How to portage in Scotland – drag the bloody canoe across the heather
Portaging between the lochs shouldn’t have been such an issue for us since we had done plenty of nasty ones while canoe tripping in northern Ontario. But the 2 kilometer carry between Loch Sionasgaig and Loch Veyatie was brutal. It took us over 4 hours to make our way between two mountain peaks. And it was all up hill except for the last 100 meters. The Scotland canoe guide promotes the route going in the opposite direction, which sounded like a much easier idea. Problem was, our direction of travel en route meant the prevailing winds on the lochs were with us and in retrospect I’d rather deal with hauling up hill on a portage than paddling into the major winds and waves that form on the lochs.
At the time, however, I cursed our up hill endeavor, mostly due to the canoe. It seemed easy enough. The Scottish way to portage a canoe is to drag it across bog and heather with a harness, not lift it and carry it over your head. However, I ended up lifting and carrying the 85 pound canoe most of the way. I’m not sure whether it was due to me being completely out of shape (normal for me during the first trip of the season) or that the pain of hauling the heavy weighted canoe was new to me and the suffering of carrying it over my head was not. Whatever the reason, I was completely exhausted when we reached the other side – where it happened to pour down rain on us, forcing us to make an emergency bush camp to get us warm and dry.
On a positive note, that day on the portage will be forged in my memory forever. My six year old daughter, Kyla, was absolutely amazing during the exhausting event. Alana (my wife) and I had to return to the take-out for a second load when we had reached the half way point and Kyla was in no mood for a return trip. So I gave her the option of sitting on top of the overturned canoe, wearing her bug jacket to protect her from the nasty midges, and wait for our return. She agreed. This may sound like an absurd thing for a parent to do – leave your child alone along a remote wilderness mountain path. But there’s nothing in Scotland that could actually harm her. Seriously. Bears are an important issue in northern Ontario; but except for the rare chance of a golden eagle flying off with her, there’s no main predators in the Scotland Highlands.
Alana and I still felt uncomfortable leaving Kyla, however. So we rushed our return trip somewhat. And as we approached we heard what sounded like Kyla crying. Alana and I immediately dropped our packs and ran to her aid, only to find that she wasn’t crying – she was singing and dancing a Scottish Highland jig in the heather, having the time of her life. What an amazing child.
The emergency camp also ended up being an incredible place as well. We were seriously chilled from having sweated on the portage and then soaked to the bone with a heavy, cold rain. Kyla was shivering, so we crawled into the tarp section of the tent and all of us changed into dry cloths and snuggled into our sleeping bags to enjoy an hour’s nap. When we awoke and crawled back out of the tent, the mist and rain had lifted and we could then take notice of the landscape surrounding the camp. What an astonishing backdrop of mountains and majestic waterfalls tumbling down from the peaks. A total of three golden eagles soared high above and on a nearby cliff face a rare gyre-falcon nested.
It didn’t take long for the pain of the portage to fade. And that night we sipped on hot chocolate and cooked smores over the flames of the Kelly Kettle, enjoying our wild surroundings in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.
