Loch Etive wild camp/canoe

coln18

Native
Aug 10, 2009
1,125
3
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Just back from a nice weekend away to Glen Etive, i headed up early doors on the Friday morning and on route picked Jason (JAG009) up at Bridge of Orchy, he had set off on a 3 day walk from the drovers pub at the head of Loch Lomond on the Tuesday night and headed towards Etive. Having driven along part of the route he walked, i have to say he did really well to make it to the RV point on Friday morning, he was mostly walking the old routes through the hills and they were covered in deep snow, even more impressed that camped out solo in the sub zero conditions for the whole walk. Anyway i hope you enjoy some of the pictures and im sure when some heat comes back to Jasons fingers, he will upload his photos from the walk as well.

The view into Glen Etive.

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Once past the kings house on the Rannoch moor, the road down Glen Etive is a 12 mile winding single track road, but the journey was well enjoyable with all the waterfalls having frozen solid, absolutely beautiful.

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Jason on the " Bridge of Doom " A clever wee contraption the local farmer uses to cross his sheep across the river Etive.

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A couple of deer sheltering from the biting cold winds.

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A view of our campsite for the weekend, a really stunning location

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Got the old fella a Jedi Yoda cake to celebrate still being alive after his gruelling walk in the snow, the force must have been strong in this one to complete that winter trek lol

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Maker a bigger version of a olive oil ships lantern, burnt it out using four coal embers from the frontier stove then carved it out using some bone and flint, this version was a total success, gave us light the whole night and didnt have to refill it.

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Heading up the River Etive into Loch Etive for a wee paddle in the Canadian Canoe.

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A nice warm pizza i cooked in the dutch oven to warm the old weary traveller up.

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The view from our campsite looking back up Glen Etive.

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Wee Archie the Westie in his element at the camping, getting to run wild all weekend.

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Out chilling in Loch Etive enjoying the stunning views.

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The views from the campsite looking up the Loch.

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Went for a nice wee walk on the Saturday up the Glen with Archie, here he has spotted a Stag and is refusing to move on, giving the stag the Archie stare of death lol

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For some reason the stag wasnt scared of Archies stare of death, so lucky to be able to view The Monarch of the Glen from only a few yards away, stunning animals.

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Out walking along the river Etive bank and enjoying the views.

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All in all a nice weekend with a good friend, got to enjoy some stunning scenery, take in a nice walk and as usual take to the water in my canoe. Weather was totally wild with really strong winds at the head of the loch all night long for the whole weekend, but that allowed us to enjoy the frontier stoves warmth and experiment with some projects. we managed to create a wick for the ships lantern using the inner of some soft rush, doesnt give as much light as a modern wick but stayed alight for a good 4 hours till we put it out. Thanks to Jason for the good and enjoyable company all weekend.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,133
4,810
S. Lanarkshire
Wow :notworthy: Jason that was a *WALK*, well done :D

Looks sort of dreich, but fresh, iimmc. Lovely place to chill out though :D
Thank you for the photos Colin :cool:

atb,
M
 

coln18

Native
Aug 10, 2009
1,125
3
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Looks good, hot tenting certainly good for winter.

I was sliding at Glencoe Mountain on my snowboard saturday, black ice at Blair Drummond with lots of cars crashed.

Yeah, the Rannoch was still a bit icy today on the way home, but Glen Etive was totally ice and snow free, except for up on the hills, must have been a coastal gulf stream effect id imagine, bet the boarding was fun on the Saturday.
 

SCOMAN

Life Member
Dec 31, 2005
2,609
459
54
Perthshire
That's stunning, I've always been on the other side of the Loch working but I may have to explore. V jealous of your camping set up, when I go, it'll be straight into the bag and MSR nylon. Lovely part of the world
 

wicca

Native
Oct 19, 2008
1,065
34
South Coast
Beautiful! Had to sit closer to the stove looking at the waterfall and Bridge of Doom photos..bbrrr! Archie looks a bundle of fun.. ;) Thanks for the post.
 

coln18

Native
Aug 10, 2009
1,125
3
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Superb guys, Nice one Jason duing the walk in those conditions, as always Colin you have the BEST toys, Etive is on my list, one of these days :)

Hi Stephen, the little frontier stove is proving to be one of the best buys for a while, for £139 it is an absolute steal and with the years marching on its nice for a change to be able to glamp out in a wee bit of comfort. Etive is a nice loch to paddle, but being a sea Loch, the conditions can change ever so quickly, but its a good one to improve your skills on in difficult conditions.
 

bojit

Native
Aug 7, 2010
1,173
1
56
Edinburgh
Looks like a good weekend , loving the new setup Col .
Jason as ever you are a mad man , well done mate .

Craig......
 

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