Canoe Trip: Galloway Forest

 Date:    29-31 October 2020

Team:    Simon & Amy; Ian-T; Adrian; Andy Johnson; Marion & Me

So, this is the last catch up instalment before we make an attempt to get back to "real-time" blogging!

Marion & Andy as we utilised a temporary raft for crossing one of the lochans

Even if someone was to read this specific article in 25 or maybe 50 years time there'd be no mistaking or forgetting that 2020 was "Pandemic Year", writing at the end of February 2021 there remain only the first green shoots of recovery as the vaccine roll out programme proceeds.

As such 2020 was very much a year with a difference, the early Spring canoe trip had been cancelled and although there was much time spent paddling, climbing and trekking in the high fells the whole shape of the year was very different. This was the backdrop to us trying to squeeze a late extended trip into the year. I'd long been looking at a few trip reports from the Galloway Forest area: descriptions such as "Little Canada" were intriguing and the travel distance from our North Cumbrian base is relatively short, indeed we had already ran numerous micro-expeditions on Loch Doon with school and Community Groups.

We arrived at Loch Doon castle car park late afternoon on the last Friday of October half term, Marion and I being the last to make it, as usual underestimating travel times when towing the canoe trailer! Our initial intention had been to make an evening start, however, torrential rain and gale force winds, which had been well forecast, forced a makeshift first night.

First night we ever camped in the new van

Saturday morning couldn't have been more of a contrast to the previous evening: a mirror calm Loch Doon; blue sky & sunshine! We set off from the castle car park heading back towards the dam in good spirits. It was good to welcome Simon & Amy on their first "Community Trip" - a father daughter combination with Amy being our youngest ever extended trip member!

Beautiful morning on Loch Doon

We fratched around for a while looking for the best place to start our first portage, which was just under 2km mainly on forestry track, up to Loch Finlas. We opted to do a short section on the single track road which runs down the side of Loch Doon in order to avoid a carry over rough ground and although crossing a few contour lines the uphill portage wasn't too demanding.

Various stages of the first portage

Loch Finlas was a beautiful place to be, there was a fresh breeze directly in our faces, manageable but in order to make things a little more comfortable for the solo paddler we used painters to make a temporary raft, its a very short portage across a short section of (Water Authority?) road on into Derlach Loch for another 1km paddle. The landing from this lochan and subsequent 1.7km generally uphill portage is a strange part of the trip, the various water works in the area both old and new don't sit well in an otherwise pleasant forested landscape.

Loch Finlas & "The Bit In-Between"

The late afternoon portage from Derlach Loch to Loch Bradon wasn't my favourite part of the day, in contrast though the arrival at Loch Bradon and subsequent crossing of it just above the dam was superlative. The bright sun, occasionally interrupted by passing cloud produced an incredible light the green forestry background producing a dark band between the shimmering lake & the at times azure blue sky. As if to add to the suggestions of "Little Canada" we were rewarded by the sight of a float plane landing & taking off next to us, none of us had ever been so close to such a spectacle!

Loch Bradon

Our selected exit point from Loch Bradon, was with hindsight an error, opting to cross some rough ground in order to access the forest track for the next portage was hard work! A better choice would have been to paddle across to the Forestry Commission car park and take a slightly longer portage down the track. It was hard work crossing the rough country, however, the trolley portage through the conifers under the light of a full moon was a first for me and a memorable experience. 

Portage by moonlight

The conditions were still fine as we pitched our tents around a small leisure area in the middle of the forest just shy of Loch Riecawr - it was a comfortable night. However, we went to bed knowing that a weather system was forecast to be coming through with dubious timing. It was our hope, based on the forecasts, that it might come through late morning or even early afternoon. Sadly, the more pessimistic forecast proved to be correct and the wind speed was already well on its way towards the predicted 50mph by the time we had got up, it was accompanied by monsoon like rain! As such rather than our planned crossing of Loch Riecawr & descent of Carrick Lane (which we had hoped to paddle and line where necessary) we reluctantly went for the option of a 4km portage back to our vehicles.

