This Could Take Some Time

Was just sitting in front of the TV ( Watching Bear Grylls and Will Ferrel ) and got me thinking about our little trip and what we had done

Well this year very little other than a few overnighters with the next section of our great glen trip cut down to about 500 yards paddling to the island and back again , So in the last year we have achieved nothing distance wise, been difficult with work and family commitments, John and I also work in the same team again at work, Its a pretty small team so its been even more difficult to find time when we can both "escape" for a few days

But we have gained some useful experience , we are still carrying far to much equipment but we are probably 100 Kg lighter than our first trip out ( my bum doesnt get wet now from the canoe sitting so low in the water )

I am trying to figure out where the problem area's are and have come up with the following so far

Food

We buy enough food to feed 3 people plus extra snacks and other stuff we throw in the shopping basket. I think we justify this to ourselves in a "what if we get stuck" way and need extra food

The second problem is the choice of menu , its far too complex. I enjoy cooking at home but need to plan the food better to cut down on the weight , preparation and storage problems. Note I said I there , I do quite naturally fall into the mam role

I am my own worst enemy - I have spotted an outback oven - its basically a heat proof cover which works like an oven ( more even heating ) rather than the direct bottom heat of a normal stove - My finger has been over the "Buy" button a dozen times , WHY !!! am i really going to bake a cake or make yorkshire puddings , well if i could i probably would but its completely over the top.

The stew we cooked for about 4 hours on the island was fantastic but this could have been prepared at home and just heated through

We need to look for simple meals that just need water adding

Breakfast should be porridge made with boiling water not a full english
Lunch should be a dried soup mix with some bread
Evening meals need to be heated rather than prepared from scratch

Drink is another problem - This is supposed to be fun and relaxing as well as an acheivement. I do enjoy a drink when i am chilling out but we ( I) take far too much , its not like i am drunk or hungover for the entire duration but a couple of bottles of wine plus some vodka weighs a lot , of course i do my bit to reduce that weight as fast as possible.

The next problem is cooking equipment

Stoves - We like to have an open fire when we can and carry a grilliput ( small take down grill ) , I generally pick up a couple of large baking sheets as we can cook just about anything on one of those , plus they are cheap so we throw them away once we get home. This is always our prefered means of cooking. We are back to the "what if" senario's again , we are not the most proficient at lighting fires especially in wet conditions so also carry a jetboil stove which is great for boiling water plus an MSR pocket rocket with spare gas , again why !!! this is down to our experience. The jetboil can boil enough water for a meal for us both in about 4 minutes , so that should be breakfast and lunch sorted. A prepared meal could be cooked over an open fire or put inside the jetboil with a covering of water so there should be absolutely no reason why we need anything more than that

Pots , pans , mess tins

We seam to have things for cooking then different things for eating or drinking. With the right choice of foods there is no reason why one item should not cover all 3 purposes

Knives

Both John and I carry a small pocket knife plus we have a very large Gerber machette. It has a saw edge on the back and i even cook with it but is not an ideal tool for any job. The saw edge is too fine for anything other than small branches, The knife blade is to light to be effective as an axe. While we are trying to reduce bulk and weight it is just as important to make sure our kit is working for us , And the machette isnt. John found a folding bow saw which we have yet to try but it takes a standard bow saw blade so should have no problems with larger branches. I have bought a small hand axe for chopping those branches into useable fire wood. The weight will have gone up significantly but we can both now collect firewood and the result should be much quicker than before

I have mixed feelings about my hennessy hammock , I quite like the bottom entry but find that it takes too much effort if i need the toilet during the night , therefore spend hours lying there thinking i need to go but cant be bothered to get in and out. Some nights i sleep better than my bed at home , other nights i am awake half the night and cant figure out why. I have tried to find information on the various hammock forums to see how the heights of the hammock ropes affect a good or bad nights sleep , I have had the head end too high and woke up with my backside out of the entry slit. Could not find out anything useful other than its personal choice how high or low these should be and i cant find any way of making this consistant from site to site.

Time for another trip to get some more practice in I think

Half Way Home

Had a great day on Friday after all the hassle Thursday getting to the island. The beef stew was awesome and bannock with freshly picked blackberries was pretty good too. Even if I did burn a couple of fingertips off!!

