Caledonian Canal, Scotland - July 2016 - Trip Report
The best photos are courtesy of Beth Logan
I’d just resigned from work with the intention of taking a year out to focus on expeditions. The only problem was that I’d made this decision quite suddenly, and as such actually had no trips in the pipeline!
Fortunately I’d met Beth Logan a few weeks previously at a Cave Leader revalidation course. She lived close to me and we’d stayed in touch. I knew that she had some time off from her job as an outdoor education instructor and suggested the Caledonian canal as an easy-to-organise mini-trip. She was keen and so plans were set in motion – within a few days of first talking about the trip we were on a long drive to Scotland!
After the drive I left Beth ‘wild camping’ (aka hiding in the bushes) near the start of the canal in Fort William whilst I left to run the shuttle. I only got a few hours sleep that night and managed to miss the first bus back to Fort William and so ended up being a couple of hours late. Beth had started to get a bit worried (I’d left all my phone charging equipment with her and my battery had run out) but had done a sterling job of lugging all the kit from her hiding place and up past all the lochs to the start.
The next few days were great; after a very hard working year (I was regularly working 60hrs+ a week) it felt great to be unencumbered and free in the river. This was my first real long distance canoeing trip and Beth was a great partner, we sped along the canals and tried our hand at sailing across the lochs using a survival shelter.
We choose a slightly suspect wild camp the first night on a small slightly boggy patch of land. It was away from other people but not from insect…my dinner that night probably consisted of more bug than pasta! My big year of adventuring did not seem to have got off to the best start – I decided to sleep outside that night but then spent an hour that morning cowering in my sleeping bag trying to avoid the bugs and waiting for Beth to wake up!
On the second day we came across a ‘pub canal boat’ on the river and stopped for a drink. It was pleasant but eccentric place – various swords (including a ‘real’ lightsaber) and other paraphernalia were on display. The owner was also apparently only one of six chefs in the UK licensed to use this particularly strong chilli. As a result there was naturally a ‘chilli challenge’ that he offered – anyone that could finish his curry (containing 4 tea spoons of the chilli) ate for free. I was not up for any type of chilli challenge but four guys wanted to try the mini challenge; a pin prick of the chilli mixed in a tea spoon of chutney and served on a small cracker. It didn’t go well for any of them – within seconds they were sweating and struggling and by the time a minute had passed all had disappeared to the toilets.
Beth and I carried on for another couple of beautiful hours. We’d had a couple (4…) of beers and were merry and happy. The canal was empty and the waters still, paddling through a forested area we could see the perfect crystal clear reflection of tall pines in the water. I felt surprisingly at peace; I’d never felt stressed in my job, just focussed, but it wasn’t until this point that I consciously acknowledged just how less stressed I felt now. It was a strange revelation for me to realise that I had been stressed before – it’s kicked off a long (and still unfinished!) train of thoughts as to where I’m going and what I want from my life.
After crossing the watershed we decide to take the rivers downhill to the coast, rather than just following the canal. Embarrassingly we had a capsize when attempting, purely for fun, a tight white water break-out. Kit went everywhere and the fisherman downstream enjoyed laughing at us as they rowed out to fetch a couple of lost bags!
All too soon the adventure was over and we just had the long drive back to Bristol. A short but sweet adventure, and one that would be achievable for most people.