Country diary: A tiny island on a loch - perfect for a solstice overnight camp

Badenoch, Cairngorms national park: Under a foggy moon we crack through the ice with our canoe, and steel ourselves for the longest nighAt this darkest, coldest time of the year, it seems a kind of midwinter madness to take a canoe on to a Highland loch in the deep of night. But we came here for the summer solstice, so it feels right to return. We are the Swallow, set for adventure. The moon is full, but muted by a thick mist. As we cut across the loch, the black water fades without seam into grey cloud, all the familiar landmarks on the shore dissolving. The silence is broken only by the slap of paddles and the creak of boat until unseen geese are startled. Their rising hullabaloo erupts into a storm of wingbeats and splashing till they circle above and settle again, squawks fading.We make for the dark island, feeling like the Dawn Treader on the brink of nightmares, then judder across a skirt of ice that cracks and splinters beneath us. Now we are the Endurance at the ends of the earth. Our vessel stowed on the frosted shore, we head for a clearing at the foot of giant beeches, sweep away leaves and dig out a circle of turf for a fire. Flasks appear, bowls of warm custard on cake, mugs of hot chocolate. Continue reading...