Paddle boarding across Scotland
96km from Fort William on Scotland’s west coast to Inverness on the east, the Great Glen Way has been used by generations for transport and trade between the Atlantic and the North Sea, and it makes for a mighty fine paddle boarding adventure.
The Great Glen Canoe Trail links the lochs of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness via the Caledonian Canal. This makes for a wide range of paddling conditions from winding along narrow, wood lined canals to large open bodies of water. The official guide warns that waves can reach 3m on the long and exposed Loch Ness. Combined with the 29 bridges and locks which need to be portaged, this is a challenging paddle.
We took to the waters to take on the Great Glen in the summer when the coconut aroma of the gorse put us in mind of a tropical paradise. And the egg yolk yellow of the gorse contrasted with the lemon yellow brightness of the broom along the banks. To make best use of the conditions we opted to start in Corpach on the west coast. Beginning by negotiating the infamous Neptune’s Staircase flight of locks followed by a more gentle paddle along the first stretch of canal. As we passed the small groups of yachts moored along the canal one gentleman yelled out ‘Where are you going, not Inverness I hope, you can’t paddle to Inverness’. I am always conflicted by this type of unsolicited heckling. Annoyed at what gives someone the right to yell judgement at me but with an internal spark of motivation that comes with being told that something is impossible right before I do it.
The mornings paddling was pleasant, marred only slightly by yours truly managing to fall in the canal at the first portage. I swear that the bank gave way beneath my feet. I’m pretty sure that Eric would say that it was user error. A couple of locks in we were happy that we had our portage system down to a slick routine but even happier to be entering the first loch of the journey, Loch Lochy.
As soon as we left the shelter of the canal the wind, (tailwind, yay), that had been predicted showed made it’s presence felt and we enjoyed a stonking downwinder the whole way to end of the loch. Not having taken much of a pause in the downwinder based excitement, I flopped onto the shingle spit at the northern end of the loch, relived that I could let the gravel take care of not falling in the water duties and give my tired legs a rest while the re-fuelled and watched some kayakers come downwind with their sails up.
Laggan locks gave way to a narrow section of canal flanked on both sides by towering pines, making paddling feel much like taking a walk in the woods. The short stretch opened out into Loch Oich. Smaller, shallower and with a host of islands dotted around it’s waters, Loch Oich felt like the friendliest of the lochs. We dodged through some shallow reeds and soaked up the view of the ruins of Invergarry Castle, home to the Clan MacDonald since the 17th century.
One more short canal section and we arrived at Fort William, our stop for the night and a welcome rest. The morning greeted us with calm waters as we paddled out past the old crannog and onto the waters of Loch Ness. At 37km long and over 200m deep in places it holds more water than all of the lakes in England and Wales put together, not to mention and elusive monster. We enjoyed idilic paddling conditions under sunny skies and on top of mirror calm water all the way to the iconic Urquhart Castle. The castle with it’s commanding position has been fought over many time through history and today is one of the most visited, and photographed, castles in Scotland.
After our own water-based castle photoshoot we carried on to find a spot for lunch. The northern shore of the loch has some lovely little beaches and we picked one of our very own for the aforementioned lunch and a quick swim. Ripples washed gently onto the shore as we dried off in the sun. The wind that had been absent all morning began to ruffle in the trees. A ferry wake pushed a larger wave onto the beach, and then the wind kept pushing larger and larger waves up. Just like that the mirror calm Loch Ness was a mass of white caps. We dashed to collect our kit, pull on and extra layer to combat the wind chill and jumped back on the boards, eager to get to the head of the loch before the waves reached the fabled 3m. It was time for another downwinder
The waves although not 3m were quite confused making paddling conditions challenging, but the distance was racing past and I had a big smile plastered on my face. in what seemed like no time we were passing Dores and had the head of the loch in our sights. We squeezed out of the loch into the next canal section and pulled over at a good looking camping spot. Tent up between the flowers and cup of tea between my hands and was time to relax and soak up the early evening light over the loch. There was just time to spot a Black Throated diver before the midge-avoidance dance and a run for the tent were called for.
Given the arm-tiredness rating when I went to bed I was filled with relief to wake up with arms that felt like they had some more paddling in them. The first part of the route was through the small Loch Dochfour and back onto the canal. Here the canal begins to take on a more bustling feel before meandering through the countryside as the River Ness. Finally the buildings and roads of Inverness came up to join us along the edges of the canal and before we knew it we were on the east coast.