Miserable final portage in the storm

The portage was a good call, the wind speed increased rapidly and a closer view of Loch Riecawr revealed it to be un-paddleable in the conditions, similarly Carrick Lane (the river flowing back into Loch Doon would have been a challenging prospect even with unloaded boats. 

This is an interesting area to journey through by open canoe and there are several possible combinations for trips of varying duration. Being prepared to portage is essential and there will be too much portaging for many. I have read one or two accounts of folk not feeling entirely welcome in the area, we experienced no such problems although it should be said we didn't encounter many people. Given its proximity and diversity its definitely an area we will consider visiting further beyond simply paddling on Loch Doon

You can also find an account of this trip on our YouTube Channel

Canoe Trip: Ardnamurchan, April 2019

Date:     Easter 2019

Team:     Maccy & Helen; Andy Johnson; Adrian; Thompa; Alex Mc; Tom; Ian; Marion & Me

Two Hobos Sitting on a Canoe

Marion & I headed up to Strontian with Alex & Tom - I love the drive to this area: quick visit to the Green Welly; Corran Ferry - all good! We were to spend the first night camping at Sunart Camping & Cycle Hire which is a great spot. After eating at the Ariundle Centre we met up with Andy, Thompa, Maccy & Helen at the Strontian Hotel for a couple of drinks - it was a great start to the week!

Ian & Adrian arrived on cue bright and early the next morning to the already well forecast issue of high winds - South Westerlies gusting well over 40 mph. Stood at the car park in Strontian considering our options it was great to bump into Colin Skeath (of canoe circumnavigation of Britain fame) - we chatted about our plans and Colin offered us some useful local insight. Maccy, Adrian and I ran the shuttle down to Lochaline, our plan had been finalised, we would go with our initial intentions and broadly speaking: Paddle Loch Sunart from Strontian to Carna; hang a left into Loch Teacuis; portage to Loch Doire nam Mart; line on to Loch Arienas; paddle the River Aline & Loch Aline. The high winds were to rob of us of any meaningful progress on the first day and we simply waited for the right tide to make a short hop to an island just off shore for our first night camping. The time spent there on this first day was excellent: talking; cooking; a bit of canoe sailing and even a bit of snorkelling on the lea side of the island!

Good Times

The morning dawned with what was still initially about a force three wind blowing straight down Loch Sunart from west to east. The tide was right so we headed off on an open crossing straight over the loch to pick up what lea we could from the higher ground to the south before heading west, whether the wind dropped a little or the strategy just worked progress was absolutely fine and we paddled down the loch with curious seals swimming close by and porpoises spotted too. We made swift progress down to Carna and made the left turn into Loch Teacuis around slack water.

Ad & Thompa heading down Loch Sunart

Loch Teacuis remains a gem of a secluded place, although in the 14 years that I had been away I would have to say that the fences and gates which have appeared at the head of the loch & the extensive de-forestation that has taken place do detract from its former appearance. We paddled down the loch with the benefit of an flooding tide and had some further encounters with the local seal population, progress towards the end of the loch was swift and by mid afternoon we were searching for a campsite. Previously camping in the woods close to the edge of the loch had been a very agreeable experience, unfortunately much of this tree cover has now been torn down leaving behind it the devastation which is sadly so commonplace with forestry operations. We finally found what could only be described as a rank, dank, minging area of woodland - some chose to pitch tents and hang hammocks, Marion & I along with Ian chose to make our calculations and take our chances in the inter-tidal margins. Marion & I electing for the slightly more risky option set an alarm for something around 4 am which was about half an hour before high water - just to make sure we didn't get flooded out. The picture shows how close we cut it!!

About a metre to spare at high water!

Ian's tent the following morning - looks safer but there wasn't much in it!

Wednesday morning was sunny with only the slightest of wind and we made short time of arriving at Kinloch Teacuis. This was to be the start of our only portage of the trip - up on to the single track road for a mixture of trolley portage and carrying to the tussock grass above the lochan of Loch Doire nam Mart in order to be afloat again. It was by now a pleasantly warm early Spring day and under bright blue skies the portage could have been worse!

