Chris and Stu's Bogus Journey (loch/canoe/camp)

[ex-member Raikey]

So,..

Me and Lannyman8 are planning an adventure,...and could do with some advice on where to go,...

i reckon its gotta be Scotland , and we'd need,....

• a parking spot

• a nice launch spot

• an idea of a remote-ish beach (with trees pref)

• or an island

the idea being to park, paddle and camp somewhere for a night or two,..

if any of the beautiful folks on here would be so kind as to offer their advice on the above, we would be most appreciative,..

in return for the info,..(even if its just a PM), we'll populate this thread with all kinds of nice pictures....

cheers!

Stu..

 

[resnikov]

Sounds fun, will follow with interest as its something I would like to do myself.

 

[Toddy]

When ?
It kind of matters, because in the wrong season some areas are off limits, others are midge infested hells and others are simply cluttered with too many people.

Sounds like an excellent idea though

cheers,
M

 

[Shewie]

PM incoming

 

[ex-member Raikey]

When ?
It kind of matters, because in the wrong season some areas are off limits, others are midge infested hells and others are simply cluttered with too many people.

Sounds like an excellent idea though

cheers,
M

soon Mary! ...

probably the weekend 20-22 july......

hence the "remote ish" aspect to my post,

when you say off limits?...you mean seasonal wildlife reasons?

 

[dwardo]

Loch awe is always a favourite of mine. If you dont fancy spending all your time driving then Loch trool just over teh border and left a bit is a nice place.
All depends on how far you wanna travel. I just hope you either get rain, wind or baking sun, if not the midges will av ye!
Headnet minnimum and loads of repellent. Choose your camp wisely and you can mostly avoid the worst of em, the wind is your friend!

 

[Toddy]

No, I mean places like Loch Lomond are out then, and others such as Loch Tay and Chon and Awe get full of iijits.

It's also slap bang mid midgie season, and it's been wet so they're out in their hordes
Listen to us.........do not come up without at least a midgie head net and better yet a Beaton's jacket

You could go to the east of the country ? Lovely, sunnier, and they don't get the midgies the west does

If you're canoeing though, 40 or 50 metres off shore and there are no midgies anyway and there's lots of good campsites with a wee breeze that keeps them away.

I see that Shewie's pm-ing you he's widely experienced in Scotland's vagaries

Best of luck with it

cheers,
M

 

[ex-member Raikey]

No, I mean places like Loch Lomond are out then, and others such as Loch Tay and Chon and Awe get full of iijits.

It's also slap bang mid midgie season, and it's been wet so they're out in their hordes
Listen to us.........do not come up without at least a midgie head net and better yet a Beaton's jacket

You could go to the east of the country ? Lovely, sunnier, and they don't get the midgies the west does

If you're canoeing though, 40 or 50 metres off shore and there are no midgies anyway and there's lots of good campsites with a wee breeze that keeps them away.

I see that Shewie's pm-ing you he's widely experienced in Scotland's vagaries

Best of luck with it

cheers,
M

hmmmm

i,m beggining to become desuaded here,..

or is it a cunning plan of yours to keep the sassanaks out?....hahaa

 

[Teepee]

After last weekend in Galloway, I recommend taking (in addition to the midge jacket)

A flamethrower
2 cyanide tablets to end the misery, just in case the first one doesn't work.
Or, as Mary says, a map with the west side of Scotland missing

They aren't the regular midges at the moment, they're some kind of special forces midge and laughed at the usual repellants, deet wipes and birch smoke

 

[ex-member Raikey]

so this midge mularky?....

what do they do exactly, ?..

bite?...or just crawl about on you being ,..erm...midgey....

 

[dwardo]

I find that i react much worse to mite and mozzies than i do the midge,,,,,BUT the midge has the numbers on its side, little bleeders they are.

 

[Toddy]

You've never been midged !! :yikes:

They are the de'il's ally

Tiny, no-see-ums, that can suffocate a horse, drive strong men to despair, keep women and bairns housebound

Ach, they're just tiny, tiny wee biting insects, but when they swarm there are millions of them They only appear in relatively warm and damp and wind free weather.

If you prepare for them it's fine, but mozzie stuff won't do. They just clamber through the mesh.

Site carefully, somewhere with a breeze, coverup when it looks like they'll be about, pack a midgie jacket and something like Autan (and use it! often!) and some anti histamines, just in case, and you'll be fine.

