Some matters concerning frost, condensation, mist, "evaporation", disappearing water and the golden light of dawn on Loch Shiel.

The skies cleared about 1a.m. and turned into a bitterly cold night on the shores of Loch Shiel. We had planned to rise at 6am and right on cue a timber lorry rumbled down the forestry road on the far side of the loch. It was the first sound of human activity we had heard since leaving Glenfinnan the previous day.

The sun had not yet risen and the frost lay thick on the ground round our camp site.

We rubbed our hands to keep them warm while our water boiled then after breakfast...

...we loaded the boats. At least, being a fresh water loch, we had not had to carry them far due to the lack of tide! However, the "tide marks" on the sand showed that the level of the loch had dropped 15cm overnight. This might not sound much but Loch Shiel has a surface area of 19.3km2! That is a huge volume of water that had disappeared overnight. Since it clearly had not evaporated it must have gone somewhere else and that somewhere is where we were going....!

We launched just as the first rays of sun hit the mountain slopes high above. You will note that I had brought my Aries 155. It swallowed gear and food for 3 nights and 4 days in winter with no bother though it was right down to the seam.

We were still in deep shade when we launched but by the time our cold fingers fumbled with the spray decks...

...the sun had risen above the mountains.

We turned our backs to the sun and aimed our bows...

...to the SW...

...down the long defile of Loch Sheil. A layer of mist on the water began to rise leaving the...

...air crystal clear in the golden light of dawn. Ian and I snapped away with our DSLR cameras but they were so cold and the air was so humid that the lenses misted up with condensation.

The light was so wonderful that I really did not want to miss any shots. So I landed and spent some time with lens tissues and holding the lens to the sun to warm it.

The tattie stick of Loch Shiel.

 After our "tea stop" we continued down Loch Shiel and passed...

 ..the delta of the River Aladale which flows out of Glen Aladale, the ancestral home of the Jacobite MacDonalds. We were keen to get as far down the loch as possible before night fall so we pressed on. Just as the sun was setting a cold SW wind got up and made finding a camp site more urgent.

We came to a spot where there were two potential camp sites a few hundred metres apart. One had better ground but was exposed to the cold wind. We were getting tired and visited each site twice before making our final decision.

 In the end we decided on the more sheltered location and soon had the tents up and our evening meal cooking.

We got all our things in order by the time darkness fell over Loch Shiel by which time, it was time to get the camp fire lit.

0Baked potatoes were cooking in the embers as we warmed our toes by the fire. We toasted the success of our first day with several malts before the tattie stick was produced to howk the tatties oot the fire. One thing the prudent camper must not do is to chuck all the sticks on the fire before the potatoes are removed. One suitably long stick must be retained! With some butter and salt, the baked potatoes were absolutely delicious and were unanimously voted the best ever.