Just suppose I juxtaposed with you

portage

Pronunciation: /ˈpɔːtɪdʒ/
noun
The carrying of a boat or its cargo between two navigable waters.

If anyone had been around to witness the striking of camp, they could have been forgiven for questioning such a strange sight. Rather than heading out on the open waters of Loch Morar, I balance a canoe on my head whilst the other three members of the group load up with bags as we head into the hills.

Our objective is to carry all of our gear up and over a col into Glen Pean and onwards to Loch Arkaig. Total distance of 12km. How easily this tripped of the tongue in the planning of the trip. The reality is very different...

Anyone who tells you portaging is fun is either a liar or crazy. The first part of the portage is excessively rough. With the wind whipping over the col and onto the nose of the boat, lifting and spinning the boat like a bucking broncho. The unrelenting repetition drives home the point: this is hard damn work with mishaps possible at any moment. In the end tho, as we reach the col and look down on the bog that gives rise to the River Pean, a sense of accomplishment kicks in.

After the two and a half hour struggle, we dump our gear, take a short break and then retrace our steps to collect the second boat and the rest of the gear to start the arduous journey all over again. The second time seemed to be much quicker, tho surprisingly it took the same length of time. Drained, but with under half of our daily distance target covered, we push on...

From the col, we slip and slide to the beginning of the River Pean and continue to descend downwards into Loch Arkaig. The combination of floating and carrying our boats, as we travel with all our gear for the first time all day, proves effective and we begin to eat into the remaining distance.

By 8pm exhaustion and hunger were setting in, so we establish our camp on the banks of the river, a tiny spit with 360-degree views around the crucible of wild crags. Without many discussions, we ate by 9pm and were in bed by 10pm, except for Alistair who was busy looking for his tooth!