Final fling on bonnie Loch Tay (for now)...and when set-backs bear the seeds of come-backs.

Kenmore, where Burns wrote "Admiring Nature in her wildest grace".

It was a grey, overcast, dreich day on Loch Tay, in the Scottish Highlands...perfectly atmospheric for a good long paddle. The loch is fourteen and a half miles long and, on average, a mile to a mile and a half wide. Ben Lawers, the tenth highest mountain in the UK, graces the north shore with six other Munros (mountains over 3000 feet). Needless to say, on this day, the snowy peaks were tucked into the low overcast.

It's a deep, mysterious and fascinating body of water. I've previously written (here) about the crannogs, the man-made islands in the loch. Over twenty have now been identified and dwellings built on them were inhabited from Neolithic times (5000 years ago) until into the 17th Century. They were built out over the water, making them defensible positions against grumpy neighbours.

Image of reconstructed Crannog in Loch Tay, taken in November, 2014.

Today, however, there would be no lingering over these tantalising elements of history. We were there to paddle hard, put in some serious nautical miles, and enjoy a good exhilarating workout on the water.

Except...I had a rather sore arm. 

Admittedly, it had been that way for quite a while, several months in fact. There had been a perverse pleasure in simply ignoring it, but it was clearly not getting any better. It was, in fact, getting worse. The symptoms suggested the rather innocuous sounding "tennis elbow". The clinical name of this musculoskeletal condition, lateral epicondylitis, sounds much more impressive. Although I play neither tennis, nor the violin, it is a repetitive strain injury and can be caused by many activities. Clearly, ignoring it had been a mistake. 

Hmmm...who would have known?

Pain or no pain, this was the first opportunity to launch the Scottish kayaks since returning...I elected to "soldier" on. Joan gave me "the look", which I cheerfully pretended not to see.

Many folks have the advantage of common sense, which I greatly envy. "Motion IS lotion", right? Well yes, in fact it is...up to a point. 



Today we would paddle, after all, "no pain, no gain". Now isn't that a lot of rubbish? :)

We paddled for a couple of hours, and then it was clearly time to turn around and head back to the launch.

With a sense that we might not be out again for awhile, but with motion's "lotion" providing a temporary anaesthetic, we paddled hard, back to the gravel beach at Kenmore. 

A visit to the doc, a couple of days later would confirm the suspected diagnosis. Ah but, set-backs are a part of every journey. And as someone (whose name escapes me) once wisely said, "it is in the set-backs, that we find the seeds of come-backs."

Until then, the faithful boats will wait patiently, and with anticipation, for their next adventure on loch or sea.

Given good behaviour, it hopefully won't be long! :)