Travel, Adventure and Exploration
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Sunday was a stunning crisp winter’s day. The sun was shining pretty much all day, so it didn’t feel too cold despite the low temperature.
Our friends Sean and Karen had just bought a new Decathlon kayak, so we all headed out to Balmaha for a paddle on the “big loch” (Loch Lomond).
We would have expected it to be very busy on the loch despite that fact it is winter, but we ended up having it pretty much to ourselves.
During the afternoon we saw one cruiser moored at Port Bawn on Inchcailloch, which left not long after we arrived, and a small group of kayakers paddling around, presumably also after having visited Port Bawn, as we approached. Other than that we had the loch to ourselves, at least that part of it.
Sean and Karen had paddle boarded before, but were new to kayaking. They did very well and we made it round to Port Bawn on Inchcailloch no problem. We took the anti-clockwise way round first, leaving the glassy calm side for our paddle back.
Here are a few photos…
As we knew it was to be cold, we had brought a few logs for the firepit (of which there are a few at Port Bawn), a flask of hot chocolate and some snacks to enjoy on the beach.
By the time we had our refreshments and a short walk, it was already almost sunset as we left. The water going back via the other side of the island was like glass. The sun was setting in a big orange ball, and it was just a perfect way to finish our paddle.
Sean & Karen enjoyed their first kayak trip, and will hopefully have plenty more to look forward to. We couldn’t believe how quiet the loch was on such a beautiful day, so winter kayaking is definitely worthwhile!
As for Paul and I, should the weather be favourable on Christmas Eve, we might take a wee overnight trip back to Inchcailloch in our dinghy with our camping gear. Failing that, then hopefully it will be good enough for a wee paddle somewhere on the loch for a couple of hours.
Watch this space….
On Saturday and Sunday night we booked ourselves a short break up near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. We got a good deal staying at the Corran Hotel (right next to the Corran Ferry, which makes the short trip across Loch Linnhe to Ardgour on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula).
For £190 we got a suite for the 2 nights, with a decked area outside and a spacious living area with L-shaped sofa in the room. It was a “room only” price, however, in the fridge we found fresh milk, juice, yogurt and muffins for breakfast. There was nowhere that was walking distance open right now where we could go for dinner (unfortunately the pub across the loch in Ardgour was temporarily closed), but as we knew this in advance we had brought some tapas/nibbles and picnic plates/cutlery for the first night, and we got some good fish & chips from Quarrier’s Kitchen in Ballaculish to takeaway for the Sunday night.
We were lucky with the weather considering that it was the end of November, and both the Saturday and Sunday were lovely days (the rain only came on the Monday, so we didn’t hang around after checkout, instead we headed straight home).
The drive from our house in Glasgow to the hotel takes around two hours and fifteen minutes and the scenery gets better and better the further north you drive.
As the weather was so good, we extended this to include a side trip along Glen Etive to Loch Etive (about ten miles each way). The Glen Etive road is near Kingshouse, just past the Glencoe ski resort as you head north. This is a drive that I had wanted to do for some time, and it is probably fair to say that it’s the most beautiful glen in Scotland, so it made sense to go while the weather was good. The road along the glen is single track with passing places. You have a very good chance of seeing deer, so be careful driving! There were quite a few parts where some sort of construction work was being done, although we weren’t sure what. Hopefully they’re not going to be building houses, as the attraction of the glen, as well as the stunning scenery, is it’s remoteness.
As we had set off just after midday, by the time we were leaving the glen, the sun had already set and the afterglow was fading. We continued the drive through the dramatic mountains of Glencoe, and when we arrived at the hotel it was almost dark. We had been given a code for the key box (it’s self check-in) so we checked ourselves into our suite and spent the evening chilling out with some wine and the “dinner” we’d brought.
I awoke in the middle of the night to use the loo, and noticed that it was snowing! By morning the snow had stopped and we were just left with a light dusting. The morning started out quite cloudy, but the clouds lifted later and we had a nice sunny afternoon canoeing on the loch in our inflatable canoe. We launched where the ferry comes in, and reckon we must have paddled around eight miles return, getting to within perhaps a mile of the bridge that goes over the loch to Ballaculish. Loch Linnhie is a sea loch, and when we first set off it was very calm. By the time we returned we seemed to be paddling against both the tide and the wind, so it was a bit of a slog for the last half hour.
We saw a seal quite close by and paddled towards it, but it wasn’t interested in us (unlike the seals in the Scilly Isles), so we paddled on. The loch is huge, and runs into Loch Leven at the bridge, so there is plenty of canoeing opportunities. It is also surrounded by mountains that were dusted in snow, so it was very pretty. The temperature was about one degree, so we were well layered up with leggings, base layers, wetsuits, Gore-Tex jackets, fleeces and of course our life vests. I wore my welly boots and Paul wore his water booties, both with Gore-Tex socks to keep our feet dry.
After returning from our paddle, we headed over on the ferry (which is free to foot passengers) to Ardgour, a five or ten minute trip, to watch the sunset, photograph the lighthouse, and for Paul to buy some beers from the local brewery (about a half mile walk from the ferry). It was a shame that the pub was closed, as that would have been an ideal place to have had dinner.
The sun had already set as we returned, and the sky was glowing pink, orange and red. It was really pretty.
We then drove into Ballaculish (six miles roughly) to buy our “fish suppers” while Paul’s newly acquired beers were chilling on the decking outside our room. There was no-one else staying that second night, so it was very quiet. We enjoyed another nice relaxing evening and a good sleep. The weather forecast was unfortunately correct, and it was raining quite steadily in the morning, so rather than have another paddle in our canoe, we set off back home after breakfast.
We would really recommend both the hotel and the location for a weekend getaway, particularly if you enjoy canoeing. We’d love to come back again, especially when the pub across the water re-opens and we can visit there for dinner one night. And the side trip along Glen Etive is not to be missed in good weather too (you can also canoe on Loch Etive at the end of the road).
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At the end of October, we headed up to Carrbridge, just a few miles north of Aviemore and set within the Cairngorms National Park, for a week’s holiday. Taking the most direct route onto the A9, the drive comes in at around 3 hours from Glasgow. Our timing was good as we missed half of the huge COP26 gathering and all that went with it (major road closures, protest marches etc).
For a change, we decided not to camp, but instead booked a cosy self catering apartment (Miss Mackintosh’s Classroom) at the Old School in Duthil, just outside of Carrbridge. As the weather was very mixed, including some heavy rain and strong winds, we were relieved that we had opted for self catering this time. Not to mention, the additional use of the hot tub set within the pine trees up the back of the schoolhouse, was a very welcome luxury that got well-used! As we were the only people staying there, we got it to ourselves – even better! We spent several evenings start gazing through the trees whilst luxuriating in 40 degree warm water…
Having been to Pitlochry before in the autumn, we made sure to allow ourselves a stop there on the way up to re-visit a few of our favourite autumn photography spots.
We stopped off for a quick photograph of the historic Old Packhorse Bridge in Carrbridge as we passed through on the way to our accommodation, and at the end of our holiday we treated ourselves to a lovely and very filling lunch at the Cairn Hotel in the village.
Carrbridge turned out to be a good location for exploring the region and wasn’t far from the main town of Aviemore which was drivable within about 10 minutes. If you prefer somewhere with a bit more “hustle and bustle” then Aviemore would be the place to stay with plenty of shops, pubs, restaurants and a very good fish and chip shop (Smiffys) which we would recommend (lovely fish and chips and not at all greasy – same price to eat in as to take away).
We had planned to do some walking and some canoeing, and the whole area has plenty of opportunities for both. The weather limited us a bit, and we only saw the tops of the big mountains once unfortunately, as they remained cloud covered pretty much all week. The Cairngorms National Park contains five of the UK’s six biggest mountains and is a popular ski resort in winter. I can recall a few ski trips there from my younger days, and who knows, perhaps I’ll get to give it a go again one of these days.
On the first full day of our holiday (which was Halloween), it was rather wet, so we settled for a short walk through the woods behind us, a long soak in the hot tub, relaxing later with some wine and home-made pizza and a pretty awful “scary” movie.
