3 Day Solo Packrafting Trip in the Fisherfield, Scotland

21/08/2023 3

Intro I had spent the previous 9 days hill walking, 15 Munros for my second Munro round and 1 Corbett. My legs were wrecked and needed a rest, so what better solution than to use the arms instead for a packrafting trip in the Fisherfield?! I’d last been in this area some 5 years previously, and it had rained constantly, so I had bailed east for some sunshine hill bagging instead. This did at least mean that I was able Read More

Highlands Holiday 2020

20/08/2023 0

The run up to this years holiday was not exactly plain sailing. Firstly, it was supposed to have taken place the month before in Switzerland (bloody COVID), secondly work got in the way – I always said that I would never let work affect play, well I failed ending up working an extra week including the weekend before finally managing to escape. Plan was to go find myself a lonely glen with no mobile signal and haul up where no Read More

Cairngorms Munros Overnighter (8th and 9th August 2020)

09/08/2020 2

I got the inspiration for this wee trip the previous weekend while out bagging Carn an Fhidhleir, An Sgarsoch, Beinn Bhrotain and Monadh Mor from the Braemar side. From Monadh Mor especially good views through to Cairn Toul and the ridge beyond can be had, and the walk out down the glen goes past several Cairngorm giants. I had assumed that the weather would put an end to said inspiration, so thought nothing of it until the following Friday, when, Read More

Club Cottage January Meet

18/01/2020 0

The club’s meetup this weekend was to the Ochils Mountaineering Club hut in Crianlarich. The forecast was dire, and would-be attendees were dropping like flies in the run up to the event, their spaces filled by folks on the waiting list. In the end, we managed 16 folks on the Friday night and 18 on the Saturday which was no mean feat. The usual banter was had on the Friday night, with the group split between those talking nonsense in Read More

Autumn Corbet and Loch Bagging

13/10/2019 0

Not having been away for a few weeks due to our selling the house and with the house now sold it was time to take advantage of a half-decent weather forecast. I headed up to the car park at Cairngorm, and got some sleep prior to a planned combo bike and hike the following day. I relocated the van at Glenmore and hopped on the bike past Glenmore lodge and onto the track towards Bynack More which was like bloody Read More

Glen Lyon Corbetts (26th-28th October 2018)

28/10/2018 0

I’d had a cold for the past couple of weeks, caught from a mate on his last Munro; having missed the club meet with the Ochils Mountaineering Club the previous weekend due to said cold, and given the decent forecast, I was determined to get out this weekend. I’d not been to Glen Lyon for a while, and with low temps and a potential for snow, I chose to head that way. I set off later than planned (as per Read More

Holiday Blog

08/08/2018 0

  I had two weeks off work, and much planned. I was to be mostly solo on this holiday bringing the advantage of only having my own itinerary to worry about, and hoped to get some pack rafting, cycling and hill walking done. Weekend 21st/22nd The holiday started with good company at the Clachaig. I went for a paddle around Loch Leven, while Lucy (my other half) went to recce a future marathon she had signed up for. The paddle Read More

Loch’s Morar, Arkaig, Lochy Linear Packraft Journey

29/07/2018 7

I have been planning on doing this packraft trip for a while, and while on holiday recently, got the weather window and wind direction required to make it go. If you take a quick look at the map, you’ll see that with a bit of walking and a lot of paddling, the three Lochs: Morar, Arkaig and Lochy can be linked, and the journey completed to Corpach via the Caledonian Canal. From Corpach, the train gets you right back to Read More

Kintail

08/05/2018 0

Over the early may Bank Holiday weekend, I headed to Kintail with the Ochils Mountaineering Club. The club was staying in the NTS Kintail Outdoor Centre , while I and some other members stayed on the Morvich caravan club site. My plans had been to get the boat out on the water, but the wind and changeable weather put an end to that. I did, however manage to get 3 Corbett’s (Scottish Mountains over 2500ft) bagged and a bothy walk Read More

Two Ascents (and a paddle) in Assynt

19/04/2018 0

The Assynt region of Scotland, has to be one of my favourite spots. The mountains are not huge, but they are numerous, and rise suddenly and spectacularly from the surrounding landscape of rock, heather and many many lochs for a paddle! I headed up for Easter, meeting fellow members of the Ochils Mountaineering Club. We were staying at the SMC’s Naismith nut in the crofting settlement of Elphin. Being just north of Ullapool, its a fair drive on a Friday Read More

Packrafter/Hillwalker/Kayak/Canoe Radio Equipment for Emergency Assistance (Mobile, PLB, Tracker, VHF)

17/03/2018 0

Usual Disclaimer: I gathered this information off the Internet and assembled it into this article. I make no guarantees as to its accuracy or suitability to your situation! Introduction I have visited a number of locations in my Packraft where I have launched  into tidal or coastal waters. These include the Ardnamurchan, Uists, Harris Jura, and the waters off Argyll. I love visiting the Scottish islands, and there is limited scope for Packrafting without sticking your boat in the sea, Read More

Tenerife – Walking and (Attempted) Packrafting!

