Frankie, Martin, Euan, Eileen, Geoff, Stewart, Hannah and David
The high winds on the Saturday effectively killed the beginners Canoe Camp planned for the weekend and a paddle on the Sunday was rapidly substituted. Kick-off was the relatively early 9am to fit in with a forecast of wind progressively increasing throughout the day. This proved fairly accurate although in general the winds were less severe and the sun far more obvious than the forecast suggested.
The route taken was an anti-clockwise circuit of the 4 SPA (Special Protected Area) islands; Inchvannach, Inchmoan, Inchcruin and Inchconnachan stopping on the horseshoe beach on Inchmoan, the top end of Inchmoan, the pier at Inchcruin and the Wallaby beach on Inchconnachan.
Martin and Eileen in their new boats on InchmoanEuan, Hannah and Stewart in one of the club canoes
Ben Lomond just coming clear of cloud
One of the herd of Fallow Deer seen on both Inchmoan and InchcruinOn the beach on Inchcruin (joined by a collapsible double)Arriving at the “Wallaby Beach” on InchconnachanFrankie and David observe the wallaby (almost completely hidden by the bracken)Almost back to Aldlochlay
Weather: Bright with lots of sun and almost flat calm. The threat of high winds and torrential rain on Thursday after 4pm was an ever present and rather dictated where we went.
Day 1: Morar to Point of Sleat (Skye) 14km (8mi). Point of Sleat to North of Armadale 16km (10mi)
From our put in, the River Morar was very shallow between extensive sand banks. There was a bit of scraping before embarking on the 8 mile crossing to Skye. This proved easy if lengthy.
The River MorarCrossing the Sound of Sleat with Eigg and Rum in backgroundHeading North with Beinn Sgritheall and Knoydart in backgroundCampsite 1
Instead we headed up north along the Skye coast past Armadale and the Gaelic college eventually camping on a fairly rough site. However the supply of wood was excellent and a brisk north easterly kept the dreaded Skye midge away. A good evening.
Day 2: Skye to Doune (Knoydart) 6.5km (4mi). Doune to North Morar 11km (7mi) to Inverie via Kyles of Nevis 22km (14mi)
The wind dropped overnight and our winged friends made breakfast a limited pleasure.
Getting ready to depart
Looking towards Mallaig from campsite
We had a break at Doune on Knoydart then pushed on to Loch Nevis.
Loch Nevis Ardintigh (Tom Maclean's Adventure Centre)
Given that it is totally isolated, there is a surprisingly large and active community around Tarbet and the Kyles leading into the upper loch. The tide flows through the Kyles at 5 knots; too fast to paddle against. We arrived just as the tide turned and started flowing in. The result is that if we went on we could not get out again for 6 hours. Given our schedule we had to turn. Even then it was a struggle to do the few hundred metres against the incoming tide.
Back up at Inverie we began the search for a campsite. The dominant factor was midges and the need for a good fire to keep them at bay. The choice between the established site in Inverie and a rough site a km further back was won by the rough site, which in retrospect was probably a mistake. A night paddle was as much an escape from midges as a trip to the pub.
Campsite on Knoydart
Day 3: Inverie-Mallaig 10km (7mi) Mallaig -Morar 6km (4mi)
A quick paddle to Inverie for an ice cream. Knoydart is an excellent example of a community buy out. The struggling village of 25 years ago is now busy, thriving and beautiful.
Inverie
A wonderful morning and a gentle paddle to a beach just short of Mallaig.
AsA short visit to Mallaig, where two other kayak groups were parked up on the beach, and then on to Morar arriving just as the weather broke at 4pm. Another excellent trip.
Report: This was a day when any other outdoor activity (cycling, climbing, walking, skiing) would have been miserable in the extreme. Instead we had an excellent day.
