60 miles to go ….
After an 11 hour drive and sleeping at the bottom of a mountain in the highlands we started our sponsored kayak trip…. nearly as fresh as a daisy!
Day one started with gathering our canoes from Rockhopper Scotland the four of us were soon on our way along the Canal from Bana vie. Whilst each of us had some level of experience it took some time to get used to what would be our homes for the next few days. The weather was kind to us and we covered just under a third of our journey in the first day which consisted of mainly canal until we reached Loch Lochy where we camped, a good night’s sleep was had by all.
Day two was a bit windier and thankfully it was coming from behind us but brought waves all the same on the lochs making things a tad choppy and interesting at times! With arms now aching, we bit by bit navigated our way back in to the canal system which at points seemed to never end. This continued into loch Oich where we found much needed refreshments in a cafe. Refuelled and ready for sleep! We continued our voyage until we started Loch Ness! We managed the first couple of miles which was late into the night (11pm-ish) we then found a suitable camping spot and decided to set up camp. With all of us feeling like we had been beaten up by the adventure so far, sleeping wasn’t a challenge even though Ed had discovered his airbed lacked air long term!
Bring it on Nessie !
With a good night’s sleep and seeing the sun rise on Loch Ness we headed off once again with our canoes packed. The wind became pretty consistent and stronger as the day progressed, meaning the waves became bigger and paddling became a lot more testing. This made this challenge daunting as the Loch seemed never ending being 23 miles long, although this was broken up by seeing some amazing views, as well seeing a Pine Martin, Red Deer and Goats at close proximity along the way. Eventually the end of the Loch was in view and although we didn’t see any monsters other than waves we felt we had our fair share of adventure. By now we were certainly feeling it and made our next resting point at Dochgarroch.
.
We finished the last leg our journey the following morning with just a few miles along the canal. We all made it, not to many dramas along the way but what a challenge.
So far we have raised £859.30 but our aim is to get to the £1000 mark plus, please donate to help provide food for those in need via The Country Food Trust.
If you would like to donate please click this link:
Our client list is impressive