28/02/2018 0

I got the chance of a short break in Tenerife for a few days at the end of Feb. My old man and not-so-wicked stepmother had a spare bed in their holiday abode where they had been hauled up for the past 5 weeks. I had been to the Canaries several times previously, Tenerife aged 12 and 17, and Gran Canaria aged about 27. It would be interesting to see how much the place had changed. ScroteRail+Tram+Easyjet+Bus got me there Read More

New Year On Mull

04/01/2018 0

Come new year, we usually try to escape somewhere for a few days. Previous trips have in included Skye, Oban, Mallaig, Fort William, the Cairngorms, and, 8 years previously, Mull. We decided that a return visit to the latter was in order. We set off from home after a lazy start on the 29th December enjoying a snowy drive via Tyndrum, and onwards to the Corran Ferry. Strangely, the low-level snow was confined to the south side of Rannoch Mor. Read More

Christmas

03/01/2018 0

Some folks reckon Christmas is a special time of year, I am usually just glad when its over! Too much over-commercialised nonsense.  That said, I do enjoy the drink and food, and am partial to some cheap gadget purchasing in the inevitable sales that follow! This year we were headed up to Lucy’s parents in Dingwall, travelling day before via Tiso in Perth and Aviemore where we spent the night at Loch Morlich. The following morning the weather was completely Read More

Cairngorms Indecision (Corbetts | knackered fridge | buggered website)

29/11/2017 0

A weekend at home had been the plan, but then I saw the forecast which was pretty decent especially the Cairngorms – and I have Corbetts to bag. Now where I live, you can’t afford to ignore a half-decent forecast as it won’t last very long – and you’ll be kicking yourself for not having made good use of it! Given the significant snowfall during the week, I threw the ski’s in ‘just in case’, defrosted the van and headed Read More

Cairngorm Capers

12/11/2017 0

Somehow I have managed to avoid the A9 for the past 5 months; my last trip up that way being to a mates leaving do who headed off to Canada. Early this year I had 4 weekends away on the trot up in the north west – maybe I was just sick of the A9!? This weekend the local mountaineering club headed up to Mill Cottage near Kincraig. The location is handy for Glen Feshie, and another club member Colin Read More

Escape to the Borders

06/11/2017 0

Having not been south for eons, a trip to the borders (Megget Reservoir) was the plan for the weekend – bagging a Corbett and doing a bit of pack-rafting. My long suffering other half – (Loopy) Lucy seemed up for it as well – although she was not enamored with the cold having spent the previous 3 months cycling across the USA in the sunshine ! Saturday started off fine, got the boat in the water and set off for a Read More

Corbett Bagging and Paddle on Loch Tay

18/09/2017 0

After 3 weekends on the trot staying local, we finally had a weekend where both Saturday and Sunday looked half decent. Time to head off for the weekend in the van. I had a lone Corbett to bag from Glen Lyon (Cam Chreag) and fancied a paddle on the River Lyon – I had been late setting off, so it was dark when I arrived. I stopped at the same spot that I had done with my mother 6 weeks Read More

Eaval, The Highest Hillock On North Uist, by Packraft

08/08/2017 0

It has to be said that the Hebridean islands off Scotland’s west coast are a superb location for a paddle. This was my 4th day paddling on Uist, and sadly my final day before getting the big boat north to Harris. I had been out in the boat in the morning, bagging a wee hill on Benbecula, it was from the top of this that I spotted Eaval (347M). Walkhighlands commented about the ‘boggy path’, but the map made it Read More

Isle of Barra Circuit and Summit

05/08/2017 0

Due to a cheaper ferry crossing, I opted to get the boat from Mallaig to Lochboisdale on South Uist rather than from Oban to Castlebay on Barra. I still wanted a tour of Barra however, and the isle is compact enough to allow for a decent day tour by bike. I got the early ferry from Eriskay on South Uist to Barra, heading clockwise around the island. This was not my first visit, having previously toured the Outer Hebrides by Read More

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