The next day was better, we headed out while it was raining towards Rothimurchus (we reckoned this was also the best area to see the autumn foliage) and then on to Loch An Eileen with the intention of either canoeing or walking the trail around the loch. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived at the loch’s car park, but we decided just to do the walk rather than get the canoe blown up, as it was still a bit dreich (Scottish for dull and/or wet weather). Loch An Eileen is popular for both walkers and canoeists, and it has the ruins of an old castle on and island just off the shore (there’s not much left of the castle though).
One of the walks I had wanted to do for some time, was next on our hit list – the short walk through the Glenmore forest to An Lochan Uaine (the Green Loch) from where we then continued on to the Ryvoan Bothy. This is one of the most accessible bothies in Scotland, being only an hour or so away from the nearest roadside. For those who haven’t heard of bothies, a bothy is a basic shelter (usually a hut or small cottage), which is normally left unlocked and available for anyone (mainly hikers) to use free of charge. Very few of them have toilet facilities, but most have some kind of stove to use for cooking and for warmth.
The next day we finally got our first paddle in – well, actually two paddles. The first at Loch Insh, where beautiful autumn colours surrounded the loch and the water was very calm and flat. We found a good spot to launch, perhaps a kilometre before the water sports centre (where you can also launch for a £5 fee). Our launch spot was very close to the waters edge, on the other side of the road, with room for perhaps only 3-4 cars. It’s worth looking for before paying to launch (if you have the What3Words App it is at approximately at “tested.allowable.massaged”). As we were between showers, we were also lucky enough to catch a full rainbow on the bridge over the River Spey afterwards.
The day was still young, as they say, so we later headed up to Loch Garten for a short paddle. Loch Garten is a nature reserve where in season, and if you are lucky, you just might see an osprey. As it is a nature reserve, there is only a small section of the loch that you are allowed to paddle on, so if you do paddle here, please do abide by this and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. We did not spend long paddling here, only about 30 minutes. The parking was very handy, just across the road from the loch front.
We had waited, and hoped, for a nice clear and crisp day to do a paddle on Loch Morlich hoping for the “picture perfect” reflection of the Cairngorm mountains in the water as we paddled. It was proving difficult to find an accurate weather forecast channel and the BBC and Met Office were usually quite contradictory to each other. In the end we asked and were told that XC was the most accurate for the area, so I entered Glenmore as the area (as they don’t have Loch Morlich listed, but as it is located in the Glenmore forest, this seemed like a good option). On Thursday the weather report for the morning, particularly around 9-10am, was looking really good – calm and full sun, so we got up early and headed out. We couldn’t understand how the forecast could be so wrong – that is, until I realised that it was a different “Glenmore” I had looked at the forecast for! Oh well, at least we got most of our paddle in before the rain came, but no mountain reflections to be seen. However, we got some nice foliage reflections, as shown in the photo below. Later that day we headed north up to Lochindorb, but when we got there it was rather choppy, so we decided against having a paddle there. It was a pretty drive, though.
Friday was the last paddle we got on our holiday as heavy rain and strong winds were forecast for the Saturday. We headed to the nearest loch to Carrbridge, Loch Vaa, which has a pretty little boathouse on it’s shores. To get there, you head towards Aviemore and park in the Laggantrygown cemetery car park and head a short distance through the woods to get to the loch. It’s just a small loch, but very pretty, so it was worth doing. See what you think from the photo below…
Our final day (we had extended for an extra night) was pretty wet and windy. We did a short walk in the forest during the afternoon when the rain had started to ease a little, and by evening the rain had mostly stopped and the sky had started to clear, so we managed to spend our final night star gazing from the hot tub. Not a bad end to our holiday.
On our way home, we decided to take the long route via Balmoral to see the Balmoral pyramid, which was built in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. The walk to the pyramid is fairly steep towards the end and takes about 30 minutes from the car park or roadside café. Parking is free by the roadside café; the fee is £5 at the main Balmoral car park (the only option is a full day rate!)
Continuing onwards from Balmoral, we passed through Braemar and Glenshee (another winter ski area) before eventually joining the A9 near Perth. It was definitely worth taking this route home as it is very scenic, although it added about an hour to the journey.