The wind was surprisingly strong (Force 4) blowing directly up the loch giving a tough paddle into it and a bouncy ride across. Dorus Mor offered a strong tidal flow (up to 8 knots) that did not slacken until around 4pm and a passage through and back was clearly never a realistic proposition. The decision was confirmed by a sea of white horses even with wind and tide flowing together.
Parking was problematic and instead of turning round as soon as we left Ardfern we pushed on to a beach at a ruined township called Kington. The paddle from here was back up the loch and then round and along the large islands on the east of the loch towards Crinan.
A break on Eilean Righ proved interesting and then on out to a small island at the mouth of the loch (Liath-sgeir Mor) for a late lunch. The paddle across the loch proved enjoyable if a little stressful for some and then a fast wind assisted paddle/surf back to the beach.
Finally Fraser entertained the troops by showing he still cannot role on his left side
We arrived at Port Appin and packed the boats in the Pier Hotel car park, then left the cars in the public parking just behind the beach (basically a good place to set off from). The sun was shining and we crossed over to Lismore at a fair pace and cruised down the coast until lunch.
After lunch we headed to the islands in the Lynn of Lorne and had a look about then back to Lismore and headed to the campsite on the southern tip. As we turned the corner there was a noticeable tiderace between the main island and a smaller one just off shore, it was probably flowing at about 6knots, something to look forward to in the morning….
The campsite was good but you had to look hard for fire wood, probably as this area is very popular with sea kayaks. We went and had a look at the tiderace after eating and decided it was probably a little too much to get through, but decided to wait till morning before making any decision.
In the morning we decided not to go through the race as it didn’t seem like a good idea to risk a swim first thing in the morning, this meant we had to go round the small island and tackle the lesser flow on the this still turned out to be about 4 knots, we all made it round without incident.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the north coast of Lismore, lunch was at an abandoned quarry, with a tea break at Port Ramsey. We had our hopes set on an ice cream, however there appears to be only one shop on the island about an hour walk way, so we had to make do with coffee and snacks.
The final part of the trip was a crossing over to Castle Stalker and then back to Port Appin against a fair bit of tide. All in all a good trip in good weather, if a little cold over night (for me anyway).
Weather: Very breezy and Cold. Dull Saturday, Bright (some Sun) on Sunday. Rain and Snow overnight.
SPOT Plot of Route
Saturday: We met John Campbell at Taynuilt Pier to collect Bothy key shortly after 10.30. Paddled up East of Loch making excellent progress in strong southerly breeze.
Our original intention was to explore rivers but that was thwarted by sandbanks. As day progressed squalls developed and loch turned white. One was so strong that it lifted and drove the spume along the loch. Wind speed well in excess of 30mph but too busy to calculate! Any of us could have had a cold bath. After that the next time we heard the roar of the next squall we rafted up. Eventually made a surf landing at Barrs just after 2pm.
Looking down loch from Barrs beach in quiet period
The Barrs Bothy is owned by Argyll Scouts and is almost completely hidden. It provided excellent shelter on a wet and windy evening.
Morning after night before
After trailing the gear up to the bothy and lighting a reluctant fire, there followed a good walk till dusk, a good meal and an evening of excellent conversation and libation (whisky and drambuie, whisky and honey, cointreu, whisky and whisky). Sleep followed (and apparently some snoring but I never heard any).
Morning broke bright with snow on the hills.
Looking west from Bothy
Looking East. Ben Cruachan is just visible
A leisurely breakfast, clean up and wood store replenishment led to a lateish departure heading south.
We had a brief stop to inspect the MBA bothy (excellent) which was occupied by 3 youngsters cooking breakfast over the open fire. A stiff southerly breeze slowed progress but periodically the sun emerged and all was well in the world.
Looking into the sun towards Cruachan
We arrived back for lunch just after 2pm.
The loch is one of the wildest and most beautiful areas of Scotland and a wonderful paddle on a breezy winters weekend. Barrs proved an excellent refuge and the beach is an excellent camp site in summer. Thoroughly recommend the trip.