Decided on Friday evening we’d get packed up in the morning (after another decent nights sleep, we must be getting used to this hammock’ing stuff), leave everything at camp and head up to see if we could find the skegs for the journey back. We did find them to our amazement – 1.5 days later in the long grass where we thought we’d lost them! Headed back to camp, fitted the skegs, loaded the canoe and headed for the shore. Raining again as normal but all good really.

Had nice lunch in the hotel as a bit of a thank you for letting us leave our car there.

Came down to Loch Lomond thinking it was half way back, have a nice night chilling out and another night camping. Far from it – couldn’t find anywhere to camp again! Obviously all of Glasgow empties to Loch Lomond at the weekends so it was really busy everywhere. And we’ve kind of got used to being away from everything by now. Finally found somewhere reasonable to camp and lugged the kit down to it from the car. Started raining really hard this time, so we just quickly stuck up one tarp between a couple of trees and pegged the back down to create a shelter. Dragged the kit under it and sat down to let it pass. Few hikers went by probably thinking we were set for the night!! Hahaha.

Getting the fire going properly turned out to be the next nightmare, even with the bag of kindling and logs from the garage! Just wouldn’t get going. Ended up getting so fed up I went back and got a bag of charcoal which livened things up.

Big fire going and eventually getting the food cooked. Beds all setup and looking very comfortable. Hoping for another nice sleep (although shorter than previous ones!) before heading back home tomorrow.

Oich Island and a Canoe!

Half way through our first day on the island now, but getting here last night wasn’t much fun!

We were running late anyway, then it started to rain pretty heavily so we started rushing things a bit. One good thing, we managed to persuade the hotel opposite to let us park the car there for free! Got across to the island and couldn’t find anywhere to get out – all just marshy. Finally got out and unloaded the canoe to find there wasn’t anywhere to camp. So had to load up the canoe again. In the rush getting back out we ended up loosing the skegs (fin’s from the bottom) off the canoe so it now doesn’t paddle very straight. Limped down and found another place to get out but it did involve getting fairly wet!!

Got camp setup in the rain, cold and dark – and found out we’d left my underblanket in the car! So fashioned the sleeping bag I should be sleeping in under the hammock and I’m making do with the fleece liner as a sleeping bag. Both sat having hotdogs for tea at about 9:30pm wrapped in silver blankets feeling wet and cold and a bit miserable.

Got in to bed and was warm enough, just about. Only chill was early morning when we’d noticed the wind had picked up. Both felt loads better in the morning after some breakfast, a cuppa and some dryer clothes on. Got a fire going and put up a washing line to get things dried. Made a bench seat out of two tree stumps and a decent sized log so we’re not on the floor.

Had lunch and now busy cooking a stew over the fire for tea. Things starting to look better.

Heading off soon

The weekend is finally here and we're heading up tomorrow! Can't wait.. Working from Bellshill office tomorrow and driving up to Laggan in the afternoon to get all setup ready to go on Friday. Final bag pack done and checked, food sorted and ready to go - just need the weather to hold out which isn't looking hopeful. Tail end of some hurricane heading across so quite a bit of rain forecase unfortunately.

We've decided if it's really bad weather it's pointless getting soaked in the canoe and we'll just paddle to the island on Loch Oich and setup a big camp and stay there for a couple of days. Be nice either way really!

Menu for the weekend consists of a couple of ration packs (Michael grudgingly accepted), home made donner-kebab style thing, raviolli, bannock mix and probably a good bit of drink! Just to keep us warm at night obviously!! :o)

Trip 2 (take 2)

Yep.. We're planning this one again, only a few months later than expected! How dare work get in the way of such things.

Much the same as last time really; travelling up Thursday, ready to go Friday morning. Day 1: Laggan up to Oich Island (just over 4 miles). Day 2: Island to Kytra Lock (again, about 4 miles). Day 3: Up to Fort Augustus (about 2 miles). Nice easy trip really to give us plenty of time for messing about, and getting Chris eased in to paddling!!

Michael's taking his bike and kiddie-trailer for all the kit, which we'll no doubt take turns on over the weekend. So canoe should be nice n light and hopefully a bit quicker than last time. Can't wait to get cracking... 3 weeks and counting!

Loch Lomond Over-nighter

Went for our overnight stop at Loch Lomond instead of the full blown Great Glen II trip. Had to cancel the full trip due to work/house moving etc. etc. Pretty much anything that could happen to stop us did so figured there was something telling us not to go!!

