lights up the whole place
0:05:07 > 0:05:09and it makes a really cosy place out of the wind.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Lots of people underestimate the winds in the Cairngorms
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and think they can go and camp
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and their tents get ripped to shreds by the winds,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21finishing up in the North Sea.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22- Cheers.- Slainte.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29The Cairngorms can be just as testing as the Arctic
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and no two days are the same up here.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44It's the severity of the Cairngorms
0:05:44 > 0:05:47that artist Elizabeth Pirie loves so much.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50In her studio, during the depths of winter,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54she tries to capture the essence of granite and snow.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Portraying winter is something special
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and something incredibly difficult.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10It's that thing of there's so many colours in snow
0:06:10 > 0:06:14but you've got to really, really look for them,
0:06:14 > 0:06:19and they all become these kind of muted darker colours
0:06:19 > 0:06:22but at the same time light hits off snow or light hits off ice or frost
0:06:22 > 0:06:26and everything just lights up and it's weird because you think,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29you know, it's a darker season, there's less light in the day,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33but maybe that just makes you appreciate what light there is more.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45It's one of those things that's still, kind of, going on.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48You just have to go, "Right, this time we are going to master snow,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51"we are going to do at least one picture that captures the coldness
0:06:51 > 0:06:54"but yet the just amazing beauty of the snow."
0:06:58 > 0:07:01It's something that is almost impossible to portray
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and I kind of like that.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06I like the fact that it's really hard to draw things like that.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Over the year, Elizabeth will explore the Cairngorms
0:07:10 > 0:07:14and use paint to distil her feelings
0:07:14 > 0:07:17about the landscape's untamable beauty.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19The Cairngorms is huge
0:07:19 > 0:07:25and the Cairngorms are, to a point, completely indescribable
0:07:25 > 0:07:30because it's so changeable and it's a place where nature is saying,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34"Look, I'm here, this is my patch."
0:07:44 > 0:07:46John wakes to a very different day.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51But the weather won't deter him from venturing deeper into the mountains.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56He's not the only one to have hunkered down here overnight.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Wild animals certainly live in snow holes.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Ptarmigan that live up here, in bad storms they'll sit out a storm
0:08:04 > 0:08:08by letting the snow drift over them. Or dig a little bit in to soft snow,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12a lovely little cosy place to stay and they'll sit out, you know,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15several days of bad weather inside a little snow cave
0:08:15 > 0:08:17where they don't lose any body heat
0:08:17 > 0:08:20because they're insulated by the snow.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24The ptarmigan is an arctic bird
0:08:24 > 0:08:28that in Britain only lives on the highest of Scottish peaks.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36WIND HOWLS
0:08:37 > 0:08:44In the Cairngorms, temperatures can fall to minus 27 degrees.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48But it's the wind-chill that makes the peaks so hostile.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57170 mile an hour winds, the highest ever in the UK,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01were recorded here on the summit of Cairn Gorm.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12We have to deal with a lot of bad days here,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15quite hard to get to places.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21It's too windy, it's too cold, it's too snowy.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26It's more of a challenge and I think the rewards are all the greater.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33John is no stranger to the world's toughest climbs.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37He's climbed the Alps, Andes and Himalayas.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40But it's the unpredictable weather in the Cairngorms
0:09:40 > 0:09:45that makes the rock faces here the most extreme he's ever faced.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54Today, John's attempting the sheer crag known as Hell's Lum.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01The climb is a mix of rock and ice,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05perilous because the conditions of the ice are ever-changing.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20The snow will be blowing down on to you, the face you're climbing on.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24You can't see where your ice axes and crampons are
0:10:24 > 0:10:27because there is so much snow moving around you.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29But you can still climb in those conditions.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Oh, winter climbing in the Cairngorms,
0:10:36 > 0:10:37yeah, is the best climbing there is.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40I think it's very special.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47The Cairngorms offer a very rare experience.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51John is pitting himself against
0:10:51 > 0:10:55some of the Earth's oldest walls of granite.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06The Cairngorms' granite core
0:11:06 > 0:11:10was formed by volcanic activity 400 million years ago.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Way older than the Alps or the Himalayas.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Its great glens and rounded peaks have been scoured
0:11:20 > 0:11:24and worn down by time and by ice.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Around the edges of the plateau is an age-old forest
0:11:29 > 0:11:33that is Scottish to its core.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Scots pines colonised these valleys after the last ice age
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and are our only native pine tree.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46They can survive the harshest winters
0:11:46 > 0:11:50because their sap contains a natural anti-freeze.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57The resolute quality of these forests
0:11:57 > 0:12:01keeps drawing nature writer Jim Crumley back.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05A great deal of the attraction for me of this landscape
0:12:05 > 0:12:10is the fact it is a kind of a hard-edged northern place.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I think of the Cairngorms as basically being
0:12:17 > 0:12:21two...hard elements -
0:12:21 > 0:12:23granite...
