Swimming Loch Rannoch …Many many years ago Colin Scott and I arrived at Dunkelds Craig ‘a’Barnes just north of Perth, to find a wet crag and an uninspiring grey day that certainly wasn’t going to lend itself to any hard climbing. Not to be disheartened we decided to stretch our legs on a Munro and headed for that beautiful pointy peaked, see it from everywhere in Scotland rocky hill, mound of Caledonia, the great Schiehallion.

We had by then smoked so many joints that I  missed a turning or maybe even two 😀 arriving at Kinloch Rannoch instead. So on a whim as we were almost there anyway decided to visit the infamous Rannoch station because of its legendary Trainspotting fame. My distant memory of that fabulous drug enhanced journey up the loch-side to the train station that  day was years later to be the catalyst of my return late last winter with a good friend and my paddle board. Paddling up the loch that sunny November morning I rediscovered its attraction, enough to make me think again of considering the infamous Rannoch crossing which in turn lead to my journey across it on a Paddle Board earlier this year. Now that was a set of life’s connections right there !  How our future is built by our experience never ceases to amaze me as we we unknowingly lay the foundation of our future through the building blocks of our past. Fuck me that is deep 😀

During the Rannoch crossing I paddled across loch Rannoch in the blazing heat and after a hard night fighting it out on Rannoch moor and later Loch Laidon I had to regularly take a quick swim in its fetching embrace (Brrrrr) to both cool down and at times stay awake. I knew then that I wanted to return and swim the length of it, hopefully before winter. At 10 miles long it would be a solid test of my endurance and sensibility dictated that I should wait until after my 7.5 mile Ullswater end to end race and use that as a build up to the 10 miles of Loch Rannoch. Patience is a great virtue, one bestowing itself better as I get older.

However it has been a funny old year and as what is the new normal of 2020,  the Ullswater end to end race didn’t happen the way it was intended. We arrived to find the race cancelled only 20 minutes before our arrival due to dangerous conditions caused by very strong winds and powerful waves on the lake.

Big waves do not deter a Scotsman as we would never get any training done if  waiting for good conditions 😀  So  as we were in the vicinity we decided to swim the unofficial Ullswater end to end fun swim 😀  It is a very busy lake with motor boats and even Jet skis on there, not to mention paddle boarders, kayakers, fishermen and even old peeps paddling at the side. Lovely scenery though and as is typical of the lake district no bloody parking. However it held a unique experience, one of difficult temperature regulation rather than swimming endurance but that’s another story….  Fuck I was cold 😀 😀

I really enjoyed our Ullswater swim and I was very keen to get to Loch Rannoch. The perfect forecast fell only a week later and I felt fit, didn’t have any niggles from the week before and was in a good place mentally so Frank and I set off from home late on the Friday night heading for the Schiehallion car park.

The plan for Saturday was to wait for the sun to get high in the sky which would help warm the lochs surface slightly and hopefully myself in it. Maybe it was all psychological but I like to think I have all the cards in my favour. I was hoping for a time somewhere between 5 and 6 hours so Midday would be as late as I would be comfortable with to allow plenty time in the water before the sun started to go down. This left Frank and I a chance in the morning to take a brisk walk up one of the finest hills in Scotland…. Schiehallion!

We arrived at the Schiehallion car park quite late and there was only one van, result!! I thought it might be very busy given the sunny forecast. However 6am the next morning the first car arrived and soon the car park was mobbed ! I dragged myself out of bed and cooked a light brekkie for Frank and I before we set off up the hill. Its a really nice mountain , accessible for everyone with a lovely path to follow right up to a rocky Summit with a fantastic view. We set a pace though as I wanted to be ready loch-side bang on midday. The weather was like peak summer and the sun was beating down from early morning although as we progressed up the mountain the chilly wind forced my coat out the bag.

