After a good days drive to Newtonmore, and a call to the water sports centre at Loch Inch to glean some local information, we decided to start paddling that evening. Just to the north of Newtonmore is a campsite that borders and the river itself. The owners allowed us to leave our car there and refused any payment.
The first few miles of the river down to Loch Inch is a mixture of small grade I rapids and placid sections and, in our experience, constant light drizzle. The Spey valley is surprisingly flat here considering its location in the Highlands.
We arrived at Loch Inch mid evening and started thinking about somewhere to camp. Loch Inch is the only Loch on the whole trip and would be a good option as a starting point. There is no camping at the Water sports centre, but I've no doubt they wouldn't object to one leaving a car there. They run trips down the river themselves, but we found a surprising lack of knowledge, perhaps we were speaking to the wrong person.
We had read about a bothy by the confluence of the Fanghorn but after spending an hour or so searching we decided it wasn't to be found. Fortunately this is the only section of the Spey where wild camping is viable, though probably not advisable for large parties! There are numerous islands one could use, but we found a secluded spot about a mile downstream from Loch Inch. The drizzle had now developed into good, solid, Scottish Highand rain! Cooking the evening meal and getting to bed dry was a challenge.
10.00am. We woke to a glorious sunny morning and prepared for our first full day on the Spey. From now on, campsites are few and far between and our destination was around 15 miles away, just short of Grantown-on-Spey.
This day is largely placid water paddling, but there are a few potential hazards that may become problematic in high water, notabley a bridge at Broomhill Ho [map] with slat boards and staunchions diagonal to the current. Right channel safest.
12.30pm. Lunch at Boat of Garten. So far we hadn't seen many fishermen, but we had a friendly chat with one here whilst we brewed up on the Trangia. The guide books mark the stretch of water down to Boat of Garten as a grade II, but it was more like a grade I when we were there, though it may be bigger in higher water levels.
The river runs along side the preserved Spey Railway which runs steam engines. The remaining track bed is now the Speyside Way, a cycle/foot path.
3.15pm. We arrived at Boat of Ballieforth to find the excellent camp site run by the MacPhersons. The facilities are basic, but very cheap, and the welcome and friendlyness were overwhelming. We would urge anyone doing the trip to stop here. Fires are encouraged, provided one uses the official harth!
10.00am. The next section was by necesity the longest leg at around 25 miles, in order to reach the next official campsite at Craigellachie, near Aberlour. However, the name Spey apparently means fast flowing, and what would have been a hard paddle in open boats, was not unduly ardous.
It is on this section that the rapids begin, starting at Cragganmore ("Blackboat rapids"). This consists of a drop in river level of 4-5 feet over a short distance with a big V shoot and powerfull standing waves. From now on until reaching the sea, there are grade II rapids every few hundred yards
This section also includes the famous Knockando rapids, a series of stepped, powerfull grade II-III shoots, 50 to 100 yards each with big, canoe swamping haystacks. It is not technical however, but be prepared to break out to bale out! Worth putting a hard hat on - no photos, too busy! (The picture right is from the later trip featuring Pete & Tina negotiating much lower water)
The number of fishermen on the river began to increase significantly, but where without exception friendly, despite having paid large sums of money to fish there. One attempts to attract their attention and follow their directions, or sneak behind them if they are in waders. We helped one of them catch a fine sea trout as his keep net was up the bank.
Virtually every town one passes through on the Spey is associated with a malt whisky and our distillation for the day was Craigellachie. Here there is a small elevated campsite, river right, which is run by the Speyside Way, just before some prominent old railway bridge stanchions (see map above). 5.45pm A brilliant 8 hour paddle.
There are no facilities at this site at all, but a short walk into Craigellachie provides a public convenience and there is a shop at a garage on the A95 heading NE past the distillery.
10.20am. We set off on our last day for a leisurely 14 mile trip to the sea. The landscape becomes fairly flat as one approaches the coast, and we expected the rapids to diminish. We were pleasantly surprised to find they continued as before, all the way to the end, one every 100 yard or so.
As the river widens, there are numerous shale banks and plenty of places to stop for lunch and enjoy the fine weather.
There is a notable feature just before Fochabers consisting of the Crags of Cuidell, tall pinnacles of weathered sandy conglomerate, deep red in colour, set in pine woodland.
The Spey is unusual in that it doesn't have an estuary. One just paddles down a small rapid, over the beach, and into the surf! Our campsite for the night was about half a mile south along the shore and we were relieved to find the sea state moderate enough to paddle this last stretch with a bit of a surf onto the fine teared cobbled beach. 3.30pm.
The campsite is based at a hotel and golf course at Tugnet and has good showers. If you fancy staying at the Hotel, take your credit card! The owners were thinking about developing the site into a sports complex which would do away with the campsite, so check it out before you set off.
To celebrate the end of our 65 mile expedition, we took a pleasant walk to the pub at Garmouth and enjoyed a pint of bear and a decent meal, not that we had starved. Returned to enjoy the sunset over Spey Bay, the perfect ending.
As we had only taken one car, and that was sitting at Newtonmore, Guy was now faced with the task of getting back there. No easy task as Tugnet is in the middle of nowhere. He managed to find a lift into Fochabers, where he could get the bus to Inverness (by coincidence, the end of a different canoe trip - the Caledonian Canal) and then a bus to Newtonmore, a journey that took most of the day. It would have been quicker to cycle, particularly as the Speyside way runs for a large part of the river's course.
We would highly recommend this trip, or any part of it. The rapids should prevent no undoe difficulty for intermediate paddlers and there are no portages.