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Halifax Canoe Club |
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Competition NEW!
| Corbetts by CanadianThree mini-expeditions in the North West
Highlands by Martin and Cliff over the Spring Bank week. As there was the two of us with all camping and walking gear to transport the natural choice was Canadian Canoe. A couple of days before setting off I gave the club’s trusty Old Town a once over a condemned the air bags as useless – despite liberal patches of gaffer tape they did not stay inflated and were obviously perished. That meant a stop off at Brookbank Carlisle on the way up to get some replacements. We also needed to buy a paddle as all the club paddles had been spirited away for the Bala weekend. Trip 1 – Loch Glencoul and Beinn Leoid (792m) The first trip was to be the most northerly. We didn’t quite get there on the Saturday, but that was OK because we were to catch the incoming tide to help us up Loch Glencoul and low tide was not till 11am.
Day 2 - returned up the loch, after paddling up to have a closer look at the Eas a Chual Aluinn (it might well be the longest waterfall in the land, it is not necessarily the most impressive, and proves the maxim that is not the size that counts). With the tide on our side, but the wind against us, the sea was pretty choppy and journey took somewhat longer. There were times when you had to paddle like mad just to stay in the same spot. However, the grey seals added to the magic of the day. Trip 2 – Loch Maree, Beinn Airigh Charr (791m) and Ben Lair (859m) Day 3 was wet and misty - but mysterious and beautiful in that grey way when mountains and water combine. We paddled across Loch Maree and beached near the Letterewe lodge. We navigated in the mist to the top of the first Corbett of the day - Beinn Airigh Charr - and then blundered our way through bog and crags to the second of the day, Beinn Lair. Abiding memories of the day- the greyness, the sheer number of frogs, wild orchids, primroses and butterwort, searching for the cairns at the peaks in the mist, and the eerie stillness of the Loch as we paddled back in the twilight. It was a long day and by the time we got back to the car, in midge city, we were exhausted and the only thing to do was get a tent up and get in it before the midges did. My £18 tent from Homebase has lasted me well but after a night of pouring rain it had given up the ghost and everything inside was soaked. Day 4 it rained - there was a period of persistent rain, followed by long and frequent showers and then more rain. Did I mention it rained? And the midges came out to play again. Trip 3 – Loch Quoich, Sgurr An Fharain (901m) and Ben Aden (887m)
Day 5 -
turned out to be a warm and sunny day. We paddled across Loch Quoich and made
quick work of Sgurr An Fhuarain, after being warned by the local killer to keep
to the path as he was out shooting foxes. Despite being the highest peak of the
week it was easy to ascend because of the very well constructed but obviously
little used stalker's path. At the top, what a panorama - it felt like we could
see the whole of Scotland - Ben Nevis clearly in the south-east and the Cuillins
on Skye to the west.
Reflecting back on the trip the Canadian was the best choice – I don’t think a pair of touring boats would have been able to carry the gear, and an inflatable would have been too slow. It may be heavy and awkward to carry but it made short work of the crossings and saved a great deal of time. The weather had been kind to us too – if you conveniently forget about the rain. I certainly would not have liked to have been up Ben Aden in the mist – instead I got a sunburn. Would I do it again? – Yes but I need a new tent first!
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Day 1
Kitted
out the boat and had interesting time getting fully laden boat off the end of
the slipway at Kylesku without it spilling as by this time the sea level was a
couple of feet below the end. We made it surprisingly quickly and easily to the
head of the Loch Glencoul and beached by a hunters track we were to take up the
valley. Swapping Canadian Canoe for Yorkshire legs we headed up hill to pass the
impressive Stack of Glencoul en route to the top of Beinn Leoid where there were
clear views to the islands in the west and almost down to the Cairngorms in the
south. To the north were the beautiful quartz covered peaks of Arkle and
Foinaven. A pleasant evening was spent sat outside the Glencoul bothy watching
the sunset over the sea loch. It’s weird watching the sun go down only for it
to still stay light Nice little bothy - and judging by the limited number of
entries in the logbook, not used a right lot.
That left the longest stretch of the week back
along Loch Quoich. As we paddled the weather changed and rain clouds came in
from the east. With the rain came the most spectacular and perfect rainbow we’d
ever seen - it formed an arch across the loch with its foot resting in the
corrie on Gairich on one side. It was like a gateway inviting us into another
land. As we gawped in wonder we knew that within a few minutes we were going to
get very wet - but who cares? And then the wind changed direction and the storm
turned away and bypassed us - we caught nothing more than a few giant drops of
rain. A fitting end to a magical and wonderfully varied few days.