Canoe trip I did back in May.
Inverpolly a true wilderness area. Stunningly beautiful, stunningly wild and at times a wee bit challenging, verging on dangerous.
Looking across to Stac Polly across Loch Gainmheich. Tried hobo fishing as well as fly fishing. Wily wee broonies were having none of it.
Solo Birch, not many trees around. Mostly stunted birch, rowan and alder. Short growing season so wee trees. Probably over grazed by deer too.
The Voyageurs at the end of day one and three portages as well as paddling the length of Loch Sionasgaig. Braw spot though. Looks tropical, but it was a bit chilly. Thts Cul Beag in the background.
Me enjoying a brew
Starting to cook dinner. We had two Kelly Kettles which proved to be invaluable. Mostly cooked using heather roots as wood was pretty scarce.
My hammock n tarp at sunset over loch Gainmheich. Nae midges. This place would be brutal later on in summer as it was so damp. My camp was on the lower slopes of Cul Mor.
Sunset over Loch Gainmheich
Next day we paddled back to the other end of Loch Sionnasgaig. Took a wee wander to the coast and had a forage for mussels etc. Camped that night on Eilean Mor. Boy it blew a hoolie that night. Weather changed quite dramatically. Next day we wind bound on the island. We made a dash for it at one point and were lucky to get in the lee of a wee island just before a white out.
Me enjoying a portage...aye right !!!
Portaging is fun....not.
Slow Worm, we let it go, it was too skinny.
Aye it snows in May. I used a DD Travel hammock under the tarp. This proved a boon, not for the midges, to keep the sheep ticks out. One of the party had 14 removed at the end of a day.
Leon Durbin who runs Wildwood Bushcraft. One really cool and knowledgable dude.
Bivvy 2 after a long day. USed a 4 season Rab down bag, silk liner on top of thermarest. All zipped up inside my DD Travel. Replete with Balaclava. Slept like a log.
Bivvy 3
Last Bivvy on the shore of Loch Veyatie. W hunkered down in a survival bothy for 20 minutes after arriving as a storm lashed the loch. Thunder storm with whiteout as the icing (sic) on the cake. Once it calmed down I weighed down the tarp with shingle on the beach and streached across the two boats to make awee howff.
Looking over to Suilven on the last morning. A braw wee paddle to the egress followed by, yes, another portage to the cars. On arrival turned round to admire the scenery but it had gone. More snow whipped round our lugs as we loaded up and headed to Ulapool for a muckle fry up.
Windy.
Would I do it again. Probably yes. Trimming down on the gear and changing the seats in my boat for light weight ones instead of the standard plastic buckets. Its an old Old Town Kineo built like a dreadnought.
Inverpolly a true wilderness area. Stunningly beautiful, stunningly wild and at times a wee bit challenging, verging on dangerous.
Looking across to Stac Polly across Loch Gainmheich. Tried hobo fishing as well as fly fishing. Wily wee broonies were having none of it.
Solo Birch, not many trees around. Mostly stunted birch, rowan and alder. Short growing season so wee trees. Probably over grazed by deer too.
The Voyageurs at the end of day one and three portages as well as paddling the length of Loch Sionasgaig. Braw spot though. Looks tropical, but it was a bit chilly. Thts Cul Beag in the background.
Me enjoying a brew
Starting to cook dinner. We had two Kelly Kettles which proved to be invaluable. Mostly cooked using heather roots as wood was pretty scarce.
My hammock n tarp at sunset over loch Gainmheich. Nae midges. This place would be brutal later on in summer as it was so damp. My camp was on the lower slopes of Cul Mor.
Sunset over Loch Gainmheich
Next day we paddled back to the other end of Loch Sionnasgaig. Took a wee wander to the coast and had a forage for mussels etc. Camped that night on Eilean Mor. Boy it blew a hoolie that night. Weather changed quite dramatically. Next day we wind bound on the island. We made a dash for it at one point and were lucky to get in the lee of a wee island just before a white out.
Me enjoying a portage...aye right !!!
Portaging is fun....not.
Slow Worm, we let it go, it was too skinny.
Aye it snows in May. I used a DD Travel hammock under the tarp. This proved a boon, not for the midges, to keep the sheep ticks out. One of the party had 14 removed at the end of a day.
Leon Durbin who runs Wildwood Bushcraft. One really cool and knowledgable dude.
Bivvy 2 after a long day. USed a 4 season Rab down bag, silk liner on top of thermarest. All zipped up inside my DD Travel. Replete with Balaclava. Slept like a log.
Bivvy 3
Last Bivvy on the shore of Loch Veyatie. W hunkered down in a survival bothy for 20 minutes after arriving as a storm lashed the loch. Thunder storm with whiteout as the icing (sic) on the cake. Once it calmed down I weighed down the tarp with shingle on the beach and streached across the two boats to make awee howff.
Looking over to Suilven on the last morning. A braw wee paddle to the egress followed by, yes, another portage to the cars. On arrival turned round to admire the scenery but it had gone. More snow whipped round our lugs as we loaded up and headed to Ulapool for a muckle fry up.
Windy.
Would I do it again. Probably yes. Trimming down on the gear and changing the seats in my boat for light weight ones instead of the standard plastic buckets. Its an old Old Town Kineo built like a dreadnought.
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