0:12:23 > 0:12:24and pine.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33And as far as I'm concerned, the pine is every bit as fundamental
0:12:33 > 0:12:36to the place as the mountain is.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48But within this tough landscape, Jim knows pockets of forest
0:12:48 > 0:12:50where he can find deep calm.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56I mean, I can think of no other circumstance
0:12:56 > 0:12:59that I would rather be in
0:12:59 > 0:13:05than in a Cairngorms' pine wood, absolutely in conditions like this.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08When you get a day like this
0:13:08 > 0:13:11when there's snow on the ground and there's no wind,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13there's an almost, um...
0:13:14 > 0:13:18tangible depth to the quiet.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21And you don't get that in very many places.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26And I've had a couple of experiences of absolutely profound
0:13:26 > 0:13:28unbroken silence.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39And I think of those as the sacred moments in my own life.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45And in terms of my day job as a nature writer,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49these are the moments that really let you see
0:13:49 > 0:13:55under the skin of the landscape, and you start to begin
0:13:55 > 0:13:58to prize free one or two of the secrets of the place.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00CHIRRUPING
0:14:01 > 0:14:05One of the great set pieces of the Cairngorms' pine woods
0:14:05 > 0:14:06is the crested tit.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12They're such wonderful little things when you see them close up,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14and they really are pinewood specialists
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and they don't seem to work anywhere else.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20From the neck down, it's a fairly drab little bird
0:14:20 > 0:14:24and from the neck up, it's this fabulous...
0:14:24 > 0:14:25There's a crest that looks like
0:14:25 > 0:14:29a crossword puzzle that's been designed by Picasso.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32But it is a real, you know...
0:14:32 > 0:14:35It's a thing of the northern pine woods.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39BIRDSONG
0:14:39 > 0:14:43By March, snow is no longer settling
0:14:43 > 0:14:48and it's not just crested tits becoming busy amongst the pines.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05It can take a month longer for spring to arrive higher up.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14When the snow eventually melts, it unveils the heather moorland
0:15:14 > 0:15:17that covers large expanses of the Cairngorms.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23An excellent hunting ground for the golden eagle,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26one of the Cairngorms' last large predators.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Once there would also have been wolves, lynx and bears.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38Over time, people have worked the landscape to their own advantage.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Since the mid-19th century, these moorlands have been managed
0:15:41 > 0:15:46around the life of one native bird. The red grouse.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49ROLLING CLUCKING CALL
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Male grouse are particularly territorial in spring.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59The shoots of heather are their main source of food
0:15:59 > 0:16:02so protecting their patch can lead to squabbles.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Over the last 150 years, the area of heather has hugely expanded
0:16:09 > 0:16:13as grouse shooting has become a more important part
0:16:13 > 0:16:15of the Highlands' rural economy.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Gamekeeper Graeme Macdonald is part of a long tradition of people
0:16:22 > 0:16:25who see the moorlands as their place of work.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33I know it's stupid but I've never worked a day in my life.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36You know, this is just a way of life, it's what you do.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Graeme works for an estate on the western side of the Cairngorms.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44It's his job to look after the grouse.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48It's just the most wonderful way of life.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53It's a fascinating job and it's a job I adore doing.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59Rain or shine, Graeme spends early spring checking up on the grouse
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and working out how he can manage the heather moorland
0:17:02 > 0:17:04to improve their chances of survival.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Grouse, it's a wild bird. It's not like a pheasant,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14it's a bird that is wild, but it's got to be managed.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18You've got to make sure that that environment is there for the bird.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Before the nesting season,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Graeme needs to encourage new growth of heather.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31And he does this through regular burning.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Heather will grow up to three, four foot high.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Just grow into huge bushes and there'd be nothing,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48eventually nothing would grow underneath it,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51so you don't get ground nesting birds under the heather then.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55The heather has been managed in this traditional way for centuries
0:17:55 > 0:17:58shaping a vast moorland landscape.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Graeme takes great care to control the flames.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Burning too much would leave the grouse without cover.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Using an all-terrain vehicle and high-pressure water spray,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20he can contain the fire within strips.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Some of them look like Dante's Inferno,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26when you see just walls of flame.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29It's not every year we can burn because of the weather.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31You've just got to watch the wind
0:18:31 > 0:18:35and make sure the fire goes in the direction you want.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39But some days the wind changes and it can get very exciting.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45The aim is to have taller areas of heather for cover and nesting,
0:18:45 > 0:18:50and burned areas with fresh heather shoots for the birds to eat.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54It is important to burn because you want to keep your heather healthy.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57You want to make sure there's a lot of good food for your grouse.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01That's the only reason they'll stay is cos there's good feeding for them.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05But all this effort won't necessarily ensure