The hard road!

By the time we had reached the edge of Loch Doire nam Mart and spent a little time re-fuelling the wind had freshened considerably to possibly a Force 4/5 in our faces and it was a bit of a pull across this lochan. Our exit point was a small burn not much wider than a canoe where a combination of lining on painters and a little wading precluded the need for any further portage. Arrival at the stunning Loch Arienas still presented us with a windy outlook, as such we opted to paddle only a short distance to an excellent sandy campsite where we cooked mussels collected on Loch Teacuis.

Me close to the end of the burn!

Thursday morning was once again heralded with blue skies and sunshine, the wind having dropped right off we headed across this beautiful loch to the source of the River Aline. I've paddled the river a couple of times and known it to be a pleasant run at around grade 2. However, on the day it was empty and a combination of paddling where we could, guiding on painters and pushing and shoving was necessary. Again the warm sunshine made for positive conditions. Close to the end of the river we stopped for a late morning lunch, I had a bit of whisky left so took in an impromptu Maundy Thursday last supper - it was quite poignant in this environment & to be sharing it with good friends.

Maundy Thursday, whisky with friends

The final exit of the river into Loch Aline is quite an interesting point. I've only ever been here at low tide when the drop is substantial and as such have lined down, however, I do have friends who have encountered the same location at high water and paddled this section. Once again the former was the situation on the day & so we enjoyed lining our laden craft back into salty water.

Ian, Helen, Alex & Tom at various stages of the approach to the final drop into Loch Aline

The tide had turned by the lime we were organised and afloat again so although pretty windless, progress was a little slow on this last afternoon of the trip as we lazily passed large moored steel vessels in the harbour. After sorting the shuttle a few of us opted to stay an extra night at Sunart Camping, as such another night in the Strontian Hotel was in order! It all worked out pretty well as it enabled us to drop Thompa off at Glasgow airport on the way home for his onward trip to Poland.

Yet another splendid few days in an outstanding canoeing environment, a trip with everything!

Maz & I in the presence of a large vessel at the Loch Aline quayside

You can also find an account of this trip on our YouTube Channel

Canoe Trip: River Spey, May 2018

Date: Late May Bank Holiday Week, 2018

Team: Dave Magnall; Sam Garton; Ian Tulloch; Brendan Robson; Andy Johnson; Maccy; Marion & Me

I guess for many open canoeists a "Spey Descent" is regarded as a classic, one for the tick list.

We'd never done one before so there was much anticipation! The weather was good when: Dave, Sam, Marion & I set off from Carlisle for the long drive up to Aviemore - none of us had anticipated though that we were heading into a spell of late May weather that would literally be as good as it gets for North East Scotland with temperatures set to hit 31 degC during the course of the trip.

The group assembled in Aviemore; the shuttle to Spey Bay was completed and conversation enjoyed with another group of two (paddling tandem) who were setting off to complete the same journey.

Marion at the Aviemore get on

Although, as might be apparent in one or two of the pictures, the river was on the low side we generally didn't find it too low for the journey intended. However, I would imagine that for anyone departing a few days later they might not have agreed with this statement. Memories, almost three years on, suggest that the early stages were a very gentle float down slow water with only the occasional riffle. It was mid-afternoon before we got underway on what was to be a journey of approximately 60 miles and we didn't paddle all that far before finding a suitable quiet pastoral spot in which to camp for the first night. Perhaps the only dimension of this trip that I didn't enjoy as much as I usually do was the camping, which although absolutely fine, lacked an aspect of wildness that I personally long for on extended canoe trips.

Brendan enjoying a late afternoon float on the first day

Ian; Maccy & Andy-J with patches of snow still visible on the hazy Cairngorms

Day 2 dawned bright, warm & dry and we made good progress. It was on this morning stretch that we had an interesting incident when Dave & Sam's boat caught a (just) submerged wooden bridge stanchion, pivoting it on to a second one and pinning it with the inevitable capsize. All was well but the boat was well and truly pinned, taking much effort with ropes and ultimately a vector pull to free it. Dave and Sam were fine but their kit had been well lashed in place and half an hour in what was effectively a washing machine had to lead to some breakthrough, there was certainly some wet kit to dry out at the end of the day. There were one or two other wet moments of the trip in the very final stages but thankfully of no consequence with respect to folks' kit!

Pinned Canoe!

The "White Water" section below Grantown and taking in Knockando and the "Washing Machine" was my favourite part of the trip, although as mentioned above the level was low, all the rapids were runnable and everybody negotiated them just fine.

Maccy & Andy at the Washing Machine

As always one of the best aspects of the trip was the socialising enjoyed each evening: questions & answers on the meaning of life with Marion; the occasional camp fire at the edge of the river (essential to keep the midges at bay!); swimming and since we were on Speyside passing distillery after distillery the odd wee dram! It was great to be able to share the river without any issues whatsoever with many anglers, we took the strategy of letting each angler know we were there and discussing which way past them would work best for each party - it was another agreeable and pleasant aspect of the journey!

Group lunch stop somewhere around Knockando(?)

After the excitement of some white water the river slows, flattens and widens as it continues its journey to the sea. Bridge after bridge was paddled beneath & many were photographed, we also made an extended stop at Aberlour on the last but one day for refreshments of various kinds -  I think Ian might have visited the distillery. This certainly wasn't the most physical canoe journey that any of us had ever been on!

Spey Bridges

The total trip time for us was two part days (first & last) plus two full days, beyond the man-made there was some fine scenery to be experienced as the journey drew to a close but the vista of Spey Bay and the North Sea was a sight to behold on a fine sunny afternoon.  Quite a memorable end to a few days of memory making!

Spey Bay - Journey's End

You can also find an account of this trip on our YouTube Channel

Canoe Trip: Inverpolly Nature Reserve 2017

In order to try to make our Blog catch up a bit more complete we thought it would be a good idea to write up a few of the more memorable events of the "missing years" and as such have decided to complete a trip report each for the most "outstanding" canoe journeys we undertook in 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020. So here's the first one: Inverpolly Nature Reserve, April 2017.

Adrian & Paul on Loch Veyatie with Suiliven in the background

April 2017

Team:    Andy Johnson; Maccy & Helen; Ian Tulloch; Adrian Wintle; Paul Hebden; Marion & Me

After the long drive north from Carlisle and meeting various team members on the way we arrived at Elphin late afternoon with the earlier lead grey skies having given way to a bright, dry and sunny Spring day. Whilst folk unloaded gear from vehicles Ian & I completed the shuttle enabling us all to get on the Ledmore River, at the point at which it crosses the main A835.

It was just a short float down the Ledmore River, in almost windless conditions, before we entered Cam Loch. The paddle on Cam Loch was equally brief as we came to the interesting feature of the loch on which we were paddling emptying into Loch Veyatie, the place we wanted to be, via a sizable waterfall. This presented us with our first compulsory portage which was thankfully short and straightforward.

Andy-J & Maccy back on the water having just portaged the falls connecting Cam Loch & Veyatie

The early evening paddle on Loch Veyatie was sublime with near perfect conditions in the shadow of the towering bulk of Suiliven. I can't recall now how much farther we paddled that evening, it was only maybe for an hour before we found what Bill Mason would have described as an A1 campsite on the south western shore of the loch. Tree cover is quite sparse in this part of the world but there were a few about around this particular campsite so as we pitched our tent others set up hammocks & tarps for the night. We cooked; lit a fire at the water's edge; consumed the odd dram and enjoyed good conversation until after dark.

First night's camp on the shore of a windless Loch Veyatie

The following morning dawned a little less bright but nevertheless dry and with only the lightest of winds. This allowed us to make good progress North and West on Loch Veyatie and into the Uidh Fhearna River. The river wasn't high by any means but certainly contained enough water to grant us a clear passage to the south eastern end of Fionn Loch by around about lunchtime. This marked the start of the first of our "serious" portages, the plan being to head across to Loch Scionascaig via Na Tri Lochan (presumably "The Three Small Lochs"). There were one or two contour lines to be gained, across tussock grass, and so the sequence began: short uphill portage; short float on a lochan; short up hill portage; short float; across to the final lochan and a downhill portage / slide to the shore of Loch Scionascaig. It was hard work but a good division of labour naturally evolved amongst us with some carrying bags and others boats - the portage was hard work but didn't seem to take too long!

Ian and Helen on the Na Tri Lochan Portage

Marion at the start of the portage

By the time we were afloat again on Loch Scionascaig the wind had freshened slightly and we opted to make a relatively short journey to Boat Bay in order to camp for the night. Once inside the bay's protective harbour conditions were flat calm and we found a "marginal" campsite on the South West shore of the bay - the whole scene was really quite idyllic!

Boat Bay

Once again on departing Boat Bay the following morning conditions were favourable. We headed for the area of the Polly Lochs and probably hadn't adequately accounted in our planning for the differences in level between these small areas of water. As such we managed the short "cascades" between them by dusting down our "Trad Skills" and lining the loaded boats from lochan to lochan. We had a very competent team who enjoyed the challenge immensely!

Adrian & Myself lining a Mad River Explorer 16 on the Polly Lochs

After completing the Polly Lochs we arrived at our next objective, the River Polly. We'd planned to paddle this river down to the Fish Farm but unfortunately it was empty! A little progress was made by wading and a little more lining in places where the volume of water increased due to various constrictions in the river but progress was tortuous!

Andy-J & Myself lining on the River Polly

There was a point at which the river came close to a short track which lead on to the single track road. We opted to leave the river at this point and extend our planned portage to Loch Bad a' Ghaill by an additional kilometre. We always knew that this would be the longest and hardest portage of the trip, up and over a watershed, a total distance of maybe approaching 4km with our extra addition. This is hardly the most populated corner of the UK but it must have made for an interesting sight for the occasional driver that we met and had to give way to either on the side of the road or in one of the many passing places.

Adrian & Paul taking the strain

Our descent towards Loch Bad a' Ghaill although very welcome was heralded by a marked increase in wind speed and by the time we got back afloat again conditions had deteriorated to a F5 Westerly wind, fading light and a persistent drizzle. We headed directly for a small bay at the far South Eastern end of the loch and pitched tents for a sub-optimal night's camping in now driving rain. There was little socialising on this evening with everyone cooking in or close to their tents and taking the opportunity for an early night.

Conditions were no better the following morning: still wet and with a wind that had begun to gust up to F6, thankfully still behind us. Rather than try to paddle back out on to Loch Bad a' Ghaill we portaged the short distance across the headland and launched directly on to Loch Lurgainn.

Portage to Loch Lurghainn

On Loch Lurgainn conditions were pretty grim, the wind hadn't relented at all and the light despite it only being late morning was poor. We made a windy crossing to a headland adjacent to a large island. Before ultimately gaining some shelter in the lea of the headland as we jagged back slightly north to end our journey early afternoon at the foot of Stac Pollaidh. The mountain is quite an edifice rising up from close to the loch with much of its sandstone having been washed down over the millennia to add to the many red sandy beaches in the area.

Andy-J and Maccy crossing Loch Lurghainn in poor conditions

A bit more of Loch Lurgainn's wildness

We finished the trip in significantly different weather than we started and opted to spend another night with an element of wildness by camping amongst the trees that sit between Loch Lurghainn and the Stac Pollaidh car park, it would have been nice to be a little more remote but we heard little from the nearby single track road and celebrated the end of the journey well with our remaining supplies - bolstered by one or two additional items from Ian's car which was only a few hundred metres away on the car park!

This was an excellent trip - one of the best we've done!

Final night's camp at  the foot of Stac Pollaidh

Rough outline of our route

You can also find an account of this trip on our YouTube channel