Loch Shiel Canoe Circuit Day 6 - Last Day

Final Strava activity:   / strava  

For the whole trip…

Total distance paddled: approx. 40 miles (64 km)
Date: May 2023

Start point: Glenfinnan Jetty (NM 90122 80481) having left the van/car at Loch Ailort Station and caught the train back to Glenfinnan.

End point: Old Jetty (NM 75740 82402) then it was less than a mile walk to the station to collect the van.

Canoe: Old Town Discovery 158 (2006)
Tent: Vaude Mark II

We were lucky with the weather the only things we had to watch for were tides.
The exit from the River Shiel into Loch Moidart and the sea is not really safe to paddle (at least in loaded open boats) at low tide. But the portage is straightforward.
The ford in the North Channel of Loch Moidart between the mainland and Shona Beag is fine at high tide but will require a portage at low tide.
It’s much easier to head up Loch Ailort with the tide, especially where it narrows.

We were happy that we would be able to scope out the River Shiel into Loch Moidart and North Channel into the sea before committing and had planned contingency escape routes. These would have relied on public transport to get back to the van.

Generally we had no problem finding wild camping spots, but the stretch between the end of Loch Shiel, down the River Shiel to the coast didn’t look promising.

At most camp spots along Loch Shiel we found plenty of drift/fallen wood for fires. If there were no previous signs of fire or fire pits we dug our own and left no trace on leaving.

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