0:19:05 > 0:19:07this year's chicks survive the months ahead.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28By mid-April, spring is well under way in the glens.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Mountaineer John Lyall can take things a little more gently.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Today, he's hiking up to the Wells of Dee,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46one of his favourite places on the plateau.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53One of the good things walking along these paths on a steep-sided glen
0:19:53 > 0:19:57is that you're able to look right across the top of the pine trees
0:19:57 > 0:20:01at the foliage where some of the pine specialists feed,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04like the crossbills and crested tits,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06and it's a great place to watch them.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12CHIRRING AND PIPING BIRDSONG
0:20:18 > 0:20:22The crossbill has evolved an asymmetrical bill
0:20:22 > 0:20:25that can prize out seeds even when pine cones are still shut.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38From a distance, the Cairngorms can appear almost featureless.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41It's only when you hike up onto its great plateau
0:20:41 > 0:20:43that you discover its true character.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Here is one of the most spectacular views in Britain,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57looking over a vast, glaciated valley - the Lairig Ghru.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05This is very special, great views right through to Lochnagar
0:21:05 > 0:21:09over on Balmoral Estate there in the distance.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Beyond the Lairig Ghru,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18lots of memories of things I've done here which is good,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20but it sort of sums up the Cairngorms.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24It's one of the hidden corners of the Cairngorms.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28When you see the Cairngorm Massif from the Spey valley,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31you just see a big, rounded mass of hills
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and you don't see these hidden corries and deep glens
0:21:35 > 0:21:38that are so impressive. You have to get up here
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and get into the middle of them to find them -
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and I think that's what makes them really special.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51The Lairig Ghru slices right through the Cairngorms Massif,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54exposing its heart of red granite.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01It's this red rock that gave rise to the Cairngorms' ancient Gaelic name,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Am Monadh Ruadh - the red hills.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07And cradled in the valley far below
0:22:07 > 0:22:11is one of the best known salmon rivers in the world.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13The River Dee.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Its source is higher still.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23One of the most magical places in the Cairngorms.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31Up here, winter can return on any day of the year.
0:22:32 > 0:22:38I think the unpredictability adds something to the whole experience
0:22:38 > 0:22:43but I think anything that is predictable can become boring.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Near the summit of Braeriach, Britain's third highest mountain
0:22:49 > 0:22:54are a few tiny springs, the Wells of Dee.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02So it's amazing, I've got the River Dee
0:23:02 > 0:23:06welling up out of the rocks in front of me
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and it just starts as this tiny little bit of water
0:23:10 > 0:23:13trickling out of a lump of granite.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It's fantastic, really unusual that such a major river should rise
0:23:17 > 0:23:23so high in the hills and comes just out of the depths of the mountain.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27From deep in the granite, water bubbles up under pressure,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31purified on its way, to emerge at 1,200 metres,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34the highest source of any river in Britain.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39The water coming out of the rocks is warmer than you'd expect.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43I wouldn't have a hot bath in it but it's good to drink.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47It's lovely water. Don't suppose it could be much purer
0:23:47 > 0:23:50coming straight out of the rock the way it does.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54And it's always running.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15From this almost mystical birthplace, the river cascades
0:24:15 > 0:24:21off the Cairngorm plateau, down the Lairig Ghru, and into Royal Deeside.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31The spring snowmelt keeps the water crystal clear
0:24:31 > 0:24:34and high enough for salmon to run the river.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36An angler's paradise.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39There's a saying that fishing in the Dee
0:24:39 > 0:24:42is like fishing in champagne.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51Cos the Dee, when it's running at low level, is so clear
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and it's one of the few rivers that actually runs this clear.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Archie Hay is no ordinary angler.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05He's a ghillie - a fishing guide on one of the most picturesque
0:25:05 > 0:25:09six-mile stretches of the Dee, known as the Crathie.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Well, it's my job, I don't regard myself as having a job.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14I'm lucky, I have a hobby.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16And it just, you know...
0:25:16 > 0:25:18That's just the way I feel about it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27I think it's in your blood. I suppose we have an affinity
0:25:27 > 0:25:31for the river in a way, just, it's part of my life.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Archie's stretch of river, or beat, runs along the edge
0:25:40 > 0:25:44of the Royal Balmoral Estate, on the southern side of the Cairngorms.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51Right now, Archie's waiting for the spring salmon to arrive
0:25:51 > 0:25:54on their long journey from the sea to their spawning grounds
0:25:54 > 0:25:56in the heart of the mountains.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06From his riverside bothy, he can keep an eye out for the salmon.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10When they arrive, they will bring anglers from all over the world,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15so Archie's hard at work, hand-tying his own special flies.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22They are partly based on tradition, partly on long experience
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and are designed with the Dee's clear water in mind.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Well, they actually say a bit of blue
0:26:31 > 0:26:36for the Dee. A Blue Charm used to do very well. The Hairy Mary...
