Great Glen Canoe Trip: Page 3
Day 3.
In spite of the midges, we all slept peacefully and after waking and getting packed, we were away on the water by 9 am and heading towards the lock at the end of Loch Lochy. We portaged around the lock then paddled along a short canal into Loch Oich which is quite short but has beautiful scenic views of the mountains on the way down.
At the swing bridge at the end of the loch there are 2 journey choices, either to continue down the canal or following the River Oich which contains rocks and rapids. Robin cast his expert eye over the level and determined it to be high enough to go down the river, so we shot over the weir and were soon carried by the river at a good speed. Just before our camping spot we negotiated a fast flowing rapid that demanded use of all those steering skills we had practiced during the previous months. We spent the night on a grassy area right by the river which seemed to have many less midges than the previous night. The canal runs very close by and we and had the odd experience of seeing yacht masts passing the along the canal above the opposite high bank. We were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the river bubbling away downstream.
