Kinlochleven day trip #1 to Corran Ferry by Stan van den Berg
Day 1: April 15, 2022.
We were staying in the Blackwater Hostel in Kinlochleven; the LCC occupied the entire hostel with about 30 persons. This was a few minute’s walk from the village with a Coop and a few pub restaurants. The village was at the tip of the loch, and it was about half a mile walk to get to a suitable point where one could launch kayaks and paddle down Loch Leven. We didn’t actually do this and had some lovely day trips starting from elsewhere. A paddle down loch Leven may be of interest for a future occasion with too much wind for instance.
We drove from Kinlochleven to Corran Ferry, parking just off the Ferry slipway. We launched from a stony beach at around 10:30. Tide was at its lowest (around 1 m of a 4 m tidal range) at 12:30, and the water showed a rather strong current to the southwest when we were launching because this was a narrow part of the loch. This took us quickly into the wider loch where the current was much weaker.
We paddled a couple of hours until we made a lunch stop on a rather good pebbly beach at around low water. We then continued a bit further towards the SW until we turned around and paddled back. We had at that point both the wind and the current to help us so we made good time back.
We made a good distance of around 12.5 miles.
I much appreciated the assistance of several persons with carrying of my kayak because I had developed an issue with my knee (cartilage issues): fortunately it did not affect my kayaking.
The trip was led by Ian Bell.
Click for more photographs of the Trip……..
I will put some pictures of the day below showing the amazing views of the mountains around the loch.