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Um, they're all sort of flies with blue in them
0:26:40 > 0:26:45and for years these were flies that people used, in fact, they still use.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Whether it's the clear water or what, the blue, I don't know.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56My personal favourite now is the Crathie
0:26:56 > 0:26:59and that's, you know, it's named after the beat.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Crathie is actually out, since I've been taught to tie it and its secret,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09it's done very, very well here.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13I'd say I'd probably catch 70% of my fish on the Crathie.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Fishermen will do anything for a fish, if you know what I mean,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26as in, if they think wearing leaky waders would help them catch a fish,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29they would wear leaky waders and it's as simple as that.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35It's in April Archie sees his first spring salmon.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46When you see the fish in the river it's...
0:27:46 > 0:27:50your heart actually gives a little bit of a flutter, you know.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52They are very silver, very plump.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57They're often referred to as a bar of silver.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Absolutely pristine, beautiful fish.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08We're here to catch fish and whether it's your first fish,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10or your hundredth fish, or thousandth fish,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13you still get the same reaction when you hook one.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Basically, I suppose, it means the spring has definitely arrived
0:28:19 > 0:28:21and the fish are here.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29But even with Archie's guile and experience,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32the salmon will not be easy to catch.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48The ancient forest of the Great Wood of Caledon
0:28:48 > 0:28:51lies on the northern edge of the Cairngorms.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54CUCKOO CALLS
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Even though only 1% of the original pine forest remains,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04writer Jim Crumley can still feel humbled in its presence.
0:29:10 > 0:29:11Pine woods are...
0:29:11 > 0:29:15I mean, to my way of thinking, are completely different
0:29:15 > 0:29:17from any other kind of wood.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Especially big pine woods like you get around the Cairngorms
0:29:21 > 0:29:25where you really do get the chance to go for a long walk in trees.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33And there is a sense at the beginning,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35as you enter the pine wood,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37that it says to me...
0:29:39 > 0:29:43.."Walk more slowly, walk softer.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47"Look at where you are, take notice."
0:29:52 > 0:29:55I do like to write when I'm out.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59It's something that I learned from reading a woman
0:29:59 > 0:30:03called Margaret Evans, an English nature writer.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07And she said that "There is no substitute
0:30:07 > 0:30:10"even in divine imagination for the touch of the moment,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13"the touch of the daylight on the dream."
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Just while I've been sitting here,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17I've been picking out little points of light
0:30:17 > 0:30:19which are droplets of moisture.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23I mean, these fell onto the bushes as snow about an hour ago
0:30:23 > 0:30:28and those trapped snowflakes have just become points of light.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Sheltered in the woods from the fickle weather,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Jim can easily lose sense of time.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Under a tree like this, he had his first encounter
0:30:38 > 0:30:43with one of the rarest and shyest creatures of the pine forest.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45BURBLING, RASPING CALL
0:30:45 > 0:30:47I was lying just on the ground
0:30:47 > 0:30:52and I probably hadn't been in a deep sleep, but I'd been dozing
0:30:52 > 0:30:56and there was this capercaillie making this preposterous noise.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03DEEP, THROATY "CLUCKING" AND "POPPING"
0:31:05 > 0:31:10And it just started to busily parade up and down
0:31:10 > 0:31:16and these strange, kind of, popping cork noises started
0:31:16 > 0:31:18and it was extraordinary
0:31:18 > 0:31:21to encounter for the first time such a situation.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Capercaillie or capers are only found in pine forests,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32where they feed on the pine needles and shoots.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38It's in April when the males head to a special place in the forest
0:31:38 > 0:31:42known as a lek, a Norse word for "dance".
0:31:47 > 0:31:52I kind of followed it as best I could crawling on my stomach
0:31:52 > 0:31:55and got to the edge of this little clearing
0:31:55 > 0:31:57and there were three or four others there.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00It was kind of into this big, black fan thing.
0:32:00 > 0:32:01It's like a black sunrise.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04It was one of the most extraordinary things in nature.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15The object of the exercise obviously is to attract the females.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22And that whole joy of discovery thing, is what absolutely for me
0:32:22 > 0:32:27underpins everything that I do in the natural world.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32It was a rare moment indeed.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35There is so little native forest,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38there are fewer than 2,000 capercaillie left.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50The Great Wood of Caledon
0:32:50 > 0:32:54once covered as much as three million acres,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57but over millennia, the felling of trees,
0:32:57 > 0:33:01farming and grazing, have changed the landscape completely.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02BURBLING CALL
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Now it's the capercaillie's smaller cousin, the red grouse,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09which is benefiting from the way the uplands are managed.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16It's May, and Graeme's burning has created a good patchwork
0:33:16 > 0:33:18of different aged heather for cover and food.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23The grouse have been nesting,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25and he's hoping there will be lots of baby chicks.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30CHEEPING Two chicks.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36They're quite easy to catch cos they're so small.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40It doesn't do the bird any harm, you know, they don't seem to mind it.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41It's just a quick check,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44it only takes a few seconds to have a look at them.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48That's only a couple of days old...
