Into the Wilderness .. Setting out .. Loch Leven & Glencoe

Perhaps I should mention at this point .. it was not Alcohol that was killing my liver . Although I enjoy a drink on occasion.. it is certainly not a habit.

My poison was a double cocktail of too much iron in my system (hemochromatosis) and also chronic HVC (long term Hepatitis C) I never even hear of these ..until my gall bladder was diseased by them ?

My liver was taking a pounding ..and in my imagination .. I worried over fears of needing a transplant ? .. or worse !!

My thoughts were very confused as I left home for a summer living In the Wilderness. I wanted to escape from deep thoughts so did what I know best .. escape to a wilderness that I am comfortable with.

Before heading north I stopped off at Glencoe and Loch Leven. These videos give a good insight into the boat I took on my travels . I was testing the waters and foraging for food to live off

Loch Leven and the end of a glorious day

Going back through the bridge was even easier. I let the flow carry me through, keeping the outboard running enough to keep my course when the swirls tried to turn the boat. I went at a good pace in the incoming tide. Once through the narrows, I turned into the quiet bay beside Ballachulish where the yachts anchor. It was very peaceful in that little backwater.





I now thought it was time to head for the campsite as I had been boating for ten hours without a dull moment. The Glencoe mountains looked very spectacular behind the village. I recalled the first time that I went up Stob Coire nan Lochan. I guess I was around 17 years old and ascended it by “dinner time buttress” Its a steep scramble up the north facing buttress just left of centre in this photo.



The campsite was now beckoning me. I was thinking of my dinner waiting in the tent. I had packed a tin of John West best Salmon in case I blanked at fishing.



I had no problems winching the boat back up the ramp. However I was not happy with the wire rope on the winch. It was slightly frayed and had sharp edges that pierced my hands a couple of times. Another modification noted to be done at the first available moment. This is a photo for reference of why the ramp is not much use at low tide.



I then relaxed and watched a glorious sunset bring an end to an equally glorious day on the loch.







The following day was blustery , grey and wet so I packed up the tent and headed for home. But first I went to Fort William to visit the climbing shop. I was looking for something that should make recovering the boat even easier.

Loch Leven and the mussels of the clansmen

It was too early to land at the campsite as the tide was now out, besides I was enjoying myself with the boat so headed off to the island of Eilean Munde. This is the burial ground of the MacDonalds and several other clans from the Glencoe and Ballachulish area. I visited it twice before in my inflatable so knew where to land.



I chose a deep water mooring off the rocks on the north of the island instead of the more accessable “beach” area to the east. The reason is the boat could be too heavy for me to re launch if it got stranded on a beach with a falling tide. Either that or its bottom could get damaged pushing it on sharp rocks. I intend devising a two anchor landing system soon so I can land and keep the boat off shore, pulling it in when I want to board again.

I then went for a walk round the island, keeping a close eye on the boat.



I visited the ruined church again and tried to imagine the services that went on here over a century ago. Were they fire and brimstone sermons ?



Then I visited the graves. Its still in use to this day. Most stones are made from the slate quarried at the nearby Ballachulish quarry.





Heading back to the boat, I stopped and collected a few mussels from the rocks. They were nice big ones and I wondered if they were fattened on the juices of the buried clansmen ?



I popped them in a pot and heated them till they opened, then ate them. You cant get fresher seafood than that. Loch Leven mussels have a unique meaty taste too. Yum :-D

Loch Leven and Going with the Flow

The reason I love Loch Leven so much is because of the surrounding scenery. It changes from the open coastal views at Ballachulish, past the grandeur of the Glencoe glens to the magnificent mountains of the Mamore at Kinlochleven. The loch is wide to the west, narrow in the middle then eases out again to the east.

One of the mighty Mamores at the Kinlochleven head end, Am Bodach stands proud at 1032m high.



Although I dropped some hooks with strips of supermarket mackerel on as bait, I never got a single bite. I must confess, I don’t blame the fish, I wouldn’t have eaten the mackerel either. I love fresh caught mackerel but in my mind, the bait was well past its “sell by” date long before I had bought it.

Heading back down the loch was a breeze with wind and tide on my tail. The waves were hardly noticed as the boat surfed the small swell. I trolled a lure behind me and kept the engine on tick over just to keep a straight course. Life felt great as I went with the flow. The fact I never caught a fish didn’t bother me. I was learning about boating in a beautiful environment



I pulled over and landed to stretch my legs a little as I had now been on board for five hours. I found a little rocky bay out of the wind and took some photos of the boat in its surroundings. Here it is with a backdrop of Mamores.



And another photo of it against Beinn na Chaillich on the north shore of the loch.



