Thank you to Palm Equipment for keeping us warm and dry!
PADDLER 77
some shooting star glimpses and a fire pot meal. It was dark and freezing by 18:00. The beauty of less light and cooler temperatures meant we could embrace more sleep than usual, hibernating in our tent from early evening till dawn.
On day three, we paddled 8km to the A380 to get off the water and hitch a lift back to get the car for a shuttle. This trip was an extra special one for us from start to finish.
This highland to the sea trip, wrapped in the glistening wonder that only a wintry landscape can offer, was made effortlessly comfortable and cosy by the delights of our humble craft, the canoe.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THIS TRIP:
This canoe trip started from Glenfinnan. We were able to put on with ease at the Glenfinnan car park, which has access from the River Finnan to the Loch. After a day’ s paddling, our camp spot was not far from St. Finan’ s Chapel Island( another area of significant interest!).
On day two, we first paddled west to Acharacle and then along the River Shiel. Along the Shiel, there were two main rapids to note. The first one was at the River
Shiel Old Bridge. We got out here to check the rapid out. It was on a tight bend, with the river bending sharply to the left. Once scouted out, we could see it was a runnable Grade 1.
Before joining the sea at Moidart, there is a complicated section of rapids. Unfortunately, the sea level was too low to run the main line. Instead, we paddled down half of the middle line, which was made possible by high river levels, stopping to make a quick portage over the gorse.
From then onwards, conditions were favourable to hug along the coastline heading through the South Channel. The views from the sea of the snowy Isle of Skye were phenomenal.
On day two, we camped at the Eilian nan Gobhar. We were slightly reluctant to camp offshore because any overnight change in weather would make returning tricky, as we experienced in Loften in August 2024( a story for another time). It was a genuinely magical camp spot: loons, stars, and the lap of the ocean.
On day three, we paddled northeast along Loch Ailort. Our take-out was at Camas Driseach. From here, Chris hitch-hiked to the car park at Glenfinnan whilst I packed up and moved kit around.
NICOLE AND CHRIS
Nicole is a teacher of outdoor learning working at an SEN school in Shrewsbury, while Chris is Head of Centre at Bryntysilio Outdoor Education Centre in Llangollen. They share their lives with Toby, the child, and Piper, the cat.
Thank you to Palm Equipment for keeping us warm and dry!
PADDLER 77