Rather than try to blog about every activity, here's a
Photo blog of a canoe trip on Loch Scionnascaig
We portaged across to loch Scionnascaig at the western part of Boat Bay and set off threading the many islands on the west shore to gain the main body of the loch. Navigation was eased by the fact that islands had bushes, deep heather and assorted vegetation, the shore did not. Overgrazing by deer can have its uses!
I was keen to visit the deserted building marked at Clais, and we eventually made landfall near there. I’d read that there is an “eastern portage” through the little glen there which leads to the Loch Veyatie/Fionn Loch basin. It certainly looked feasible, with a couple of hundred yards by water along a lochan between our landing spot and the building. Clais was ruinous, but walls, and the gaps for doors and windows, were all intact. It looked like two houses built end-to-end, each with two rooms. The house nearer to the lochan had a further room built on at the back. Who had lived in such a remote spot, and why, remained a mystery.
Back at the boat we decided to keep heading east and see if we could get upriver to Lochan Gainmheich. We made good progress beneath the ramparts of Cul Mor and arrived at the burn. Not far upstream it became obvious that another portage was necessary, so I shouldered the boat once more while Mhairi handled the accessories. Back in the river, the entrance to the loch proved to be very shallow, which involved me in various shenanigans attempting to punt the canoe whilst standing upright. Surprisingly, a ducking did not ensue.
We headed east into Loch an Doire Dhuibh, arriving soon after at the easternmost point of our travels. We disembarked, looked around and soon decided to head back. As we arrived back at the portage, we saw our first humans of the day. It later transpired that they had come up Loch Scionnascaig in two Canadian canoes.
The boat seemed to have become much heavier, but I manhandled it down without too many complaints. The wind had picked up be we put our backs into the paddling and chased the Canadians westward. They went into the main “anchorage” at Boat Bay, whilst we retraced our overland route into Loch Buine Moire. The final “portage” back from there to the van was a rather exhausted drag through the heather. We were tired but exhilarated: it had been another classic canoe trip.