Frank as always was up front waiting for me at every rise and soon we were summiting. I could see the full length of Loch Rannoch and beyond to the Rannoch moor. It was amazing to see almost the entire route of the Rannooch crossing before me , the terrain that I had travelled through was awesome !!  and it truly put a scale to it that I could never imagine from water level. I smiled smugly remembering the toil of that 24 hours and the satisfaction of seeing the van.

No time to waste on the summit though and we headed quickly off. Soon we were back at the van.  I started to get the food into me that would fuel me across the loch. Many will laugh but I really do like to fuel up with a pot noodle or two, they carried me across deserts in the Sahara and Gobi so don’t mock 😀  Later on though I had the  KIND bars and my favourite Bounty bars at the ready.

We headed for the west end of Loch Rannoch where the river feeds in only to find that I was being forced into a change of plan. I would not be able to swim from the west where the natural watercourse lay due to the very slight wind. Loch Rannoch is 10 miles long and almost straight which means the wind travels the loch almost unbroken. Meaning that the phenomena of fetch causes large waves to form with even the tiniest of breezes, making the last few miles very hard work. I encountered this same problem on the Rannoch Crossing    that day I didn’t have the option to swap ends and was forced to my knees, hugging the bank for a couple of miles until the waves dissipated enough to get going properly. This day thankfully was different.

I headed back to Kinloch Rannoch the way we had came and parked up on the east side in front of the beach, my last minute change of plan meant that hitching back was my only option as I was swimming away from Kinloch Rannoch not finishing there as I had intended.  I don’t worry about things like that as they always work out, outdoor people never see each other stuck, ever! You can guarantee someone will stop to help you and Loch Rannoch is a mecca of campers, fishermen, walkers and canoe/paddle boarders so I would be fine.

I was a little unsure which kit to take with me,  definitely my new thermal suit as I would be immersed for 5-6 hours but would I need gloves and thermal hat? It was a roasting hot day and I didn’t think so but the water temperature calls the shots. I decided on a test swim to be certain, If I was to take them and felt too hot I would be stuck with them or forced to dump them and neither was an option. After a short 200m dip I decided to go without. The water was 13-14 degrees!  I would certainly be too hot . Scottish lochs heat up on the surface just like everywhere else in the world and we have had an exceptionally warm time of it up North this year. We like to tell everyone they are freezing cold though, keeps the numbers down 😀

Midday came and I bade farewell to Frank who after his morning Schiehallion adventures would no doubt snooze the rest of the day away in the van. I looked up the loch and could see the mountains in the distance marking the end, they looked very small but I was undeterred. I slipped into the water, heading out in a straight line towards where my next stop would be, the western shore 10 miles away. I found my pace, sank into a nice rhythm and went into my headspace. This is what I truly enjoy about endurance and being on my own, the undisturbed peace of my own head and the shit that’s in it 😀

Very rarely do I rewrite anything on the blog unless it is to correct a fact but this time I have had a respected friend comment that there appears to be 9 miles of the story missing?, so thought I would explain. The fact is that this is exactly the way it is in my head. When I go into my long distance solo swimming headspace it is like a trance state, one of almost deep meditation, every stroke the same, breathe first left then three strokes later breathe on the right… repeat. My head goes to a special place, one of deep thought and where time is very different.

Loch Rannoch had my head filled with thoughts of Vix, the good times we have had and the adventure we have to look forward to, I love her with all my heart  <3  In between I would drift into existential questions, memories of kayaking and even thinking of solutions to mathematical problems. All helping fill the void of time and subconscioulsy combatting the boredom of repetitiveness. Yet I very rarely have a recollection of anything as at the front is a stroke by stroke moving meditation. Large chunks of time are gone unless I actively take mental snapshots and Loch Rannoch as beautiful as it is, was also very straight. No sighting of headlands to remember or dog leg vistas changing in front of me just one big centre line and I sank deeply into my head. I think in 8 miles I stopped one time and only because I thought I should eat something.  Bored yet ? ? Ok on with the story 😀