0:33:48 > 0:33:50if that.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Not even that, a day old. He's quite a healthy bird
0:33:54 > 0:33:57so he should make it all right
0:33:57 > 0:33:59as long as the weather's good to him.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01He's pretty well free of ticks.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Parasitic ticks are a problem,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08as they can make a nestling weak and vulnerable.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Graeme's going out three or four times a week
0:34:13 > 0:34:17to give the baby grouse a health check.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21And with every passing survey, he realises there's a problem.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23There he goes.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Many of the grouse chicks have succumbed to hypothermia
0:34:26 > 0:34:28in this wet, cold spring.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32It's been a really bad month, May,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35we've had snow on the hills during the nesting
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and a lot of hard frosts and torrential rain
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and it's just been horrendous.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45We've just lost probably about half the population of chicks this year.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Usually about eight or ten in a covey.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56This one's down to three
0:34:56 > 0:34:59so the rest have obviously perished with the cold.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Over the summer, Graeme will continue
0:35:04 > 0:35:07to carry out regular bird counts.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10But if the chicks continue to die in large numbers,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13he may need to cancel the August grouse shoot.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17It's a serious concern
0:35:17 > 0:35:21as many livelihoods are tied into the shooting season.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The shoot's my responsibility, so it's not good for anybody.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30I'm very disheartened here. It's not looking good at all just now.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33We really need the weather to cheer up.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38Over the next few weeks,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41the weather is as changeable as ever.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47But eventually, summer does arrive.
0:35:50 > 0:35:51The flowering of the heather
0:35:51 > 0:35:55brings colour and a softness to the rugged landscape.
0:35:57 > 0:36:03With nearly 20 hours of daylight, it's a perfect time to be outdoors.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Elizabeth Pirie grew up in the Cairngorms.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Her father, Eric, is an outdoor guide,
0:36:11 > 0:36:16and Elizabeth has inherited his passion for wild places.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Today they're climbing their favourite crag, Kingussie,
0:36:24 > 0:36:26to the west of the Park.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30Unlike the granite plateau of the Cairngorm Massif,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34this rock is a mica schist.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38The minerals within it were subjected to great heat and pressure
0:36:38 > 0:36:40and lie in layered planes.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44The Cairngorms' weather has prised open these layers,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47creating perfect handholds.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53Elizabeth's love for textures and colours of rock faces like this
0:36:53 > 0:36:56changed the direction of her art.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03Art never seemed like a realistic thing to actually do.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07I think I went through a time when it was, "Art? OK, I'll draw pots,
0:37:07 > 0:37:10"I'll draw wine glasses, I'll draw flowers, that's fine."
0:37:10 > 0:37:12It did take a while to actually realise, "No, look,
0:37:12 > 0:37:16"you love the Cairngorms, so draw that, draw what you love."
0:37:23 > 0:37:25For me, drawing a rock
0:37:25 > 0:37:31and really, really looking at it is as beneficial as life drawing is.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35It teaches you to look just as much, really,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38cos there are just so many details
0:37:38 > 0:37:42and you think, "Can you describe a rock?
0:37:42 > 0:37:48"Oh, well, it's a lump of stone, really." But they're so unique.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Especially on a wall like this, it's so featured.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55It's amazing how many lines there are going through it.
0:38:01 > 0:38:07The challenges of climbing rock and painting it seem to run in parallel.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10When you're climbing, you're thinking, "Right, OK,
0:38:10 > 0:38:12"I'm going to try that move."
0:38:15 > 0:38:20Each line is like a move, so you do a line of a drawing
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and you have to think, "Is that going to work?" If it does, great!
0:38:24 > 0:38:29And if it doesn't work, you have to reverse it. Oh, dear!