The wind was now dropping as fast as the tide was and the waves started to flatten. I was heading for the narrows of Caolas na Con again. This time I knew the passage would be smooth. The outgoing tide would pull me through with ease



In the narrows, the water swirled and ran like a river but the boat didn’t flinch, it went straight as an arrow. I was still going with the flow instead of trying to push the river.



I popped out the narrows at the far end and it felt like it was like a different place now.



The water flattened and the sun came out. I felt I had battled with a storm and won. I continued to peacefully not catch fish. I learned that life can be very calming by going with the flow.




more to follow...

Loch Leven and the off shore wind

The weather forecast was correct. I awoke around midnight to the sound of the tent getting in a flap because of the rising wind. I used it as an excuse to get up and check it was well pegged down but in reality it was an excuse to get up and relieve myself. The wind was now a force three with force six gusts coming off the hills.

At six in the morning I got up. The cold was seeping through my sleeping bag and the excitement of the new day made it impossible to stay in bed any longer. A quick breakfast of some cereal and drink of water saw me heading for the boat ramp to survey the scene.

The tide was out but was coming in and lapped the bottom of the ramp. The water in the shelter of the hill was calm but beyond the headland, in the main body of the loch, it was white horse after white horse as the waves broke in the strong wind.



I debated what to do. The calm water at the ramp was because of the off shore wind. I always remember my dad saying that off shore winds were very deceptive and I could hear him saying it in my head over and over again. I knew that if I went out in those conditions in the inflatable, it would be rather unpleasant and wet. I decided to wait a little to see how things developed during the day.

I headed round the loch by car to see if I could find other suitable launch points for future use. This would also let me see how rough the water was in the open. The wind was from the south east and was blowing the full length of the loch. The waves were breaking in white horses and white trails of flume formed in the wind lanes along its surface. Dark patches darted quickly across as the force six gusts hit the water.

However Kinlochleven village looked lovely in the early spring light. The loch was a little calmer at this end as it was in the shelter of the hills here too. I wondered about braving the storm on the main loch and finding shelter in the harbour for a little fishing.



Away from the water, I began to relax a little and noticed the light dancing on the fresh green growth of the new leaves. They were contrasted with colours of the remains of bare winter branches and buds of the slower growing trees.



Driving back around the north shore of the loch I noticed another little boat bravely making its way along the loch. In fact it was rather a large little boat but its bow kept nodding into the waves, sending spray flying far to the sides. Yup..an off shore wind can be deceptive. It looked fine from this angle until I saw the other boat.



The only suitable launch site that I saw was at Ballachullish bridge where the old ferry used to land. It has public access but a strong tidal flow makes it very difficult to use for small boats. I noticed the quiet backwaters on either side of the ramp and wondered if they were as deceptive as an off shore wind ?



I got back in the car and headed to Fort William for a real breakfast.

Loch Leven and Invercoe Campsite

The Easter weekend came faster than I wanted. I had so much to do yet so little time to do it in. I’m still working and its at one hundred miles an hour trying to settle into new work routines while the customer still wants the goods yesterday.

I was glad the weekend had arrived , I was just a little unprepared for it. It was a last minute decision where to go with the boat with the weather forecast looking a little mixed on Friday and Saturday.

Loch Leven was one of my favourite places in my inflatable so I decided to go there. This time I stayed at Invercoe campsite, for no other reason than it has a boat ramp for the resident campers. It was good value too because for a tent with one person discount it was £14 per night and had boat ramp, showers and toilets and everything else I could wish for. My only complaint was because it was the Easter weekend and the weather reasonable, it was very busy. I like my solitude.

I set off straight after work on Thursday night and arrived early evening. It wasn’t dark until 9pm so that gave plenty time to set up the tent and get settled in.



The tide was not quite full in and looked inviting and calm for boating. I checked out the boat ramp and found that it was the centre of attraction for most campers, even though they didn’t have boats ?



Sadly, I knew it would be dark within the hour so there was not enough time to get the boat into the water to try it out, but it did look very inviting. The wind was almost non existent. It was hard to believe the forecast for the next day was for force three winds with gusts up to force six ?



As the sun set, the air chilled a bit. Its still early in the year for camping. However it had the advantage that it kept the midges away, once the temperatures rise, they will arrive in their droves. I hoped it would keep the other campers in their beds in the morning so I didn’t have an audience while launching the boat.

Glencoe and the Pap

Without doubt, one of my favourite sea lochs for inflatable boating during the summer was Loch Leven. As I made my way up and down the loch, my eyes were constantly drawn to Sgorr na Ciche or as its more commonly called, The Pap of Glencoe. At only 2434 ft high, its certainly not the highest hill in the area but I often wondered what the bird’s eye view of the loch would be like from its summit.



