Day three of my winter highlands trip started off with grey skies and rain, a theme which continued throughout the day. I started off with a trip to Signal Rock, within Glen Coe. Legend has it the Campbells gave the signal to commence the Glencoe Massacre here. Today it is an enjoyable walk with a short scramble to the summit. Sadly the forestry blocks the view from being spectacular, so the cameras stayed in the bag.

Heading back to the car I climbed down onto the banks of the River Coe where I shot this.

The River Coe at Signal RockThe River Coe at Signal Rock in Glen Coe with Aonach Dubh to the right and Aonach Eagach to the left, photographed on a typically moody day.

As you can see the weather is typically Glencoe, a low cloud and sporadic heavy rain.

Moving on I drove further south, chasing the gap in the clouds I could see beyond Rannoch Moor. Sadly by the time I got there the gap had closed and more low cloud and grey skies were the order of the day.

I headed back to Glen Etive, a favourite of mine and a real road to nowhere, a wandering 14 mile single track road most recently used as the backdrop for a scene in Skyfall, the latest James Bond film. Sadly Skyfall House is a figment of the director's imagination but there is Dalness Lodge, once a family home of Ian Flemming, creator of James Bond.

Just inside the road to Glen Etive there is a creek where the River Coupall flows down in front of the iconic Buachaille Etive Mor. A black and white conversion adds to the drama of this shot.

Buachaille Etive Mòr in WinterSnow and low cloud shrouds Stob Dearg on Buachaille Etive Mòr in the Scottish highlands, seen from the River Coupall on Glen Etive.

By this time the weather had once again come in, far from unusual for this part of the world. One thing Glen Etive has though is deer, loads of loads of deer, to quote a true Yorkshire phrase, it is running wick with them. On the drive down to Loch Etive I counted 37 deer, many of them majestic stags. They seem quite tame and I had chance to stop the car, go and put a telephoto lens on and grab a shot of this obliging fellow. I'll be honest I'm not a wildlife photographer so forgive me you don't like it.

Red Deer Stag at Glen EtiveAn obliging Red Deer stag on the Glen Etive road in Glen Coe, Scotland.

I spent an hour sat in the pouring rain in the pass of Glencoe listening to the rain bouncing off the roof and hoping it might clear but alas it didn't. I had a quick spin through Glencoe village and through to Kinlochleven before heading back to my base for the week.

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks a lot more hopeful so I am currently planning where to head. Fingers crossed.