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Your art goes up in steps, so you go along for a little bit
0:38:35 > 0:38:38and you'll get to this point where it's just not working,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40nothing's working, and suddenly you'll take a big step
0:38:40 > 0:38:42and stuff will work again.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Happy day. That was much better.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04Elizabeth gets a kick out of climbing a difficult rock face.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10For others, it's the Cairngorm's rivers
0:39:10 > 0:39:12that provide endless fascination.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17The River Dee
0:39:17 > 0:39:20flows through some of the most stunning scenery in the Highlands.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25It travels at a stately pace
0:39:25 > 0:39:28and is often shallow enough to wade in,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31making it such a desirable place to fish.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35- We'll pop down here, OK?- Right.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38It's in early August, when one of Archie's longest-standing clients
0:39:38 > 0:39:41joins him for fishing on the Dee.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44When I do step down, I never know
0:39:44 > 0:39:48if my knees are going to stop going down once I've started.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53At 91, she is the oldest person he helps in his role as ghillie.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57- I think I'll stop you about here. - Mm-hm.- OK?
0:39:59 > 0:40:02She is known affectionately to him as Mrs C,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05and she has been fishing this pristine part of the river
0:40:05 > 0:40:07for 51 years.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12The first two weeks in August,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15I always really look forward to Mrs C's family that comes.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17They treat me like one of the family.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20I have a fantastic time with them.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28She's a joy to be with. I really enjoy having her here.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32It was almost by accident that Mrs C fell in love
0:40:32 > 0:40:34with this particular part of the Cairngorms.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39I hated taking the children to the seaside.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43I hated sitting on the sand, so when we were offered
0:40:43 > 0:40:49half of this beat for August, we took a house in Ballater
0:40:49 > 0:40:53and really came to see if the children could cope with it
0:40:53 > 0:40:55and they simply loved it!
0:41:00 > 0:41:04She has now outlived several ghillies.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Archie is her eighth.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10I'll always remember the big fish I got down here.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20And it was... What was it?
0:41:20 > 0:41:22- 20?- 25 pounds.- 25 pounds.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25And that was exciting!
0:41:29 > 0:41:34The art of casting is one that is mastered through years of practice.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38The aim is to work your fly into the perfect place
0:41:38 > 0:41:40to attract the attention of a fish.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46But getting them to bite isn't easy.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50With salmon you put your fly out and you know vaguely
0:41:50 > 0:41:53where the salmon will be lying.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55And like all things in nature,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59it's really... you can't control it, really,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02it's the fish that control it.
0:42:02 > 0:42:03Once the fly is out there,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06if the fish likes it, he'll take it. If he doesn't, he won't,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10and it doesn't matter how good or not you are.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16You just... I don't know, I think that's got a fascination.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24When you're standing in the river,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27it doesn't matter much about the fish,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29you just become part of the river.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32It's rather nice being part of a river.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35You certainly don't do it for catching fish
0:42:35 > 0:42:38cos you can fish for weeks without touching a fish,
0:42:38 > 0:42:41it doesn't seem to matter.
0:42:41 > 0:42:47It's just a silly thing, a mad thing that one does.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Archie's role is not so much knowing how to catch fish
0:42:51 > 0:42:55but it is also about sharing the love of this stretch of wild river.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57We'll move now, I think.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00The fish lie would be right across that far side, towards the...
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Yes, he'll be either this side or that.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Nothing as silly as fish.
0:43:05 > 0:43:06No.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Although the heather moorland is managed,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15it can be as wild and unpredictable as the river.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23The first day of the shooting season, the 12th of August,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26known as The Glorious Twelfth,
0:43:26 > 0:43:30is the most important of Graeme MacDonald's working year.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33He's dressed in his best tweed for the occasion.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40It's the first day of the grouse.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43It's the big test of what you've done.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47It's just horrendous, the tension, because you've done everything.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49You've done your grouse counts,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51you've got everything you think right.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53It's very, very stressful.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01BURBLING BIRDSONG
0:44:01 > 0:44:04Graeme hasn't had to cancel the shoot
0:44:04 > 0:44:08but grouse numbers are still low compared to last year.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13To make the shoot a success,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Graeme will be carefully co-ordinating a team of beaters -
0:44:16 > 0:44:20local people paid to flush out the grouse.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23You down here, birthday boy.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27We go right over that top there.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30'I'm the Sergeant Major of the line.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32'I do all my shouting and roaring at the beaters
0:44:32 > 0:44:34'just to make sure they are doing what I want.'
0:44:34 > 0:44:36You're going here, Perry.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41While the shooters get into position, Graeme and the beaters
0:44:41 > 0:44:44spread themselves out across the moorland
0:44:44 > 0:44:49and then wait for a signal from the owner of the estate, the laird.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52'And then we wait there
0:44:52 > 0:44:54'till the laird's gone up the hill in front of us.'
0:44:54 > 0:44:57Aye, OK, you on channel, Fraser?
0:44:57 > 0:45:00BEEPING
0:45:02 > 0:45:03RADIO: Aye.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07'And then I get a signal from the laird to start the drive.'
