Loch Lomond Dec 2019

Paddlers: Colin, Steve W., Vonna, Geoff, Gordon, Martin, Steve T.

Weather: Wet and Grey but relatively calm. Forecast high gusts did not materialise.

Route: Luss, Inchcailloch, Inchfad, Luss

Report: The forecast suggested a window in a period of awful weather, albeit with strong gusts later in the afternoon. What dominates my memory is heavy and persistent rain that completely emptied the loch. In long experience of paddling the area I cannot remember the total and complete absence of other boats and, on return, a beach and pier at Luss without a soul.

The route took us from the Luss Beach and through the narrows between Inchtavannach, Inchconnachan and Inchmoan before passing the south end of Inchcruin to end up on the beach at Port Bawn on Inchcailloch. As can be seen from the above a good speed was maintained in reasonable conditions.

Inchcailloch is a super attractive island with a good beach, composting toilets, picnic tables and a small camp site.

After lunch Colin, Steve T, Gordon and Steve W. walked over the hill to the graveyard, returning just as hypothermia for the remainder was threatening.

At the graveyard

Inchcailloch is also an attractive island from the water. The weather was getting wetter and visibility poorer. We hardly saw Balamaha as we passed en route to Inchfad. Here we visited the harbour with 2m walls made from prefabricated concrete blocks before pushing on in heavy rain back to Luss

We arrived back just after 3pm where we packed up in pouring rain and headed for the Village Rest in Luss for tea and cake. This cafe can be strongly recommended as indeed can the whole trip. It was a real pleasure to paddle with excellent company in superb surroundings and there is nothing better to do in this sort of weather. A really good day.