As it was March and we were up in the Scottish Highlands, our activities for the few days whilst at Loch Moidart was very much weather dependant. We were set up for lazing in the van, hill walking and kayaking, so in essence we had no real plans set in concrete.
Unlike last year, we were armed with a little more information plus some new and better Ordinance Survey maps, this now gave us numerous possibilities of what we could do, and how far we could go given the right weather, so opportunities for any activities had to be taken there and then.
As for the weather we got lucky.....again, the weather on Monday 10th March was ideal for a paddle, the wind had dropped and the sun was making a very welcome appearance, we packed our kayaks with all the necessary safety paraphernalia we needed and carried them to the shore.
We launched our Pyrahna Fusions a short distance below the falls on the tidal section of the river Shiel (OS grid ref 662 721).
Being a remote loch there was no sound of human activity, apart that is from the splashing of our paddles and the slopping of the small bow wave formed by the bull nosed bows of our crossover kayaks.
 |
| Mandy paddling on the mirror like Loch |
We headed north eastwards and inland quickly passing Castle Tioram and then passing the small storm battered islands of Riska and Eilean An Fheidh, I say storm battered because of the many uprooted trees. After these islands the loch opened up a little more, its surface mirror like, giving us perfect reflections of the shorelines in the water, a call of a lonesome bird echoing across this glorious expanse of water, all these added to the feeling of being “out there in the wilderness,” at that time it was truly a wonderful place to be.
 |
| Something is not quite right.... |
 |
| That's better |
We explored some of the nooks, crannys and bays of the eastern “tip” of Eilean Shona in doing so we were also soaking up the true all round views all 41,250(ish) square degrees of views, now thats a lot of degrees, but to be honest there was a lot of views! It was time for us to head up the North Channel; it was close to high tide so at this time this section was passable. Here is the islands only vehicular access, a causeway that is exposed by low water. A sunken rowing boat caught Mandy's attention as she paddled along, the water being crystal clear it was just too difficult for her to miss as she paddled by it, the stricken little boat seemed but a few inches below the surface when it was in fact a few feet underwater.
Further along the channel we approached the islands “waist line” a narrow strip of land that is about 300 meters wide and attaches both the Western and Eastern parts of the island together, this would be our escape/ portage route to the South Channel and the warmth and comfort of our campervan, should the need arise.
Westwards we paddled towards the mouth of the loch and then the open sea. Standing on ledges of the cliffs close to the mouth of the loch a small herd of brilliant white goats nonchalantly munched away on clumps of grass as we closed in and photographed them, the obvious leader, a big billy goat with some impressive horns slowly lifted his head and watched us as we slowly paddled past him. A little further on we could see waves smashing against the rocks that protected the loch, very soon it would be decision time, whether to go out into the sea for that exposed leg of the journey or to return and portage, we had a few factors to consider. Here just like the campsite there was no mobile phone coverage, as it was an ad-hoc trip no one really knew we were there, looking at the map there were no real beaches to escape to if it all goes wrong and to cap it all off the water was pretty cold. So we needed to be well within our comfort zone, as it happens we were. The waves were about half a meter high and close together resulting in a smallish chop, easily manageable with just a little correction stroke every now and then to prevent the short(ish) boats from weather cocking on the waves. As we were paddling along I was constantly scanning for any safe haven(s) in this very remote and rugged coastline, for, y'know.... just in case....
We approached the opening of the South Channel, once again the waters were guarded by rock formations both standing proud and submerged, the effect of which was quite surreal, on one side of a near invisible line the sea was choppy and the other it was calm. We made our way to the calm water and to a nice white sandy beach, there protected from the wind and in the sun we ate our lunch.
 |
| Resting in the sun |
We explored the immediate area on foot and we found in the pristine white sand animal tracks, just like dog tracks but without the claw marks, it was a single track coming out of the sea, we would like to think it was an otter...... After lunch we were now heading back to the start/finish, on the return leg of the trip we were still exploring the ever present small craggy bays whilst constantly pressing the shutter button of the cameras. As we paddled towards some more tiny islands we both went into stealth mode, we knew from the previous year, here were seals....lots of them, sunning themselves on the smooth rocks and sheltered from the wind. Mind you no matter how quiet or whatever distance we were from them, as soon as we were in sight the seals ungainly wobbled and flopped into the water and into an environment where they can become graceful and feel safe. Surrounding us they popped up their dog like heads and simply watched.
 |
| Mand and the seals |
Mandy counted sixteen in the water at one time, they were curious at the two colourful intruders, occasionally they would disappear, some like ninjas slipping silently underwater others more like a stroppy kid throwing a tantrum with a noisy splash, but they always seem to reappear a few feet away just to keep an eye on us. We floated for a while watching them watching us watching them until it was time for us to move on. We were followed by the more curious few until the loch was just too shallow for them and without so much as a fare-thee-well they disappeared.
At this point we were approaching the river Shiel and the end of the trip, or was it? No, I wanted to look at the falls whilst the water was at a level similar to when we were going to paddle (or not) during our winter Loch Shiel adventure a couple of years ago.
I approached the falls with caution, I had to, I had neglected to pack my helmet, so I gingerly paddled closer to where the river water gets dumped into the sea, up close the
falls showed itself to be a boiling maelstrom of activity, there was no real constant form to it, boils appeared and disappeared, the eddy line wavered like a manic whip but in slow motion, wave trains changed shape as they bobbed about in front of me, it all looked a bit mad to be honest, it felt mad too as I could feel it pull and turn me as the boat bounced from one boil to another, the water features started to pull and push me towards that frothing liquid lunacy, I quickly waved Mandy away and followed suit. I certainly wouldn't want to paddle a loaded canoe down THAT!
We pulled our boats out at the end, stashed them both onto the van and both agreed that it was the best paddle we have ever done in the kayaks.
To top the day off with style I cooked a Tikka Masala in my cast iron dutch oven suspended over the fire box with my tripod, all this overlooking the bay accompanied by a sunset and a beer, ahh bliss :)
Cheers Tim
No comments:
Post a Comment