Experienced folks pick sites accordingly and pass on locations to friends. HWMBLT will pm with a couple if I ask. Me ? I just avoid some areas and enjoy them when they're icy cold in Winter instead

Maybe if you tell us where you fancy going it would give folks a chance to think about where 'they'd' set up if it were them

Some folks are immume I have bred the perfect Scotsman Son1 doesn't get eaten by them at all
I'm sometimes tempted to see if we could get Jamie's blood analysed and suss out why. I reckon we'd make a mint if it were something that could fix the rest of us too


atb,
M

 

[Harvestman]

I got badly midged in the Black Mountains, South Wales last week. doing a bat survey. The guy in charge said "stand next to this marsh thistle and stay there for the next three hours". He stayed in the courtyard, I got the boggy bit. I should have been suspicious. He saw 59 bats, I saw 5, and I got eaten alive by hordes of midges. I had no midge net with me, and inadequate repellant. I now look like a join the dots, except on my forehead, where I have a line of dots directly under the line of my hat brim. A work colleague the next day said I looked like Frankenstein's monster, with the stitches across the brow. I've been on anti-histamines for a week as the itching is continuous and unbearable.

 

[Toddy]

Eurax cream or, is the meadowsweet out near you Harvestman ? It's in full bud here but no blossom yet. If it is, make a tea of the flourish and using a soft flannel or cotton wool, just gently wipe the itch every time it bothers you.

I'm going to get in bother with this, especially in light of that last thread, but it's an aspirin type stuff, and the wipe sooths the itch without leaving you a mess like calomine does.
Chickweed works too, but it's inclined to leave skin green tinged the plantain's not so bad, but I don't find it so effective.

Disclaimer; I'm not a medical herbalist, I can only tell folks what works for me and to advise caution. If aspirin is bad news for you, don't use meadowsweet.

The other plant that works very well indeed, I find, is the native houseleek (if you want some Harvestman, pm me and I'll post a bit down) it works like Aloe vera but it's hardy in our climate and the aloe itself, but that's a houseplant and not native.

I freely admit I use antihistamines for insect bites; the only thing worse than the midgies are clegs

 

[Harvestman]

Eurax cream or, is the meadowsweet out near you Harvestman ? It's in full bud here but no blossom yet. If it is, make a tea of the flourish and using a soft flannel or cotton wool, just gently wipe the itch every time it bothers you.

I'm going to get in bother with this, especially in light of that last thread, but it's an aspirin type stuff, and the wipe sooths the itch without leaving you a mess like calomine does.
Chickweed works too, but it's inclined to leave skin green tinged the plantain's not so bad, but I don't find it so effective.

Disclaimer; I'm not a medical herbalist, I can only tell folks what works for me and to advise caution. If aspirin is bad news for you, don't use meadowsweet.

The other plant that works very well indeed, I find, is the native houseleek (if you want some Harvestman, pm me and I'll post a bit down) it works like Aloe vera but it's hardy in our climate and the aloe itself, but that's a houseplant and not native.

I freely admit I use antihistamines for insect bites; the only thing worse than the midgies are clegs

Clegs are the only animal I will say I don't like. I have Eurax cream, and the meadowsweet is just started to blossom. I will investigate, since I like to make cordial with it anyway.

Thank you.

 

[Chiseller]

soon Mary! ...

probably the weekend 20-22 july......

hence the "remote ish" aspect to my post,

when you say off limits?...you mean seasonal wildlife reasons?

Guess who's on a loch same weekend ? !!!

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[ex-member Raikey]

Guess who's on a loch same weekend ? !!!

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

might be going East now mate,..hahaha

no reflection on you honest,

but a mates PM'd me with a lovely spot,.....

i'll let you know the plan eitherway,...

 

[Chiseller]

might be going East now mate,..hahaha

no reflection on you honest,

but a mates PM'd me with a lovely spot,.....

i'll let you know the plan eitherway,...

Were on a survival weekend again....
Midge soup ?
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Gailainne]

A few of us were on Loch Long two weekends ago, the midge meter was at severe for most of the weekend, the basics are;

• midge head net, plus a hat with a brim to keep the net off your face, ears.
• two tins of Nordic Summer (in case you misplace one), its the ONLY thing that works on the West coast, BTW the lids can be a pita to get off.
• smokey fires are surprisingly effective, (the only time you want to be a smoke magnet )
• take advantage of every breeze going
• Enjoy the spectacular scenery, East coast is okay (from someone born there) but the West coast, no where better.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Loch an Daimh, in Glen Lyon