The finishing bell at the end of the round, in Loch Ailort.

Beyond the narrows in Loch Ailort we paddled directly below the steep slopes of Roshven (Rois-Bheinn 878m). The clouds had started to gather again and the wind became increasingly gusty culminating...

 ...in some heavy downpours...

 ...that swept through the wild Highland landscape of the loch before...

 

...the wind died away and...

 ...the mountain sides were dappled by an occasional blink of sun. Despite it being well past local low water, the tide was still ebbing strongly through the Eilean Dubh islands.

At last the public slipway and pier at the head of Loch Ailort came into view. Our near complete circumnavigation of the lands of Moidard was nearly over but there was a final sting in the tail...

 ...It was spring low water on one of the biggest tides of the year. The slipway was high and dry so we...

 ...had to manhandle the boats up onto the slip.

Then it was with some sadness that we unpacked our things after a fantastic winter trip and ran the shuttle. For those contemplating a similar trip it is only a 16km shuttle from Inverailort to Glenfinnan. If you only have one car you can even get the train from Lochailort to Glenfinnan!

It had taken just 46 hours to paddle the 64 kilometres from Glenfinnan to Inverailort through some of the most dramatic and historic Highland scenery. We had paddled on fresh water and salt water and had even dragged our kayaks one kilometre over land. We had camped under the stars and stayed in the excellent Glenuig Inn. We had even rung the thousand year old St Finan's Bell! To cap all that we had enjoyed excellent company. You can read Ian's account of our trip which ends here.

BUT our trip was not over yet, we had decided to stay for two nights at the Glenuig Inn! We had another day to spend in this wonderful area...