Got Chris out on the canoe as well this time, first time on any kind of open(ish) water. We were planning on heading to 'Fishy Island' (aptly named because of it's shape!) but once we got across to the big island next to it found a good spot out the way and setup camp there. Meant we had a bit more time to drink the cocktail of Ginger Wine, Vodka, Bells and Stella!

Got all three camps up and ready to go.. with a bit of teaching for Chirs on how to tie a knot! He'll have to practice that for the Great Glen. With that all sorted on went the fire and drinking. Michael slotted back in to 'Mam' particularly easily with his Chicken Tikka Kebabs which were awesome and freshly made Japatis (maybe how you spell it).

More drink and plenty of hours later we all got to bed and slept pretty well. The new underblanket made from 2 sleeping bags worked well. Nice n warm. Chris wants one made up now. Got the fire going again and had breakie before packing up. Getting everyone back across was interesting as it meant a single trip for me back across to pickup Chris. Took a bit of doing but good fun!

Now just need to replan in the proper trip.

How To Keep Warm in a Hammock

There’s a number of different options here and I can honestly say we’ve thought about, designed, and tried a fair few now. The difficult thing to decide is ‘what works best?’

As I see it there’s 3 choices;

1. Toughen up! (Not my favourite option)
2. A hammock underblanket of some sort
3. A roll mat

The underblanket and roll mats both have their pros and cons and depending on your weight/size restrictions they can range from sauna like to a bit chilly.

The roll mat is a simple solution and cheap, lightweight and reasonably easy to carry around. It doesn’t matter if it gets wet and is versatile. In the hammock it provides good insulation on the bottom of the hammock and as long as you’re lying on it you’ll be relatively warm. My first night in a hammock was on a single closed-cell foam mat. The biggest downside I found was that as it’s only a single mat you could easily slide off it through the night. The width of the hammock obviously being wider than the mat meant it moved around quite a bit and when you’re arms/torso came in contact with the outer hammock they soon got cold. I did try a double self inflating mat which was the same size as the full width of the hammock thinking it wouldn’t move around and could wrap round me better. In the centre of the hammock it worked great but at each end where it bunches together the width of the mat just made it pop out and became very annoying. Got up twice through the night to put it back in place. Maybe a double closed-cell foam mat cut to shape a bit would work, but I’m tired of trying mats and think there’s a better way.

Moving on to the underblanket which is a much more complex and far reaching option. As most of us with hammocks are doing so to reduce weight and bulk of our kit let’s set the criteria as aiming for the lightest option providing most warmth. Bear in mind I personally think this is the holy grail of ‘hammocking’ and it’s very difficult to achieve the ultimate in both at the same time.

Underblanket Mk1 was one Michael made which is a good 3/4 length underblanket in full DPM Gore-Tex material. It’s the one Chris used on our 2nd Kielder trip and did keep him warm down to around 0 degrees with the only downside of your feet get a bit cold and it’s pretty bulky. It has toggles at the centre on each side which can be tightened to lift the underblanket up which should make it warmer. The thing we’ve learned from this one was shock cord used all round the underblanket gives way too much stretch and it is difficult to get it to fit really snug against the sides of your hammock so looses a bit of warmth.

Mk2 was a simpler design using an old sleeping bag and down filling from a pillow. Another 3/4 length underblanket but this time made with little pockets of down which reduced the size considerably. The shape was also changed slightly on this one to try and fit closer around the hammock. Again though the limitation is the length and still not fitting brilliantly against the hammock with the shock cord.

In between Mk2 and Mk3 we experimented a little and made a full ‘pea pod’ system which was made from a very thin sleeping bag but as it was full length and sealed felt very warm. It must be said it hasn’t been tested overnight though. We’ve also bought some emergency blankets (the shiny foil kind) and were very surprised at the heat that radiated back in them. A fleece blanket was also tried in the bottom of the hammock, however just moved around and folded up too much to be of any use.

Mk3 underblanket is now almost finished, which started life a two  sleeping bags. Measuring approx. 190cm in length one full plus half of the other gives a full length underblanket for our 2.7m DD Camping Hammock. Stitched together and left in a basic rectangular shape to copy the shape of the hammock will hopefully mean that once each end is gathered it created a tight fit against the hammock sides. And at only 5cm narrow in width should cover all of the sleeping area. If it still gapes a bit we’re going to add small loops to the hammock sides and toggles along the underblanket which would hold it in place.

Mk4 is already in design with some additions to the Mk3 version. These being a windproof/waterproof cover for the outside with one of the emergency blankets stitched to the inside to give multiple layers from outer to inner of windproof/waterproof – heat reflector – insulation – warm air – hammock. Sounds like a winning combination to me! The plan is to also make this one with down filling for extra warmth while being able to compress more than synthetic materials.

 

With each underblanket revision we’ve learned some important things along the way; it needs to be well fitted against the hammock sides, full length is better than 3/4, down compresses more than synthetic, limited shock cord use provides more structure. Our solutions are getting smaller and more compact each time as we find new and more effective ways to add warmth without the bulk. Will be back with photos of Mk3 and Mk4 when they’re finished and a review of what works and what doesn’t with… One thing being certain, we’ll be testing these properly in May on the canoe trip.

Carving a Spoon (First Attempt)

Got some logs from my sister at the weekend as she's cleared out her garden and found one that was the perfect shape I'd seen Ray Mears carve in to a wooden spoon. Had the slight bend in it and everything... PERFECT! So I figured what the hell, I've always wanted to try making one even with little or no experience or knowledge carving anything meaningful.

Step 1
Split the log to get a rough thickness for the spoon using the axe, didn't take too long really and was suprisingly easy. Once it got down to kind of the right thickness I just placed the axe on the top of the log and hit it with another as let's face it, my skill with an axe isn't great.

Step 2
Once I got the thickness right I went about making a rough shape, and after a few markers to see where the spoon was, I started chipping bits away with the axe again. It's a very relaxing thing to do on a Sunday morning sitting in the sun! Once it was getting close to 'spoon-shape' I got the knife out.

Step 3
Carving the last bit out of what started as a big chunk of wood to make a spoon was a very satisfying moment. Granted the knife wasn't the sharpest in the world so it meant a few wild bits which needed correcting, but I definitely got better even just in the short time it took to carve this.

Still needs finishing off, however the little one needed to have his nap and I found the importance of a Crook Knife for making the bowl part of a spoon! Need one of those to properly finish it. But even as it stands now it is a spoon, and it used to be a log! I'm fairly impressed!! :o)

The Camping Gadgets

As soon as I saw the title of John's last post I assumed it was a pop at my impulsive ways ( He is absolutely right though) but he has given me some idea's if nothing else. I seem to be gathering quite a collection of impulse buys some good, some bad which I am sure most of which will end up on Ebay at some point. So as we have had a few comments on the blog I might as well share what we like and don't like plus some of my bargain hunting skills as people are obviously reading it. So tonight's subject will be lighting ! by the way we have no links to any of the manufacturers so these are just my personal views ( however if any of the manufacturers are reading this we are open to any donations especially for a future project in a couple of years when John is 30 and I am 40 )

To date we have

2 Mini LED lanterns - These were about £2 each off ebay , I cant remember the brand (silver something) , They run for 25 hours from 2 CR2032 watch batteries , Maplin sell them for £4.99 each ( prod code A51FJ). These are tiny and great for hanging up inside the hammocks- Definitely one to keep

Single LED head torch - Came from Decathlon for about £5 , Good battery life, simple but a bit cheap and heavy but something to keep until it gets lost/stood on/ breaks on its own

Zebralight H30-Q5 head torch - Fantastic high quality light with a CREE LED and 3 output settings , high 80 lumens- 2.5 hours, med 20 lumens-21 hours, low 4 lumens - 3.7 days all from a single CR123 battery only problem with this one is the power button must have been hit in my bag so the battery only lasted about 20 seconds when i came to use it so will have to be more careful next time - This was direct from Hong Kong (when the pound was actually worth something) - If i come to use it again and the battery is flat from the button getting hit its going on ebay

Ultrafire WF-500- This is supposed to have a 500 lumen output from 2 weird 18500 batteries. This was a replacement for the 6 D Cell maglight i used to keep in the car , I got this from dealextreme in HK for less than it would cost to replace the 6 D cells in the maglight. Its bright with quite a wide beam but not exceptional given the weight - One to leave in the car I think

Fenix P1 CREE edition - Another bargain light as it was discontinued stock, Runs from a single CR123 battery and its absolutely fantastic and at only 90 lumens feels as powerful as the Ultrafire just not as wide angle. I got the diffuser that fits on the end which looks like some sort of glowing sex aid so it has been affectionately named the "probeulator" that aside its one to definitely hang on to especially as its only about the size of a cigarette lighter

Coleman F1 Lantern - This runs on the same propane cartridges as the stoves , Its ultralight and looks pretty robust ( I do carry a couple of spare mantles just in case) the down size of this is having to carry the gas to run it. As we have not figured out exactly how much gas we need to carry to cook we dont want to sacrifice warm food for campside mood lighting so unfortunately thats probably one for Ebay. Great light just we are not that organised

Coleman dual fuel dual mantle petrol lamp- This was a definite impulse buy as it was in the bargin bin at my local caravan shop. Running these and the coleman stoves on unleaded petrol makes them burn dirty and the coleman fuel is expensive to I bought a 5lt tub of Aspen 4T synthetic petrol from a garden machinery supplier which is the best of both worlds. Very heavy in comparison to the other lights but by far the cheapest to run - We used this in Kielder last time and it works great , I just wouldnt want to carry it any distance. Another one to keep for car camping with the kids or in case we have a power cut

I believe there is a battery lantern in the house somewhere , but as i am too tight to keep buying batteries for it , it will be staying there. I guess I should find it really as it wont be much use if we do ever have a power cut

One final note - John and I follow the "leave no trace" idea, not that we are fanatical we just dont deliberately damage something and carry all our rubbish out with us, it was disappointing to find that someone had recently been to a location close to us in Kielder and left plastic knifes and forks and foil ration pack wrappers all over the ground. When we camped at loch lochy it was a similar story with litter all over the place and while there was plenty of fire wood around live trees had been ripped apart and partially burnt - We spend most of the evening tidying up other peoples mess. You would think the type of people who would camp at these places would have a passion for the outdoors and leave the site tidy

http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php

Something to think about

The Gadget Camper

It occurred to me that as we’re trying to cut down on weight and necessity for the next canoe trip we’ve ended up picking up some rather ‘gadgety’ stuff along the way. Take our collection of torches and lighting equipment that began as with single bulb hand torches to LED head torches, 5 LED torches, mini LED lanterns, light diffusers and a petrol lantern!

We’ve got sporks and multi-tools at our disposal, foldaway BBQ grills, toastie makers, enough ropes and cords to string up a radio mast with some of them being ‘unbreakable’ and on 1mm thick! A mobile with extended battery to post blogs from the middle of nowhere.

Obviously some of these (OK most of these) aren’t all needed on a 3 day camping trip. But if we wanted to just how gadgety could we go…

 

With the “threat” of “global warming” Solar Power is big on the gadget front. You can get a Solar Powered Torch which begs the question if there’s solar power available why use the torch! An Insect Killer, all the standard chargers for mobiles/iPods etc. A personal fav, the Solar Powered Wind Turbine which again prompts some questions about the design – solar power powering a wind turbine? Hrmm, why not simplify the design and just have a wind turbine! How about for those moments in the sun when all you need is a nice Cappucino, a Solar Powered Milk Frother! And what better than a nice warm Solar Shower in the morning.

Moving slightly further away from simple gadgets and in to a whole other level; we’ve got a concept of a Jacket/Backpack/Tent combo. Not to be outdone, the Tent industry already have a ‘2 Second Pitch’ tent (which we have I might add). Hah, you thought I’d stop there… introducing the Doberman Infrared Perimeter Protector (in Blue) which protects up to 4.5 meters around your tent via InfraRed beam sounding a 100dB alarm if broken!

Still not satisfied… try a SelkBag on for size, or the Bikamper, or if camp cooking isn’t you’re thing then the Wavebox Battery Powered Microwave. Keep safe and know where you are at all times with the Garmin Oregon 400t with full 3D mapping, topographic, altimeter, digital compass and even a picture viewer! But that’s just boring compared to the Spot GPS that pinpoints your location on Google Maps at the push of a button or every 15 minutes to allow others to track where you are (scary!) or request emergency assistance.

There’s an enormous collection of stuff that is pretty cool but not really necessary.  But I think the best and probably cheapest of them all is this – CLICK TO FIND OUT!

Another cold one in Kielder

We made it back after a successful night even if it was a little cold (actually, make that a lot cold). Our options for keeping warm certainly seemed to be an improvement on the last time, and Chris' first night hammocking went pretty well.

Got up there about 5ish and setup camp in the same spot as last time, Michael's Hennessey Hammock was very quick n easy to put up - just two knots either end and the hammock and tarp all pitched together. Got mine and Chris' tarps up to give us plenty coverage to sit under for food and get our hammocks in. Nice little crossover of tarps with some architechtural precision to get any water to run off away from our heads! With the tarps up and sleeping bags all sorted we settled down for tea.

'Mam' (aka Michael) had a lovely chilli pasta and meatballs prepared in no time which definitely hit the spot. Followed down by MOD Fruit Dumplings (Me) and Choc Sponge (Michael) finished off a cracking tea. Oh yeah; and some JD n Coke, more JD n Coke (minus the Coke), and some bottles of Bud that Michael and Chris drove out to Kielder to get!!

Decided around 10ish to call it a night partly because it was getting fairly cold and partly because we'd got sick of each other... lol. We all slept OK, Michael doing the best with a 12-6am stint. The underblankets and double sleeping mat worked well although the mat still kept moving around and the double was a bit too big once it got down to it. The underblanket is the way to go I think but some slight adjustments to be made to finish them off. Designs are being drawn up for Mk3.

Up at 6:30 the next day to a sunny morning, temp reading on the car showing 1.5 degrees at 7am so we think it got close to freezing point early morning! Brrrrrr. Couple of Croissants for breakie then packed up our stuff for home. All in all a good night camping. Can't wait to try it in the summer though!

Kielder II : This time it’s personal…

What is it about us planning a night camping at Kielder and it being VERY cold!!! Current weather forecast for Friday reckons a high of 12 degrees (fairly pleasant really) but a low of 0 degrees which is going to make for a pretty chilly night!

Michael has, well done what he does best and impulse bought a Hennessey Hammock off eBay. In fairness though it was a cracking deal. So now Chris has his old one meaning we’re all kitted out for wild camping!

The plan for keeping warm this time (after learning from our last trip to Kielder) is;

Michael: His homemade sleeping bag/cocoon style cover which is actually really warm in testing.

Me: My nice new (rather large) double sleeping mat which should stop me rolling off it through the night.

Chris: Being new going for the most experimental option of a single sleeping mat and a fleece blanket (hrm… we’ll see!).

The ration packs are back out in an attempt to prove to Chris that the Fruit Dumplings with Custard are just about 5 star standard (possibly… they are nice though!).

No doubt there’ll be another blog up here soon about what went wrong or how cold we all were! Toughen us up ready for what Scotland Highlands has to offer. Not long now…

Trip 2 Map – Laggan to Fort Augustus

Click on the map to see a bigger version…

Day 1: Laggan to Oich Island. (4.5 miles)

Day 2: Staying on the island; bit of fishing, making some stew, and generally messing about!

Day 3: Oich Island to Kytra Lock (4 miles)

Day 4: Kytra Lock to Fort Augustus (2 miles)

The Planning Begins…

As expected, we’ve started planning and thinking about the year’s canoe and camping trips; with a 4 day weekend scheduled in for end of May (even Chris is coming along this time), a nights camping out somewhere to let Chris have his first night in a hammock and me and Michael to get back in to the swing of it, and trying to fit in a day or two messing about in the canoe at the QE2 lake.

For the canoe trip, we’re doing it a bit different this time. As there’s three of us and only one canoe (and Michael feels like doing some of it on his bike) we’re taking that up too. One person rides ahead with most of the kit in the kids trolley, other two paddle up to the camp site. Means we don’t have to take two cars all the way up, don’t have to worry about getting to a certain point and most importantly – don’t have to carry all the kit in the canoe! Light n Fast!! Aiming to get up to the bottom of Loch Ness which is only about 10 miles from Laggan, so nice easy one with plenty of time for messing about and enjoying the trip.

Goals for the trip;

1. Get used to hammocks
2. Generally mess about a bit more – hammocks, tarps, fires etc.
3. Make some bannock

It’s that time of year again……

Well it’s getting close at least; the weather is starting to look a bit warmer, the skies a bit kinder but I doubt the water in the Caledonian Canal is much warmer!! Certainly doesn’t look very warm.

But plans are definitely back in the forefront of our minds about when to go next. Should we head straight for Laggan and set off from our last stop? Going up to the bottom of Loch Ness in a nice gentle 2-3 day paddle… Give us plenty of time to settle back in, get used to the hammocks and hopefully stay a bit warmer than the Kielder trip! Or maybe we take things a little easier and ease back in with a couple of camping / bushcrafty type trips just over the border.

April sounds like a nice time of year for either, yeah.. April sounds warm!