It was early November before I finally got round to finding out. It was a beautiful clear day with a frost in the air when I parked just outside of Glencoe village. The top of the pap was bathed in sunshine.



Within minutes of starting the walk, the mountains on the Ardgour peninsula came into view. They looked very steep and spectacular framed by the foreground fir trees.



Not long after, enough height was gained to look over the various islands at the west end of Loch Leven. My mind drifted back to the visits to the burial grounds on Eilean Munde



It’s a steep path up the hillside and I was glad of the frost as it had frozen the ground making walking on the boggy parts very easy. With every step upwards, the westward view got better and better.



The path heads towards the bealach between the Pap and Sgorr nam Fiannaidh before it swings northwards to head for the knobbly top of the Pap



The rocky top looks quite formidable from this angle but by keeping to the path, it’s no more that a steep walk through the rocky outcrops.



That is when the views to the east start to open out. The steep ridge of Garbh Bheinn looks quite impressive from this angle. I have made a mental note to try it sometime in the near future.



Over on the west side again, the ridge of Beinn a Bheithir looks even more impressive.



Finally the summit was reached and I can see the whole of Loch Leven from the top. As my eyes wandered round the view, I recalled all the points of interest I had found in my inflatable boat.



The narrows and the campsite at Caolas na con looked quite different from the air and seemed to be directly below me.



Looking east, I could now see all the way to Kinlochleven. The air was very clear and a little snow topped the highest summits in the distance. The views made me long for the warmer weather to return so I can get the boat back on the water.

Loch Leven and the Ballachulish Bridge

Having experienced the tidal flows in the narrows of the Caolas nan Con, and found them fun rather than fearful, I felt it was only a natural progression to head for the Ballachulish bridge where Loch Leven narrows before entering Loch Linnie. On previous visits to the bridge I had watch the tides flowing under it in huge twists and turning boils. I admit that I was a bit apprehensive as I passed the church that stands beside the road to the west of Ballachulish village.



I could see the flow of the water start not far in front of me and close to the shore. I glanced over at the slate quarry on the hillside behind the village and remembered the slate tomb stones on Eilean Munde. I moved the little inflatable close in to the far bank as I passed the point of Rubha Charnuis. I estimated the tide had around an hour to go before it would be fully out so the flow under the bridge would still be of considerable force.

The water had a little wave on the surface as I looked over to the smooth flast flow on the far southern bank. Suddenly a large boil of water appeared directly in front of me. As it spread outwards its surface smoothed the small wind blown waves. It was too late to avoid it so with heart in my mouth I opened the throttle a bit and motored into it. It was like hitting a wall of thick treacle, the boat instantly slowed and started to rotate. I swung the outboard tiller to counteract the rotation and the boat held course and came out the other side of the boil. Once back in smooth waters, and after I calmed myself, I got the camera out and took this photo of the bridge.



I then breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the sheltered waters of the natural harbour behind the loch Leven hotel. That’s when I decided I would need a little more experience before going with the flow and following through with the bridge.

No more boils appeared as I made my way back round the point of Rubha Charnuis into the main loch. Perhaps the more experienced boater will be laughting at my cowardness, but as I retraced my path back past Eilean Munde, I was glad it wasn’t going to be my final resting place.

Loch Leven and the Caolas nan Con narrows

After my mackerel lunch, I decided to explore the upper parts of Loch Leven and to see how both the inflatable boat and my head could handle some tidal currents. I had heard that the tides flows in the narrows of Caolas nan Con at speeds up to 5 knots, not that I knew what a knot was but it sounded fast ?

Because there was no wind to chop up the water and the tide was half way out, I thought it was an ideal time to try going through the narrows. The scenery reflected in the calm waters of the loch on the way to the narrows must be among some of the best views in Scotland.



The sun broke through the early evening summer haze, illuminating the hills as I approached Caolas nan Con. I could see small swirls and boils appear on the flat surface of the water as the tided flowed like a river towards me



The boat took it all in its stride while the outboard purred happily on tick over. I was gaining ground against the tide without breaking sweat, I even managed to catch two small Pollack while trolling my fishing lure in the currents. I returned them safely to the water because I had been spoiled by my mackerel lunch.



However I didn’t return this small sea trout. It was the sweetest tasting fish of the day.



It was good fun going back through the narrows, this time with the tide carrying the boat and the outboard on full power. I felt a bit like a boy racer in his new car. I soon got bored playing in the current as I discovered all that happened was the boat went faster going with the flow and slowed down a little as I fought against it. It still steered in a straight line and so did my head.

I then went about my business of photographing the reflections of this part of the loch. Perhaps its because I like to have all my ducks in a line, but I really love the symmetry of photographs with reflections. I guess if I can be thought of as having a photographic style ..it must include reflections.