0:45:08 > 0:45:10- BEEPING - On you go, Fraser.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17The beaters walk for up to a mile in the direction of the shooters,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21trying to force the grouse into the air and towards the guns.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Grouse fly low to the ground but very fast,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35so they're difficult to shoot.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37Most slip through the line of fire.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53It's just fantastic when you start walking and you hear that,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56the guns going off. You kind of relax.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59You think, "This is going to work well,"
0:45:59 > 0:46:03and it's just brilliant. You get that kind of relaxation
0:46:03 > 0:46:07that you think, "Yeah, this is going to work."
0:46:10 > 0:46:14Grouse meat is a delicacy and everyone gets to share the bounty.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21In spite of the very cold spring and low grouse numbers,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25the day's turned out well for Graeme.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27WHISTLE BLOWS
0:46:29 > 0:46:32That was a cracker, that was a good drive, that.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34We've got two more drives to do today
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and then back home to the gun room, sort out the guests,
0:46:37 > 0:46:42and then take the beaters in, have a wee dram to finish the day with.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52The moorlands have been a working landscape for millennia.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55It's hard to imagine what these mountains looked like
0:46:55 > 0:46:59before people began changing their nature.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08But there are still trees that remind us
0:47:08 > 0:47:13of a wilderness that existed even before the Scots pine.
0:47:13 > 0:47:1810,000 years ago, when the glaciers retreated,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21birch trees were the first to colonise these slopes.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24And their descendants now give artist Elizabeth Pirie
0:47:24 > 0:47:28the signal that autumn has well and truly begun.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31I think you see autumn much more than you see spring.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34You know, spring, you can miss that. You know, blink and it's gone.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Whereas you can't miss autumn.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42To see the colours changing, to see the landscape really moving.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44I just love it, absolutely love it.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51It kind of moves on so many levels as well. It's not just the trees.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55You're kind of getting shorter days, so that daylight
0:47:55 > 0:47:58becomes kind of a bit more special, and you're just like,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02"Oh, look at the light there. Look, the sun's still out, yes, fantastic!"
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Elizabeth is looking afresh at a tree
0:48:07 > 0:48:11that is one of the oldest characters in this landscape.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14It is quite overwhelming at points cos you look up
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and it's like, "Oh, there are so many colours!
0:48:17 > 0:48:20"How on earth am I going to do any of this justice?"
0:48:20 > 0:48:22And the bark of the wood,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25it's such a contrast to the colours that are going on.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27There's so much going on.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Mixing a palette, even, mixing paint on the palette, you kind of think,
0:48:36 > 0:48:37"That's really, really harsh.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40"That's going to be horrific on here, it'll look awful.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43"Oh, well, let's do it anyway and see what it looks like."
0:48:43 > 0:48:45And most of the time you put it on and you kind of go,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48"Oh, is it actually..." You know, it's almost right.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51And it's really weird to have that thing where that shouldn't work,
0:48:51 > 0:48:56that colour should not be here and yet it fits.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10In late September, autumn is announced in other ways.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12RED STAG ROARS AND BELLOWS
0:49:14 > 0:49:18The bellowing of red deer across the hills heralds the start of the rut.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31This is when the stags compete for mating rights to females.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Red deer have become a celebrated part of the highland glens
0:49:42 > 0:49:44but deer numbers, like red grouse,
0:49:44 > 0:49:48were artificially boosted in the 19th century,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51when hunting them was made fashionable by Queen Victoria.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58'When you're stalking, when you decide on an area to go to,
0:49:58 > 0:50:02'it can take quite a few hours
0:50:02 > 0:50:05'to get up to a position.'
0:50:05 > 0:50:08That's where he was lying. The stag was on that next.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11As the deer have no natural predators,
0:50:11 > 0:50:15part of Graeme's job is to control their numbers on the Estate.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20But getting close enough to kill them humanely
0:50:20 > 0:50:23takes all his years of experience.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29'Quite often, we have to crawl.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33'A lot of the time you're crawling into a position to get a shot.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39'You've really got to become like a stag or a hind,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42'you're thinking like them.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43'This is their ground.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50'It really depends on the wind, because if a stag smells you,
0:50:50 > 0:50:55'sees you, anything that will disturb it, they're off.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57'As soon as they smell you, they'll run.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03'As long as you get the wind right,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06'you can usually get a successful stalk.'
0:51:06 > 0:51:09OK, now you see it, the second one on the right.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12'And then you look with just your eyes
0:51:12 > 0:51:14''and then make sure nothing's seen you
0:51:14 > 0:51:18'and all of a sudden, the stag gets into a shootable position
0:51:18 > 0:51:22'and then you have to say to the guest, "Right, take the stag now"
0:51:22 > 0:51:26'and he shoots the stag and it's very, very exciting.'
0:51:26 > 0:51:27All right.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29GUNSHOT
0:51:36 > 0:51:40Graeme only allows select deer to be shot
0:51:40 > 0:51:43to keep the populations healthy.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Now that the Cairngorms no longer has bears or wolves,
0:51:50 > 0:51:52it falls to man to control them.
