We are home !!!!

It's definitely all Over!!

Reports will be appearing here, Starting with Petes (now at bottom). The log book , including load of classic quotes. But in the meantime have a totally unedited version of the photos - some are sideways, all take ages to load, none have any text with them!! But hey, you are the impatient one aren't you?

Extracts from the log book (where printable) It all starts off so well, then disintegrates -

Anyone of a sensitive disposition look away now!! Click this button to move back to almost sensible stuff!

Ashy had just had a dump outside. Adam and Ginge have both joined me and Leannes club.

Now only leaves Bred

Bred completed the team count **A good start meant that morale was high. Pain count as follows:-

Leanne left ankle, right Quad, hips, bum cheeks

Ginge Blistered feet, sunburn, belly

Adam shoulder, left foot

Bred back of feet

Ashy toes, balls of feet, heels, ankles, right calf, knees, right thigh, sunburn, hips, lower back, upper back, Shoulders (so just about everywhere then?)

Well I was most efficient this morning, but we still set off 30 minutes late. The walk was boring and we could have just walked through Cumbria and it wouldn't have made any difference. (apart from distinct lack of people, villages, other paths)

My right ankle is painful but I am proud of Leanne, Ashy and me.

Even now I laugh at how we were aching on Monday evening when things when slightly pear shaped.

Thanks to everyone we have definitely survived our expedition

Link to Classic Quotes Page for even more earthy language

Diary 1 the leader (it was a lot more adventurous at the start of the week!)

pick up minibus, strap 2 canoes to roof, no room for Windsurfing gear on top - oh no!

take 5 seats out of back to allow more gear.

Only 2 ventures call!!

8:15 Drive to scout Hut. print off more health forms "just in case" (after getting old printer to work)

Take first of many photos with County Digi Camera

First Venture arrives without route cards for her route. Sent back to Forton to find.

Rest of group arrive - start handing out health forms……

Packing of bus starts. Light benches on bottom. Time for a rethink…..

Lads start redoing route cards…..

9:10 Set off… call in at Chairmans house to pick up a few "vitals" and go to spar to photocopy route cards, Cannot find girls route cards. Cannot find health forms…..

Return to hut (after getting stuck behind dustbin men!) to find health forms lying in road, no sign of girls route cards. Route cards found in Chairmans hand. Visit second Spar shop.

Finally leave Lancaster at 9:40!

9:42 first request for ABBA (denied)

12:00 Arrive Abingdon (Scotland) for fuel and eats - the sun is shining

14:00 Oil light comes on just North of Dunbarton. Stop check oil not much in. Drive to Helensburgh to find garage. None open! Find motor supplies shop. buy oil and put 2 litres in

14:10 BIG black smoke from Van. Stop Ring LCC Mechanics who advise return to base. I advise we are 200 miles way! Decide to find next garage

14:30 Find Garage at side of Loch Lomond (Arrocar) mechanic drains off excess oil! Oil light still on, he spends time cleaning connections. Light now works. Advises checking oil every 30 miles!

15:30 we are off again!

15:31 oil light on again!!!!! Stop and check oil no change, so carry on

17:00 arrive Fort William after much stopping (including a midge/photo stop in Glencoe)

Decide to stop and camp for the night, and find garage in the morning. Safeway visited for evening meal

20:00 After much midging, decide to go to the pub

8:30 off the site. Dropped off ventures to do Safeways food buying for the trip, and looking for garage!

9:15 cannot find one open on Saturday so ring the AA

AA woman cannot find any street names I give her so end up driving round Fort Bill. Eventually find Alexandria Hotel. AA man there in 5 minutes!