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We don’t have to go far from home to see the fall foliage. These beautiful photos were taken close to home, most of them walking distance.
The best places in Glasgow for the autumn foliage includes the Kelvin Walkway, Botanic Gardens, Victoria Park, Mugdock Country Park, the Milngavie “Water Works”, Pollok Country Park and many of our other parks and walkways.
Here are a few from the weekend…
Perthshire remains our favourite part of the country to view the fall foliage and you can read about the best places in our kindle guide available from Amazon, however, we hope that you agree that there are also some great places right on our doorstep!
If you like the autumn colours as much as we do, check out our autumn portfolio on Photo4Me. There is currently a 10% discount available on all purchases using the code “pumpkin21” at the checkout, plus free postage as always.
Click here to view our latest video of our fantastic holiday (with lots of awesome canoeing) to Clachtoll in the Highlands and the Isle of Skye.
A fantastic trip!
Check out my new kindle book for just 99p on Amazon Kindle. Read about my travels through Asia and Australasia in 1989-90 before the advent of the devices we now take for granted like iPhones, email and the internet.
This goes back to the days when the highlight of your day was often picking up mail at the poste restante that had been posted out to you several weeks before.
There is a short preview on the link below. I wrote this book in the hope that it may inspire others to travel.
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Now that we are getting well into October, the foliage is noticeably turning as hues of yellow, orange and red come through.
Our favourite part of the country to view the foliage is Perthshire, where there are many great spots for “leaf-peeping” as our American friends like to call it.
Last year I wrote a kindle guide to the places that are, in our opinion, best for viewing the autumn foliage. From now until around mid November is usually the best time.
Our kindle book can be purchased from Amazon for only £1.49, less than the cost of a cup of coffee.
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Autumn is a great time to go for two reasons – you don’t have to plan in advance and buy a permit, and you get the changing colours of the foliage.
Loch Drunkie is on the Three Lochs Forest Drive near Aberfoyle, in the Trossachs. We went to one of our “usual” spots, on the beach at “G”. The water level was even lower than it had been when we last camped there in August. It was also busier than August, probably because the weather was drier this time (although there was still the odd light shower).
In total there were three tents at the “G” spot and we got chatting to the people in the one nearest to us, who also were set up with a tent and a tarp shelter on the beach.
We had taken the canoe, but didn’t use it in the end as I felt a bit sick the next day (nothing to do with the alcohol we had consumed of course!)
It was later in the afternoon by the time we had arrived and set up, so we just chilled out until dinner time. Then we opened a bottle of wine before dinner, followed by two more during and after (note to self – two bottles max between us next time!)
As the sun was getting lower, shining the late afternoon light on the trees surrounding the loch, making them almost glow, it was looking very pretty.
Paul got the fire started in the fire pit, which we also used to cook on. We had it set up just in front of our tarp in case we needed to take shelter (which we did, but only for a short time during a passing shower).
As the sun was starting to set, the sky and pink clouds looked very pretty reflected on the calm water. The fire was roaring by then and keeping us nice and warm.
Despite the change of seasons, we had a cosy night in the tent with our hot water bottles, duvet and sleeping bags.
On Sunday, we were both a bit hungover, but I was a lot worse than Paul, so unfortunately we didn’t get out for a paddle – the canoe stayed in the car. Paul had a cough, which had gotten worse, though it could have been the smoke from the fire. However, since he’d had it for a few days now, when we got home, he booked a PCR test, just in case and got a drive through appointment almost straight away.
When we arrived at the drive through test centre, I ended up asking for a test also, just to be on the safe side due to the people orientated nature of my job and because I also didn’t want to risk passing anything on to my mum.
Fortunately the results came back by email very early on Monday morning and we were both negative, so that was a relief.
The forest drive at Loch Drunkie is open until the end of October, so who knows, we might get another wee night away before it closes. We shall see what the weather does. We’d also like to do an autumn overnighter on Inchcailloch, so fingers crossed for some dry weather and watch this space…
Just published on both kindle (£1.99) and paperback (£6.95) our new book features another 10 great ideas for days out within a 90 minute drive of our home town of Glasgow.
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