0:51:59 > 0:52:05In late autumn, Jim is back in his beloved forest below the moors,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09revisiting the remarkable survivors of an ancient past.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12It never ceases to amaze me
0:52:12 > 0:52:16that within the scope of a small patch of the same wood,
0:52:16 > 0:52:23you can come across so many trees which are so utterly different.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25There can be very few species of trees
0:52:25 > 0:52:29where individuality is so pronounced.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34You find trees that grow very straight for 30, 40, 50 feet
0:52:34 > 0:52:36before anything starts to happen.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42And you find others, particularly the really old ones,
0:52:42 > 0:52:45that seem to have welded several trunks together
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and start to do astonishing things with limbs, you know,
0:52:48 > 0:52:52within the first half a dozen feet of the ground.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57I mean, there are some beautiful canopy trees
0:52:57 > 0:53:01that demand their own space and almost nothing grows beneath them.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04There is one very old tree
0:53:04 > 0:53:09that Jim has a particular fondness and fascination for.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13This is what I like to think of as a wolf tree.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21It's absolutely massive - it's got to be 300 years old,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and I would think possibly even nearer 400.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34It's a source of great comfort to me
0:53:34 > 0:53:39that a tree like this might well have felt the brush of a wolf,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43just as it was going about its everyday business.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46I'm inclined to look at trees like this and, you know,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49see if I can find any wolf fur that's snagged in the bark,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52but so far I've not found any.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00This forest was the last stronghold of the wolf in Britain
0:54:00 > 0:54:03and Jim misses the idea of it.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11It's the thing which I notice most here as an absence.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15The thing that allows nature to manage the landscape
0:54:15 > 0:54:19according to the natural order,
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and the wolf permits that to happen.
0:54:21 > 0:54:27To bring back wolves today would be highly controversial.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32The Cairngorms may never be truly wild
0:54:32 > 0:54:37but it remains the wildest, most remote part of Britain.
0:54:44 > 0:54:50When winter returns, mountaineer John Lyall is at his happiest,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53exploring far-flung parts of the mountains.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Winter comes very quickly here and when it starts,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59the change is quite dramatic.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03For me, snow turns the Cairngorms into mountains.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07You don't experience in other ranges.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10In lots of ways, the hills we have are just that, the hills.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12They don't have glaciers.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15They're not your classic mountains, in a sense.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18It's the snow that just turns them into, I think,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22an extra-challenging and extra-beautiful place.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30Within hours, the Cairngorms can become a perilous place.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33But hidden in some of the remotest parts of the range
0:55:33 > 0:55:37are natural shelters that offer a refuge from the elements.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42The most dramatic of them is the Shelter Stone.
0:55:46 > 0:55:51So the Shelter Stone is the mummy of all the shelters in the Cairngorms.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55People have been very glad of this place in winter especially.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59People have got lost on the Cairngorm plateau
0:55:59 > 0:56:02and come down by mistake into the Loch Avon basin
0:56:02 > 0:56:05and some of them were very glad to get in here.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Here you really see the colour of the granite,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12the fantastic reddy-brown, almost orange at times colour
0:56:12 > 0:56:16that makes up Am Monadh Ruadh, the red hills that are the Cairngorms.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18As you can see, it looks almost like frost
0:56:18 > 0:56:22just glinting off the roof as the light catches it. It's...
0:56:24 > 0:56:25..superb, superb.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29I know some people feel uncomfortable in here
0:56:29 > 0:56:32with the thought of thousands of tons of rock.
0:56:32 > 0:56:33To me, it feels very safe
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and we're here right in the womb of the Cairngorms.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40In a landscape so harsh that it takes lives,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44knowledge of shelters like this is of great comfort.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54But it's the testing nature of the landscape
0:56:54 > 0:56:57which offers infinite rewards.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03The big, wild expanses of plateaus,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07the hidden corries, the places that take a lot of effort to get to.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10To me, they've got as many challenges
0:57:10 > 0:57:12as I can want in my whole life.
0:57:18 > 0:57:23Down the centuries, we've made our mark on this mighty landscape.
0:57:23 > 0:57:28Although people, animals and even forests have come and gone,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32these granite mountains remain.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43"First and last is the mountain land.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48"We, whether mile-high eagle, wildcat, wolf, pine wood, people,
0:57:48 > 0:57:53"we are its mirror image, blood to its bone.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58"First and last, the land is mother to us all."
0:57:58 > 0:58:02This mountain land we've come to know as the Cairngorms
0:58:02 > 0:58:05is Britain's last great wild space,
0:58:05 > 0:58:10a place where people continue to be humbled and inspired.
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd