60 Miles Across Scotland | Photography, Camping & Kayaking

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another video and welcome to the Great Glen Canoe Trail. The Great Glen Canoe Trail carves 60 miles through Scotland combining the natural locks of Loch Lochy, Loch Oig and the mighty Loch Ness with sections of the man-made Caledonian Canal. My route begins at Neptune's Staircase just outside Fort William and will end on the east coast at Inverness, if we make it. Right now the winds are blowing from the west which will push us along, however if the wind turns we could be in big trouble. I knew this trip was weather dependent, but this is ridiculous. Join me as I paddle, camp and photograph this incredible journey. Welcome to the Great Glen Canoe Trail. This journey could take as long as five days so I need to make sure that I have enough suppliers to see me through that time as we will be wild camping along the way and I won't be doing this alone. I'll be doing this with my good friend Murray from Scotland's Mountains YouTube channel. Well this is just lovely. We begin our paddling in the canal system which is nice and sheltered but I thought I would give you a weather forecast because this trip is so unbelievably weather dependent that if the wind blows from the wrong direction it can cancel the entire trip and that would be a great shame. Now today is probably the worst day. It's forecast to be gusting up to 30 mile an hour winds and it's raining. At the minute we've had a bit of drizzle, nothing too bad and there are gusts of wind but thankfully those are coming from the west so they're coming behind us and actually blowing us in the direction we need to go. For tomorrow, the day after and the following day things begin to improve considerably. Now by the end of day four a nasty weather front will move in so basically if we don't make this trip in four days there's a chance that at the very end we could get scuppered by a nasty storm. I'm not too sure. We'll have to see but for now it's okay. The things are set to improve. You don't want to get in the way of that boat. That would be a premature end to the trip. The thing with this canoe trail is that there are a lot of portages where you've got to drag your kayak out of the water, walk it several hundred yards around an obstacle and then put it back in the water and this gets tiresome after a while. So the reason we have to portage is because there's a series of locks and we're not really allowed to go through those so we have to take our kayaks out of the water and walk them around the locks and when we go around this lock we'll drop back into the canal but then we're very close to Lockie. Now don't be confused by lock and lock. One is a gate that changes the water level, L-O-C-K. The other is a Scottish lock, L-O-C-H. Anyway I think it's time for lunch. Well it's grim, it's really grim. Yeah as luck would have it as soon as we sat down for lunch the heavens opened and the rain started blowing in sideways. It was truly miserable and to add insult to injury the midges came out just as we were trying to wrestle our kayaks back into the water. Look at the midges! All good, just got a wet hand, nearly rolled over. Let's get away from these biting insects. Oh check this out, looks like we have some sort of old boat wreck. So legend has it this boat was taken out by the Loch Ness monster, dragged under the whole crew, savaged, eaten, eaten alive and then the carcass of the ship bobbed to the surface, drifted and found itself on Loch Lockie just a few miles from the famous Loch Ness. Allegedly. Yeah hopefully I won't get the Loch Ness monster's lawyers coming after me for that one but despite the miserable rain and the midges earlier on things are improving dramatically and we have a beautiful late afternoon paddle across Loch Lockie. But soon it would be time to settle down for the evening and find a campsite. Now it's not much, just a small spit of sand but this would be our home for the evening. Did you see that three military helicopters flying right over our camp? That was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Camp by the way is flipping brilliant, a bit of a breeze, midges aren't too bad, a couple of nice spots for our tents. Yeah this is great, we'll get a fire going now I think then start to unwind for the evening. Shelter, water and fire they say are the most important things in any survival situation. Well yeah it's a good job that this is not a survival situation, I think this stick was getting the better of me. Well wood gathering skills aside we did manage to get a nice fire going, we have filtered water and I was able to set up my shelter for the evening. So far things are going pretty good. Well that is me settled in for the evening, my tent is set up behind me back there away from the water's edge. It's a lot of midges over there which isn't great but I'll be in the tent so it's fine. Out here on the edge of the lock we have a fire, there's a bit of a breeze so the midges are really not that bad. I didn't want to put my tent here because I'm paranoid about the water level rising like Murray who's pitched all of two feet from the edge of the lock but I'm sure it'll be fine. So that's it, we're gonna sit back, relax, have some dinner, enjoy the fire. Yeah it's been a good day today, a bit tough but I mean look at this man, it's just breathtaking. So I've been looking over the statistics for today. I think we were paddling for six hours but we stopped for lunch so probably five hours 45 minutes there or thereabouts sorry five hours 15 minutes and we've covered 13 miles. That's pretty good going, that's more than enough for each day if we're to make it before the bad weather sets in in about four days time. As it stands at the minute we have an improving weather forecast. So today's been lovely, most mostly. When we had lunch it was horrendous, I couldn't believe it. We got so wet it was unbelievable but now and certainly the last two hours of paddling has been glorious. So I'm gonna sit back, relax, eat my food, hopefully get a good night's sleep and we will see what tomorrow brings. On the morning of day two as we left camp we were faced with nothing but glorious paddling conditions. Our goal for today was to paddle around 20 miles and make it to the start of Loch Ness. But actually on this journey one thing has surprised me more than anything and that is that we haven't seen anybody else. There are no other paddlers on this Great Glen canoe trail until I saw something unusual on the shore of Loch Lochy, something that looked like another group of paddlers. Have a look at this, I thought somebody else was doing the Great Glen canoe trail and camping on this beach and I'm looking at this canoe and I'm thinking hey that's an unusual looking canoe and I was like oh my god they've got a dog with them as well, look how well behaved the dog is sat in that canoe. It's actually a sculpture, oh this is cool. Ah there you go, little surprises along the Great Glen canoe trail. Look at this though, oh I tell you what we could have camped here last night. Look at this, ah man, if we'd have only paddled another 15 minutes down the loch we could have had that campsite. Have you seen this campsite? It's got a lean-to shelter and fire pit and everything. Well as much as I was impressed by that Trailblazers campsite halfway up Loch Lochy, we still had a lot of ground to cover. So we have now reached the end of Loch Lochy, we have this small canal system and then we do a portage, probably have lunch and then we're into Loch Oik which I believe is the smallest of the three lochs. Well this is just beautiful as we've come to the end of Loch Lochy we've rounded into the marina area but there's this beautiful, I don't know, it's almost like a wildlife sanctuary. The whole place just feels amazing so I'm gonna try, oh no, I was gonna say I'm gonna try get out the 400mm lens and see if we can get some nice shots. There's definitely some wildlife shots to be had. So I haven't practiced this yet, it could be a case of losing thousands of pounds worth of camera gear in the water, I hope not. Hang on, I'm gonna have to move you to access my stuff. Okay, success. Well, success in getting the camera out. Can we get a nice photograph? Well that remains to be seen, let's have a look here. So I've got an oyster catcher and he's just stood there, he's not bothered by me. The great thing about photography from a kayak is you're at eye level more or less with the wildlife. Well I have to say it was really nice to break out the camera but before too long we had another portage, then more paddling down the canal system before finally entering into Loch Oik where we would stop for a well-earned break. Well that was just lovely, a bit of fishing, obviously no fish, a nice coffee but soon we would have to continue on our journey. But it wouldn't be long before coming across our next victim of the Loch Ness Monster. Well look at this, the second big boat wreck on this journey. This one looks a lot more intact than the last one. Oh it's really cool, it's been here for some time. It looks like nature has taken over but I thought let's have a look inside because there's a window opening here. I reckon if I could just... what have we got? Yeah, looks like it was a lovely vessel at one point in time. I think another victim to the Loch Ness Monster as she traverses the three locks of the Great Glen Canoe Trail. Allegedly, allegedly. Anyway it was time to continue paddling up Loch Oik towards Loch Ness and I thought it would be a great idea to get some cool b-roll of Murray paddling past this marine marker. I ran aground. Good job, this is a tough kayak. Yeah, that didn't work out too well. Well there was me trying to get some nice b-roll of Murray as we go past this marker behind us and I just ran aground, just sat on some rocks, thought that was game over. Anyway, we have reached the top of Loch Oik. Now at the top of the lock it splits off. We can either go left which is a river where there are some rapids which I'll admit I'm so tempted by. I really fancy it but my kayak is fully laden, it's heavy and yeah I've never done rapids before so I probably don't want to do it in a fully loaded kayak with tons of camera gear so we'll give that a miss. To the right is the canal. They both go the same way, obviously one will be quicker than the other so we're going to take the nice easy relaxed route and do the canal rather than the river. But yeah it would be nice one day to come and get on some faster water. Yeah, anyway not too far till Loch Ness, although we do have three portages before then. Each portage could take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour, load the kayak out of the water, attach the trolleys, drag the kayak down the footpath, remove the trolley, put it back on the kayak, get back in the kayak, rinse and repeat. It was a real pain and added significant time to our journey but it's worth it for those glorious moments like this one. So there is an old boat wreck, another one, except sitting on this rusty old boat wreck is a harem and I'll tell you what if we can just get a bit closer without spooking it it'll make a cracking photograph. Come on mate, lift your head up. 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So if you fancy giving that a go go to squarespace.com forward slash heaton you get a free trial and if you like that free trial use the offer code HEATON for 10% off your first purchase. Well after some more paddling on the glorious canal system it wasn't long before we reached Fort Augustus and although we had some delicious packed lunches the temptation for fish and chips well that was just far too high. After a delightful fish and chips we are now at the beginning of Loch Ness but don't worry it's quite light we're not going to go far we think there are some beaches out and around to the right no more than five minutes away and that is where we're hoping to camp tonight. Not quite the grand entrance into Loch Ness I was hoping for it's so shallow I'm completely beached come on. Murray to the rescue give us a push come on bit more bit more oh bit more oh I can feel the rocks underneath me yes yes come on come on come on I'll tell you what this is a this is a tough old kayak this any other boat would have a hole in the hull oh there we go there we go we're away welcome everybody to Loch Ness so just a five minute if that three minute paddle from where we launched at Fort Augustus and I reckon that this is our campsite so this is my new sleeping pad it's the Alp Kit Whisper yeah it's great it's really comfortable nice and warm really big comes with a pump sack although it's a really small pump sack takes forever to blow it up but better than doing it by mouth and it was only about 70 odd quid like 75 maybe 79 pounds and I thought it was great value for money and if you're wondering I do have a bigger pump sack but for some reason the valve keeps pinging off every time I apply pressure but normally that pump sack will do it in three fills whereas this is about 13 or 14 fill I'm talking about pump sacks man I'm tired I need to go to sleep well that is camp set up right at the top end or the bottom end I should say of Loch Ness camps not the best my tent uh the ground was very loose and also very hard at the same time so like this much gravel and then rock solid underneath so I couldn't get pegs in so I made these big mounds of pebbles to try and hold the pegs into place yeah should be all right as long as no hurricanes blow through but to be honest everything seems to be calming down right now which is fantastic uh let's go over some statistics of what we did today I am absolutely wiped out I am done I am done absolutely done all I want to do is maybe have a cup of tea and then go to bed I'm exhausted but let's see why I'm exhausted uh so today uh we left camp this morning about 10 and a half hours ago and we've covered 18.17 miles that's a long way when kayaking I don't think it's as physically tolling as walking but it's definitely hard work you definitely use muscles that you don't use every day so oh feeling tired feeling stiff but ultimately having a great time camping by a lock a little bit of photography sleeping in a tent paddling all day it is a lot of fun but I'm looking over there I'm looking behind camera it's it's never-ending Loch Ness is huge well over 20 miles I've got to get that done we have two days to do it but it's going to be a long hard slog yeah it's going to be great so I'll catch up with you tomorrow what a beautiful morning might need to borrow this tripod it's gorgeous well it's currently about 20 past four in the morning I couldn't resist waking up for a sunrise shoot here at the bottom of Loch Ness the light is gorgeous there's not a breath of wind it's driftwood in the foreground placed there by the hands of the photography gods almost almost too perfect it almost makes the challenge of paddling this stretch of water palatable we'll see ah what a view what a view to wake up to it's nice to take the time and enjoy a bit of photography well what a beautiful start to the beginning of day three calm winds mirror-like reflections and beautiful warm sunshine this is most unusual for Scotland would it last yeah I think we both know the answer to this question okay another day another lock so far on this journey the weather has been on our side however today that was set to change the forecast is predicting at 6 p.m a complete 180 turn in the wind from a gentle westerly to a strong north easterly and for kayaking up Loch Ness that would be a complete disaster oh the wind has dropped that's not good that's not the wind dropping that's the wind turning oh we still have a long way to go oh can you feel that wind there it is ladies and gentlemen you are witnessing the turning of the wind just like that look it's cocking my boat we're spinning ah that is coming right from the northeast that was it in a second in a second things have changed things are difficult now we've had easy for several days now we have a real challenge on our hands at least for the last section of the lock at least we've covered huge distances today so that's good now I need to get my energy up I'm going the wrong way ma'am I'm blowing back that way no I can't turn come on oh that is blowing hard oh man we need to get to shore in the hope of finding some shelter oh I can't straighten the boat come on we're not we're not moving how could it turn so bad in the space of two minutes wow incredible and it's early as well this wasn't forecast until about 6 p.m it's currently about 4 30 p.m I knew this trip was weather dependent but this ah it's ridiculous wow wow I videoed the whole thing went from yeah went from a tailwind to zero and then to a headwind of 20 in about a minute and a half I was filming the whole thing it's like oh it's the wind stopped oh wait a minute oh the wind's turned and then bang just bless us carry on stay close to shore and see if we get on so you can probably see we're sticking really close to the shore the waves are big man they're coming over the front of the kayak but luckily they're head on so the kayak's really stable if they were coming from the side I would be concerned I don't have my spray deck on either I decided I didn't need it on such a glorious whoa hot sunny day yeah getting wet legs now I could probably do with it but it's buried right right at the bottom of my kayak so we'll just have to put up with it until we decide to stop oh this is miserable though you gotta paddle four times as hard for about one-fifth of the gains well as usual the difficulties of something like this don't come across on camera but we paddled hard for over an hour and a half maybe two hours before finally making it to a suitable campsite and as you can see I can barely stand up let alone paddle another 20 yards man I was exhausted oh well what a couple of hours it's been man I am exhausted I'm in so much pain I've had to paddle so hard into that wind and the waves I'm soaking wet through I'm freezing cold I'm tired and aching as I already mentioned so we're at a spot now this will be our camp for the evening we're pretty much give or take a kilometre or two at the top of Loch Ness so even if the winds continue all we have to do is just get to the canal which is not very far that way and then we're set so we'll rest for tonight make camp and make a plan for tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow we'll be finishing it that was by far the toughest day so far not only because of the headwinds but because of the monotonous stretch of Loch Ness 20 miles of almost no variety and you can see we still haven't reached the very end of Loch Ness but for now I think it's time to get some food well camp is all set up the tent's not too bad it's a bit uneven and I've used rocks to pitch it but it seems pretty solid I've got myself a cup of tea and barbecued pulled pork with added couscous and I don't know if you can see that a boiled egg so that's dinner for tonight I think we'll eat this relax probably get a fire going and just try and rest up because as I mentioned a thousand times already I was really tough going really tough going and yeah I've uh I've got no energy left so we'll sit back and rest I think I tell you what though a bit windy but it's a beautiful spot and actually that wind keeps the midges away so it's all right it's all right what about you Murray hang on look there wipe the uh slavers away from my mouth yeah what a day yeah it was um it was tough going and it was I know we've probably you've probably talked about this but the quickness of how that wind changed it was within I would say 30 seconds yeah and within a minute and a half it was a full-blown waves I mean there were there were insignificant waves as well they were they were over the front of my boat yeah yeah yeah glad to be at camp yeah definitely glad to be at camp yeah no exaggeration I mean you all saw it on camera how quickly things changed can you imagine if either a that happened half a mile into the trail oh bit right there or b it happened when we were in the middle of the lock that's why you tend to stick to the shorelines in case things change and well did they change I think they did anyway I'll catch up with you guys later on after I've eaten my egg pork and couscous one of the delights of a trip like this is at the end of a long hard day you get to sit down with a beautiful view get a campfire going and enjoy a nice whiskey and relive the activities of the day all right guys well that is me in the tent I am absolutely exhausted it's like uh it's getting to me these long days man it's been a lot of fun though it's a lovely evening now the wind's dropped hopefully it stays that way and tomorrow morning is easy paddling this tent's not too bad as well I was very quick to say how much I didn't like it in my sort of packing video last week but you know what it's been all right there's been zero condensation and the size is fine because all my stuff is out in the kayak so don't need to stress it's uh it's all right my feet do touch the end as you can see there but yeah generally speaking I could shuffle this way a bit more couldn't I yeah my feet are still touching the end I'm sure you don't want to see my feet anyway it's uh 10 past 10 but it's June the 20th which is basically the summer solstice I think this is the official summer solstice that's not the official but the summer solstice I think is tomorrow June 21st and up here in Scotland especially as far north as we are at the top of Loch Ness it's not getting dark so um yeah it's pretty much broad daylight but I'm so tired that won't matter and I will get a good night's sleep anyway last day tomorrow and it should be a nice simple one half day finishing in Inverness so I'll see you guys in the morning last day today last day all right we're ready we're set for the last leg of what has been an absolutely epic journey so after a short paddle across the bay we are finally at the top of Loch Ness look at that man you can't can't even see the end over 20 miles in that direction is where we started yesterday morning wow what a paddle that was it was huge when you start Loch Ness you think there's no way it's so long I remember last week when we were driving alongside Loch Ness and it was just never ending I thought there's no way we can paddle this and then when the wind hit yesterday I thought there's no way if this wind continues we're not getting to the end of this luckily we pushed on made camp as you can see now the wind has stopped allowing us to to the canal system and then finally Inverness which will be the end that was tough that was tough really tough paddle but equally as enjoyable so as we approach the end of Loch Ness and begin the final push into Inverness and the finish line if you've made it this far in the video thank you so much for watching and it's a huge help if you can just give this video a like leave a comment and engage with the video and if you're not a subscriber please do consider subscribing for more content not too dissimilar to this I would say a bit more photography focus but always having an outdoor adventure now as we leave Loch Ness behind we start to enter the busy urban city of Inverness with road noise low bridges oh no oh no and busy waterways and with the end in sight it's incredible to reflect on how far we've come and the journey that we've just undertaken bear in mind neither of us are experienced paddlers oh collision and I certainly have never done more than about a mile in my kayak so this was a real achievement well done so there we go ladies and gentlemen we have come to the end of the road or rather the end of the canal today 10.3 miles so a nice easy one three and a half days to complete the great glen canoe trail thank you what an adventure it's been although saying that we still have 100 meters to go so it's going to be 150 meters by the time we finish this bit of the camera because we're drifting yeah all right come on let's get it done let's go oh and by the way guys make sure you check out Murray's YouTube channel I will link to it in the description below Scotland's Mountains he should release his version of this trip in about four years time and there we go thank you guys so much for watching and as usual if you enjoyed the video I can't get to the pontoon if you enjoyed the video uh give it a like and if you're not a subscriber please subscribe and check out my books and prints in the description below and of course my photography community the 617 club all right actually guys looks like we've got another hour come on there we go this video will end as soon as I latch onto this pontoon there we go cheers for watching guys and I will see you all next time cheers bye bye