Sanny discovers that when it comes to bikepacking on water, there’s the deep end and then there’s the deep end!

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY SANNY

What happens when you take a rider with minimal paddling experience who actively dislikes swimming and send him into the heart of the Scottish wilderness with a packraft and a vague plan? Only one way to find out.

“Do you think that’s wise, sir?” I could almost hear Sergeant Wilson’s sage words ringing in my ears. Despite my swimming skills being only marginally better than Luca Brasi in The Godfather (he being best known for sleeping with the fishes), I have always been drawn to water. A brief foray into the niche world of packrafting a few years back lit a spark, but the cost of entry was enough to put me off. However, when a new budget Scottish option launched (ahem!) earlier this year, I finally decided to loosen the padlocks on my wallet and dive in, head first (Enough! – Ed) into a whole new world of adventure.

I’ve only got CO2, did you bring a pump?

Never one to do things by halves, I singularly failed to listen to the wise words and counsel of my experienced paddling friend Gary about starting small and instead headed straight in at the deep end: Knoydart. Located in the northwest of Scotland, Knoydart is touted as Scotland’s last true wilderness. While the impact of the Highland clearances, deforestation and grazing have undoubtedly had a significant impact, the area’s physical remoteness and steep-sided valleys give the peninsula a real sense of grandeur and awe. Even the briefest of research reveals a genuinely remote and hard to get to part of the UK where mountain bikes can be as much a hindrance as a help. Throw in ‘yon bastard midges © ’, the vagaries of the west coast climate (think wetter than an otter’s pocket), and a network of tracks that range from sublime to ridiculous and you have the makings of a proper epic. As a wise person once said: “The best adventures start with bad decisions!”

Many CO2 canisters later...

A pair of fools?

Deploying an unaccustomed level of common sense, I opted to go big in the company of my good friend Rob aka Dr Biscuits. An experienced mountain leader and paddling instructor with many years of experience in the backcountry, Rob has travelled widely through Knoydart and he put together a route that would act as a proper test of my limited skillset. At home in the mountains on my bike, throw water into the equation and I don’t mind admitting to being nervous. Not to put too fine a point on it, I was ever so slightly crapping myself. I was going into entirely unfamiliar territory and my well-developed fear gland was prepping itself to hit ‘Danger, Will Robinson!’ levels of the screaming abdabs.