Canoeing Scottish Lochs - Loch Voil to Loch Lubnaig
"Boat Trip", "Boat Trip", "Whoooooo", "Boat Trip"
You don't have a canoe / kayak ?
Don't worry, Tiso hire them out for £30 a day or £60 for a long weekend.
You don't have a roof rack?
Don't worry, Tiso also give you an inflatable roof rack for your car.
Saying "worry" twice in the space of a few lines, is actually entirely justified. These inflatable roof racks are one of man’s worst, yet best inventions: incredibly handy, but Jesus H did I panic for the entire drive. While driving at 60 MPH with my canoe bouncing up and down on a cushion of air above my head, I constantly envisioned myself trying to explain to my insurance company why my car is fine, but the Nissan Micra in front of me now has a canoe lodged in its rear windscreen.
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| Open Street Maps - https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/56.2873/-4.4155 |
For this water trip you have two options. Option A you will start at Loch Voil, just past Callender and paddle your way down to the bottom of Loch Lubnaig. This will take 2 days, with 2 sleep overs.
Option B will start at the west bank of Loch Achray to either the midway point of Loch Venachar or a little further and finishing in Callander. This will only take you a day.
For logistical reasons, both of these options will need 2 vehicles:
- both cars drive to start point
- unload canoe
- both cars drive to end point, and leave car with roof rack
- drive back to starting point to begin trip
- .....at the end do it all again in reverse.
Be aware that option A requires taking all your kit, tents and food in your canoe.
"Dry Bag" and “oh my god my dry bag” will become your to most used phrases. Option B however, needs nothing more than 2-3 bodies and the continual argument over who is steering the canoe.
Alas, we took 2 canoes and 1 kayak on option B.
We parked at the east end of Loch Voil and set up camp on the Friday night to give an early start on Saturday. Setting off in the morning, the water was very choppy, so much so we nearly called the whole thing off - lucky for us the weather settled. This entire trip was just view after view. You set off along the Loch, probably stopping once or twice for tea and food at the shoreline.
Eventually you will arrive at the end of the Loch and start on the connecting river. Going from open water to small rivers is a great change of scenery, as now you have to avoid fallen trees and rocks. The river section is easily the longest part of the trip, it will take a good few hours to navigate. There is nothing along the route until nearer the end, so it is probably a good idea to take a break just before or during the river section.
At this point, you have been in the boat with the same person for several hours. Having lots of laughs, sharing some great moments, telling jokes....getting frustrated that they keep "accidentally" splashing you, listening to their annoying laugh, telling them repeatedly “just start paddling and get off your ****ing phone” and ultimately fantasying about tipping the boat over. Sure you will get wet along with the kit....but so will they. It will be worth it.. "Yes...lets do it" your inner voice shouts.
This is why you need alcohol regular breaks.
Arriving at the end of the river, it has taken us 6-7 hours from the starting point. Here is where you have a choice, you can either:
- stay at the registered camp site which is at the very end of the river with a local pub, or
- wild camp on the eastern shore of Loch Lubnaig.
As we fancied a fire, we chose the wild camp option. However the pub was very tempting. Frustratingly though, decent places for large tents are very few and far between, as the shore is mainly swampy grass. But we found one!
The night was ours.
"Lets empty the canoes, put up the tent, few beers and get a fire going"
Smiles all round.
*unravels tent*
“where are the poles?”,
*scratch an itch on my arm*,
“ahhh got them"
"Richard help me hold these poles up"
*Scratch a few more itches on my face*
"How does this work again"
*Scratch an itch on my face, my arm, my leg, my face again.....*
You look up and realise you are surrounded by midges and are being eaten alive!
This makes everything increasingly difficult. Building a tent immediately becomes a friendship ending task.
This is made worse by the smug guy with the midge net. He instantly becomes the focal point of everyone's anger. Life long friendships are lost amid vile hatred.
On this occasion, I was the smug eejit. However, once the fire started and the midges retreated, I was eventually allowed back in the group after a tense hour or so.....
The next morning was a very quick breakfast, play in the water, capsize the boat and set off. The final section was only an hour to where the car was parked. So the bulk of the trip was really the day before. So much so, that it may have been a good idea to camp halfway down the river and split the trip up more evenly.
Word of caution - Do not continue into the river at the bottom of Loch Lubnaig as this is where the Falls of Leny are, which could be a fatal mistake. If you decided to go via the Loch Achray river route, then the river should actually take you right into Callander.
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