One little man, one little boat, one little bag of kit and one huge state park

[GGTBod]

Great trip report Bod, only thing is now I've got a canoe on my wish list...

A canoe or kayak is one of the best exploration toys i mean essential pieces of equipment an outdoorsperson can have at their disposal, even the half decent inflatable ones are awesome bits of kit that enable mad adventures to had

 

[dewi]

Considering a spell on the lochs with a canoe... nothing to what you've just experienced, but it'd give me a taste of it.

Tried my hand at Windermere, but even with the speed limits in place, its far too busy.

 

[GGTBod]

It is amazing how wild Scotland gets as you go north and west, I have several ideas for multi week trips up that way linking a few lochs n rivers together with the odd portage here and there and most importantly to me plenty of wild camping

 

[dewi]

If you get the urge you can always share those plans and I'll make good use of them

My plan was 3 days out, 1 day rest, 3 days back... easy going ride with an easy going route.

Last place I want to be is on a pleasure lake... even Coniston was busy the last time I was there... seems the Lake District is now home to the pleasure cruisers... the canoe people have been pushed to the rivers and reservoirs.

Read about your trip 4 times now... it seems to get better with each reading. Can imagine being there, but at the same time I wish I didn't have to imagine.

 

[johntarmac]

Looks like a great trip, more than a little envious.

 

[GGTBod]

If you get the urge you can always share those plans and I'll make good use of them

My plan was 3 days out, 1 day rest, 3 days back... easy going ride with an easy going route.

Last place I want to be is on a pleasure lake... even Coniston was busy the last time I was there... seems the Lake District is now home to the pleasure cruisers... the canoe people have been pushed to the rivers and reservoirs.

Read about your trip 4 times now... it seems to get better with each reading. Can imagine being there, but at the same time I wish I didn't have to imagine.

I'll make a planning thread/ideas for canoeing/kayaking adventures thread once I get finished editing the videos from this adventure. I am glad the trip report turned out well I have enjoyed reading it several times now myself, it got even better once I edited out my spelling mistakes lol

 

[Countryman]

Saw this and thought of you.

https://www.facebook.com/hartkevin/videos/10152968234587045/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GGTBod]

Thankfully my capsize involved less nakedness

 

[dewi]

Thankfully my capsize involved less nakedness

And no rugby tackle... blimey that was brutal!

Read your write up again tonight... every time I read it I get fits of giggles over that dam crossing. Its not an obstacle you come across when out paddling over here... truly hoping you have some video footage of it.

 

[GGTBod]

I don't have footage of the actual crossing as i had put all electrical items into drybags in case i capsized again trying to get in or out of the boat, once i was back in the kayak i shot video of the damage i had caused to the dam where the water was flowing from where i had been standing and compressed it somewhat, when i was standing on top of the dam i thought any second i was gonna end up in the water in a pile of broken sticks from the beaver dam. I am totally impressed by the building skills of that animal

 

[dewi]

They're dam building experts and you just know they'd have repaired the dam within a couple of days.

I'm going to invest in a waterproof GoPro case next year... there are so many times when I wish I'd had a camera running to catch even something as simple as birds taking off or a fish coming to the surface.

While the Lakes are entering the off season, I'm tempted to go and hire a boat for the day and have a float about. Nice quiet lake for a day.

 

[GGTBod]

If you get the urge you can always share those plans and I'll make good use of them

My plan was 3 days out, 1 day rest, 3 days back... easy going ride with an easy going route.

Last place I want to be is on a pleasure lake... even Coniston was busy the last time I was there... seems the Lake District is now home to the pleasure cruisers... the canoe people have been pushed to the rivers and reservoirs.

Read about your trip 4 times now... it seems to get better with each reading. Can imagine being there, but at the same time I wish I didn't have to imagine.

Here is one trip i have been eyeing up, leaving the vehicle at Lairg and paddling north west up loch Shin until it turns north and then either paddle upstream or portage into the next loch next to merkland lodge camping when needed along the way, then if not heading back at this point portage the 1.5mile north west into Allt ceann locha and paddle up and onto Loch Stack, i'd say at this point it has been a good 3 days paddling and 3 nights camping taking it relatively easy but a steady pace, at this point either head back in the same fashion until you get back to the vehicle or if a longer trip was needed you could continue down the river to Loch laxford on the north west coast, the only issues here is you will have a long paddle against the flow of the river on your way back, possibly you could coincide the travel back with the incoming tide from the loch which would be fun, plus you'd have the chance of getting shellfish and seaside foraging and such when you camped on the tidal sea loch before your return journey.

Like any trip being planned just from maps you gotta be ready to be flexible once in the field as you may find parts of small rivers where you can't paddle and other spanners in the works

 

[dewi]

That sounds like an adventure and a half!

Scouring the map now.

 

[GGTBod]

I reckon it would be easy enough to link those lochs up, there may be the odd unexpected portage or area of rapids and such in the rivers and streams but that is all part of the adventure

 

[dewi]

There is plenty of woodland on the edge of that loch for some overnighters and like you say, portage easy enough... there is a path that joins the lochs... last bit up to the lodge looks to be a hard slog if you're paddling, but blimey... you could take a day to tackle that... it would be an adventure.

Going to have a look up for boats.

 

[GGTBod]

That's the main thing I kept telling myself regarding hard areas, there is no hurry at all

 

[dewi]

What size is your boat?

Found a 16ft open 3 seater... its massive and probably way over the top... but there are dozens of smaller boats that are doer uppers... and a good measure of inflatables.

 

[GGTBod]

If you switch the Google images on when looking at the areas the views are impressive

 

[GGTBod]

The kayak I used for my adirondack adventure was 10ft long, my UK paddling I done in one of two inflatable kayaks which are about 12ft long

 

[dewi]

I like the inflatables... they're well designed... but at the same time there are so many doer uppers.

It's my 40th this Sunday, so it would seem like the ideal time to mention to the family that I want a boat and a week up in Scotland. I can get away with most things this Sunday I reckon