With a decent forecast, a reasonable amount of water (SEPA: 0.85M) in the River Teith , and my buggered shoulder feeling slightly more mobile, it was time for another go at the River Teith. I had done a recce a couple of weeks previous, but had headed to a local loch for a paddle instead due to said shoulder. Original plan was to get the 10:19 bus from Deanston to Callander, but by the time I got my arse into gear, Read More
Loch Lomond, just 30 miles from home is the largest body of fresh water in Scotland by surface area. Loch Ness holds more water by volume while Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest in the UK at over 5 times the size. Loch Lomond’s main attraction for paddlers is the plethora of islands located at the wider southern end of the loch, which offer many camping and exploration opportunities. The largest island is Inchmurrin, also the largest freshwater Read More
This was my 1st weekend at home in Stirling for 7 weeks. The weather was a bit naff on Saturday so I spent it writing an article about my previous trips for the motorhome magazine ‘MMM’ – we shall see if they accept it. Then it was full-on website geeking migrating my personal photos gallery from the now defunct ‘Menalto Gallery’, which I have used since 1999 to Piwigo. The new gallery is here. The original plan for Sunday was Read More
I had been in Crianlarich for the weekend for a mates final Munro (A Scottish Mountain over 3000ft, there are 282 of them!). The hill was Beinn na Lap which we did in some terrible weather. We had booze at the top and then finished in a cafe/bar for more booze, before getting the train back to the Ochils Mountaineering Club Hut in Crianlarich where we had yet more booze! Grand day out despite the weather, and well done Colin Read More
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
During a recent trip to South Uist, I had a few outings by Packraft and bike combo. Generally I have abandoned the bike at the end (complete with panniers and dry clothes), and then driven to the start. Its a great way of making linear boat trips with the wind/tide when you are on your own. This trip was one I saw on the map, and then went and googled to find that it had been previously blogged and was Read More
I had been cycling on Barra earlier, arriving back on Eriskay, at about 16:30. The weather remained fine, and the wind/tides were about right so a linear paddle in the packraft was the plan. I locked the bike up at the Calmac pier on Eriskay complete with panniers and cycling kit and set off around the coast to Orasaigh in the van. This took eons as I ended up following an extra slow Dutch van whose driver did not appear Read More
I have recently purchased an MRS Alligator 2S Pro Packraft from the packrafting store in Germany. I’ve always wanted a boat, but given that most of my travels are by motorhome, and I neither want to tow anything or heave the booody thing up onto the roof, the boat had to be an inflatable. My original thought was a traditional inflatable kayak such as those sold by Advanced Elements. The setup time would be longer, it would be more troublesome Read More