9:45 Van Fixed!! The very nice man used to drive an LDV so knew exactly what was wrong - taped up sensor, and zip tied it to another cable away from engine block (where it was shorting out)

10:15 after a test drive, and gathering of the Unit we are off again

12:00 arrive Kyle of Lochalsh to fill up. Cross over bridge and onto Skye

12:30 Arrive Sligahan! Time to put up tents and sort ourselves out

In the afternoon we toured some of the more radical areas of the lads route, searching for escape routes, as well as touring downtown Portree (the capital)

20:00 4 lads decide "that looks like a nice hill" and decide to climb it (Glamaig at 700m) by 10:30 they are down again by torchlight after a steep climb and even steeper descent

Sunday

After a lateish start (to avoid midges) we decide on a rest day, and descend on Talisker bay for a day on the beach. Much sandcastle building, sandy sarnies and swimming in the jcy waters followed. The finale was the great sandcastle destruction wars.

On returning to the Site, It was time to watch the packing melee of the Queen Scouters, then tea,

On the routine call to the home contact (the Scout leader) I heard that the fourth member of the Girls team had missed the connection, and would not make it until midday the next day! Argh

time to recharge the batteries (literally) in the hotel over a swift pint.

Monday

An early start as the Queen Scouters were due to start at 8am half an hours drive away. The morning was a bit nippy - the sun didn't rise until 8pm from behind one of the hills. We were in the bus at 7:15, and…. The engine was dead! An associate nice man was called out and arrived at 8:15 to recharge the battery (the CD player had been left on…) by 8:45 we were on our way to a delayed rendevue with the local DC.

8:55 and we are stopped . a lorry is trying a radical 54 point turn, and has stopped the traffic.

9:15 we finally arrive at Broadford CO-OP and the meeting, After regaling the full eventful story of our arrival, we set the lads off at 9:30.

9:45 We set the girls off 4 km into the route, to give them time to finish before it gets dark. Now it is just me, Richard, and a big yellow bus. Kyleakin is our next stop to pick up Bred our long lost scout. We stop off to buy our lunch and discover Big Brother has a new contestant, and meet up with Bred. I leave my Lunch on the roof and watch with horror as 6 sausage rolls bounce off the tarmac in the rear view mirror.

12:00 We agree to drive to Suisnish, marked as an unfenced track, that we had viewed earlier that day. It turns out to be an epic drive along a stony, sometimes rocky and precipitous drive to an abandoned community. But it was a lot faster than walking!! After much recovering and photo taking, we arrive at the rendezvous to watch the girls arrive at the same time.

They say the lads whizzed past some time ago - we worry as we should have passed them on the track. After deciding we need a sharp exit, we spot them below on a lower track, and calm down again.

14:00 we are back at the campsite after another thrilling trip down the wild track, and ready to start our adventure. We planed to meet both teams - the lads on their second say as they crossed the Cuillin ridge at the easiest pass (to guide them onto Sgurr Dearg), and the Lasses at Camusunary on the third night. This would involve a 2 night expedition, Bivying on the ridge one night.

Saw a helicopter hovering over Sgurr nan Gillean (later find the man had died, and much later that one of my Friends father was involved in the rescue )

All the gear was packed, and we were just starting to cook tea, when at 18:00 I turned on my phone to receive a text message, requesting evacuation of one of the lads who had a migraine. We grabbed some medicine and set off.

18:00 caught up with the Girls at Broadford to announce the change of plans

18:45 arrived at Torrin. Two of the lads wanted to carry on, so we transported them all back . Dropping the 2 carry oners 5 km from the Girls camp site with all the tents they would need.

20:00 Finally back and eating tea. The migraine sufferer had taken his medicine and was asleep.

21:30 received a text message from Ash "where r lads? Getting dark. Stove Does not fit gas, trying to light fire, getting cold" I replied " lads 15 mins away, Chill out for a bit" (turned out the stove was cross threaded and does not work any more)

22:00 All safely tucked up in bed. After discussing several options for the next few days

Decide to go up Sgurr Nan Gillean, with one of the dropped out Ventures and Richard. The migraine sufferer stayed in Bed (till 4pm!) leave site at 09:30 by 14:00 we are on the top - it looked a lot more taxing than it was. After meeting two blokes , decide to return the same way we got up. Rich and I were both reminded of the Alps, and all three could nor remember the ground that we covered in the way down was exactly the same as the upward journey.

Not a lot else happened (yippee)

After a lie in (til 9:30) we set off on a Quick Island Tour, Portree, The Storr, Quirang Uig and Dunvegan were all visited.

We returned to the site and organised. Bt 14:00 we were off again this time to Elgol - two were going to canoe to Camasunary to meet the Queen Scout team, the other 2 would walk in carrying most of the gear.

We arrived to find the team set up and cooking tea, most relieved to find someone else to talk to. The canoeists turned up having walked the last mile. The Queen Scouters seemed obsessed with bodily functions listing each bowel movement in a diary, as well as playing bizarre games when anyone burped. Once the midges became too much we all went to bed. Richard and I bivyed out on the beach, with the others camped around us.

On waking up to drizzle in the night I had got into my Bivy bag and zipped it up. As it turned out the mozzies were out en masse. Everyone was getting bitten. I remained in my Bivy bag! The Team set off at 8:15, minus Bred who was due in Pembroke by Friday Morning!. The rest of us cooked breakfast and cleared the site.

By 9:30 we were at the canoes to watch them depart. Today the weather was misty, windy and damp (for the only time in the week) Bred, Drew and I walked out into the low fog, and back to the bus. Picked up the canoeists, and set off once again for the Bridge.

Drew was all ready to phone for his GCSE results, and received the good news well. Richard had managed to destroy his mobile with salt water, so used Drews to contact the mainland. 

There was just time to visit the end of Glen Brittle and inspect the other campsite - loads more midges , no pub, less facilities and still £4 per night! We then slowly drove back up to the rendezvous site, checking out the Cuillin ridge as we went. The mob descended and everyone was reunited, back to site for showers and clean up. We went out for the obligatory Fish and Chip supper in down town Portree, followed by a Coop and Shell station fill up for the return journey. In the paper there were the first rumblings of a fuel crisis! Returned to the site. Midges out so meet in only midge free place!

07:30 the midges are out early! Even before the sunrise. Scrambled eggs were excellently cooked by one of the Adams and, after much cursing, all the tents were taken down, the van packed and we were off by 9:40. Not bad.

12:00 back in Fort William and Lunch from Safeways

15:30 at Abington Services , to Drop Richard off (going to Dundee) - complicated pick up/drop off of his car

18:15 Back at the Scout Hut, tents up to dry - its all over

Camp sites

Sligachan - next to the pub - £4 a head in summer, showers, wash block, pot washing

Glen Brittle - seemed more midgy, same facilities same price. More handy for the Southern Cuillin. No pub

Glen Nevis- £4:10 Pub on site, a lot more commercial - even piped music in the toilets. Pub on site

Camasunary -Free, en suite lake. Mountain hut nearby

Cost

£30 each including 2 days food, 4 nights camping, and F+C dinner on last night

the rest as worked out individually- cost me about £50 in total

We booked a Lancashire County Council Youth Service Bus. For free, with free Fuel

We used 200 litres of Diesel! We travelled 1967 Kilometres. The bus was a non-turbo, and definitely ran out of puff a few times. The right foot was pressed firmly down all the time! However fuel economy quite good (28mpg)!

We used Mobiles on the Island. My Phone, on the Vodaphone network , worked better than any other (including 5 bars at Sligachan, and up Sgurr Nan Gillean), although coverage was patchy in the South. Text messaging was the easiest and cheapest way to communicate. With a general agreement to switch on phones occasionally during the day (to save batteries), with my phone on from 6 to 8 every night.

We had brilliant weather almost all week. The scenery was fantastic, We worked well as a group, and have bonded a lot more. The flexible approach worked well (does anything work without being flexible?) , Although the girls could have made up a much more interesting route, the challenge for them was to complete the mileage . As they themselves wrote, they all have injuries of some description!

A lot more training is needed!

Better communication before the start of the trip

It is fun to go along as support to a Queen Scout Hike

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