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

Monday Inspiration

We've missed spending our customary amount of time out and about in the Lake District; North Pennines and Scotland this past few months and similarly we are realising how much we've missed posting here for some time!

For a little Monday inspiration here are a few images from some of our recent social media posts:

Ullswater, Autumn 2020

View From Cat Bells, Early 2020

Yorkshire Dales, Early 2020

"The Pandemic Year" (So Far)

Sat at home, late February 2021, following our local morning walk "from the front door" UK Lockdown 3.0 seems to rumble on interminably. Looking back a year, by this time it had become clear that we were heading for a season that most of us had never before experienced. 

Our year had started well, the calendar was full from the beginning of March onwards and we'd enjoyed plenty of time at the climbing wall through December, January & February.

At home we were preparing to have a new bathroom fitted as one of our "winter projects" and mid- March was busy mainly with freelancing engagements for local outdoor centres. We'd commented on how much we were enjoying the above average amount of time being spent in the Lake District Fells working with groups.

In the days leading up to UK Lockdown 1.0 we spent a day out together on Ullswater in the canoe and a day in the Northern Fells with Charis climbing High Pike and Carrock Fell. From memory March 2020 was a cold but fairly dry month.

On 10th March 2020 Coronavirus showed its face at Charis' school when a teacher returning from a half term holiday in Northern Italy sadly tested positive, by the 12th March school closed (not to open again for many weeks) and on 23rd March the first Lockdown began. Marion was unwell right at the start of this period: fatigue, new persistent cough and a high temperature. We'll never know whether this was "the virus" or just "a virus" as widespread testing was yet to become available, however, she recovered and nobody else was affected. The un - seasonally  warm, sunny and dry weather made the early part of April feel like some sort of surreal novelty - an unexpected and unplanned break from "normal". Early morning exercise; short local walks and bike rides became the norm we even ran our cancelled Easter Canoe Trip "virtually" from the back garden!

High Pike Summit, with Charis, on a cold windy March day 2020

Virtual Expedition, April 2020

Novelty that it was I don't mind admitting that by the middle of April I was climbing the wall and the weeks that led up to a relaxation of restrictions later in May were often a frustrating time.

However, the good weather continued and evenings spent in the open canoe on Ullswater and a day on Sands rapids on the River Eden heralded the beginning of at least a temporary "new normal"

Evening on Ullswater & Day at Sands Rapid, May 2020

Still no work at this time but as restrictions eased further we began to get out in the fells on a regular basis - this was to be one of the highlights of the Pandemic Year as Marion went on to add a total of 54 new Wainwrights to her tally before Lockdown 3.0 ultimately curtailed all out of town activity. Days on Steeple & Pillar; Blencathra; the Far Eastern Fells and even the North Pennines were much enjoyed. We even became geriatric boulderers - a day on the sandstone of St Bees in baking June sunshine with dolphins swimming in a mirror calm sea was special!

Marion on Pillar Summit

St Bees in the Sunshine with Andy Johnson, June 2020

July thankfully saw the re-start of our Community Programme - it was so good to be seeing folk and catching up again; late July marked the start of possibly the busiest time our business has ever known as the "Great British Staycation" gained momentum. We've never seen the Lake District so busy, it wasn't always pleasant but the injection of finance was welcome from a work perspective. This all continued, punctuated by a significant birthday & Marion qualifying as a Rock Climbing Instructor - what an achievement(!). Lockdown 2.0 in November effectively ended our working year. 

Community Micro-Expedition (Andy-J, Thompa & Maccy), August 2020

Foundation Safety & Rescue Training Course, Scottish Borders 2020

Marion's last day of prep for RCI Assessment, Twistleton Scar, September 2020

Pandemic 60th Birthday Celebrations, It was great to get to celebrate at least with the Carlisle contingent of the family, October 2021

So, what of the rest of the year? It was a real joy to work with Rock UK's scaled down Instructor Training Programme for a few days in autumn & to get away on expedition with them to Loch Awe. Wintery days in the fells proved as enjoyable as Spring and Summer. Christmas saw us all self isolating after Marion's positive Covid test on 21st December (thankfully only mild symptoms were experienced) & January saw us back in Lockdown. What a year!!

However, we thank God that we and all our family are well but recognise that this has been a difficult year for many. We will be forever grateful for the support and blessings provided by friends, family, clients and colleagues throughout this "strangest of times". We now look forward with much anticipation to: vaccination; an easing of Lockdown 3.0; and hopefully a "new normal" somewhere on the near horizon!

Well, that's it by way of a catch up, we'll try to post with greater frequency - thanks to everyone for reading!

Loch Awe, Autumn 2020

Far Eastern Fells, Autumn 2020

Bridging The Gap!

It came as quite a surprise to us both when we clicked through on a link to the blog and saw that nearly five years have passed since we last posted! We were perhaps even more surprised to see that the visit counter had clicked on to the heady number of 94, 221! Thank you to all those folk who have dropped in on the page.

A lot of material has been posted in the meantime via our Facebook & Instagram feeds (we've also started a new YouTube channel) but we thought it would be nice to get a bit more out in a longer format through this site, we are not sure that we'll get back to the level of posting that once was but as the pandemic continues to roll on there's plenty of opportunity - so we'll see how it goes & try to enjoy the journey!

Marion on Ullswater

The "missing years" have been a time of much blessing and we have been grateful for each day. Work has been plentiful (until the pandemic!) and its been a joy to be able to spend as much time as we do in the created outdoor environment - work, leisure & life itself continue to merge into one!

It would be impossible to give a concise summary in a sensible number of words of every high & low of the last few years so we've decided to try to tell a story in pictures of some of the highlights from the period 2017 - 2019. The "Pandemic Year" being worthy of a post of its own!!

Boat Bay, Inverpolly 2017

The "Washing Machine" River Spey 2018

Scaffel Pike, School Charity Event, July 2018

River Aline, Morvern Peninsula Canoe Trip, 2019

Striding Edge, Helvellyn, School Charity Event, July 2019

Heron Pot, Yorkshire Dales, December 2019

The short visual story above gives only the most fleeting glimpse of all that went on between 2017-2019 suffice to say that there was a strong theme of: Canoes, Mountains, Caves, "Community", schools work, youth & family work. We also spent many days freelancing for other outdoor providers around the Lake District & Scottish Borders. We could have written several posts on all the amazing times spent working with Ventures Christian Youth camps, especially Criccieth 2 Pathfinder Camp! There's just too much too tell - we should have kept up better!!