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

Packrafting – 5 Lochs and an Ascent in Assynt

05/08/2021 1

The idea for this trip came about during one Easter visit to the area in 2018, during which I experienced hail, snow and brilliant sunshine (often at the same time!) while paddling down Loch Veyatie. The packrafting possibilities of the area a very apparent from the summits of any of the many peaks in the area, these peaks are not particularly high, but they are all rather shapely and offer tremendous views. I was not keen on abandoning my Campervan 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

2021 Packraft Meetup – September 3rd – 5th

05/10/2019 4

Hurray!!! Its Going to Happen! After having been postponed 3 times due to Covid, this event is finally going ahead 3rd-5th September 2021. I have to support NHS Test+Protect as a condition of this going ahead. We have to clean the place properly before leaving, its a hut, there are no caretakers so we’ll all need to muck in. There was quite a process to getting back open as Scotland is not yet in the same free-4-all as England re 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

Ardnamurchan – Loch Sunart and Loch Shiel

02/07/2018 0

Packrafting has taken a back seat to Hillwalking for the past few weekends, so this weekend it was time to get back into the boat. I have a wee list at home of trips that I want to do and area’s that I want to explore by boat. The Ardnamurchan, specifically Lochs Sunart and Shiel (Aye, I know the latter is not strictly Ardnamurchan!) were two such area’s. The tides were right this weekend with High tide at ~8AM and Read More

UK Packraft Gathering

28/05/2018 0

For the past couple of years, the UK importer for Alpacka Packrafts – backcountry.scot – run by a guy named Andy Trop has organised a get-together for packrafters. I was just getting into it around the 2017 gathering, but made the gathering this year. Showing up at the venue Lagganlia near Kincraig on Friday night it was beers and chatter before a sensible night with lots planned for the following day. I had signed up together with 8 or so others Read More

Loch Ba and Loch Laidon Linear – Bike, Boat, Train

14/05/2018 2

I’ve been wanting to do the linear boat trip across Rannoch Moor via Loch Ba and Loch Laidon for a while. Finally, this last weekend the weather and the wind was favorable so off I set. I opted for a one night wild camp, meaning that the timings matched for a Lazy start and the train back from Rannoch Station the following day. [Skip right to the end for the video! | Find the full photoset here] I dumped my Read More

Loch Katrine

26/04/2018 0

The forecast was decent for Saturday, but rubbish for Sunday so I could not be arsed to drive very far this weekend. Against my better judgement, I paid Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Park’s ‘Wild Camping Tax’ – £8 to stay at the far end of ‘Three Lochs Forest drive’ near Loch Katrine. To get a spot on here in the summer requires booking a month in advance, but short-notice spots are available out of season. As one of the 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

Lochs Ericht, Laggan and a Ski Tour

01/04/2018 0

With a half decent forecast and a new drysuit (Palm Fuse) to test it was time to get back out in the pack raft (boat) again. I left fairly late and headed up to Dalwhinnie with the intention of having a paddle on Loch Ericht. Loch Ericht initially looked promising so off I went looking for a place to launch; as is all too common, while I was setting up the boat, the wind started blowing. The initial paddle was 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

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

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

Loch Shiel and Loch Sunart

16/10/2017 0

This weekend I was at Strontian on the Ardnamurchan peninsula with the Ochils Mountaineering Club staying at Sunart Camping. The weather forecast was pretty naff, but I did manage a bike ride, and a couple of trips in the packraft on Lochs Shiel and Sunart. Not as ambitious as my original plans, but pack rafts and howling gales ain’t a marriage made in heaven! Saturday Saturday dawned OK, I even saw (fleetingly) a patch of blue sky! The rain started 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

1 2
Follow Blog

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox: