Monday 15th August 2011
After an epic day and a very late finish the night before, the team were lucky enough to have a lie in today and woke up at about 0900ish. They were in Blair Atholl Campsite and so were able to have a nice shower and a slightly more relaxed morning before leaving at 10:30 on their roadbikes. They started the day by climbing the Munro Schiehallion and met Mrs Rainer and her father-in-law who were very kind and donated to DecAid and bought 2 t-shirts, so thankyou very much!
During the day Jack and Steve from the support team did a recce for the campsite they would be staying in that evening. They met a very helpful man on a lawnmower/tractor who gave them invaluable advice on access routes into hills so a big thankyou goes to him. Jack then had a lovely time as he went off and chatted up some blonde farmer’s daughters.... Meanwhile Lucy and Sarah stayed behind doing admin type stuff. As per usual they did LOADS of washing of smelly socks and wet bits and pieces before bringing the climbers their lunch.
Yesterday the team were joined by Rupert’s friends Si Long and Jamie MacDonald who joined the climbers on their road cycle after lunch. They all rode together quite quickly which Tom greatly enjoyed. However there was a lot of bike envy going on as Jamie and Si are said to have amazing bikes. At least that was the climber’s excuse for not going downhill quick enough! They rode all the way to the carpark at the base of their next 4 Munros and the climbers plus Steve, Jack and Lucy went up together. Everyone was quite chirpy as they climbed at a good pace in the beautiful evening. The nice weather meant that the group were able to enjoy amazing views, looking out for miles and seeing how far they had come. The Munros were on what seemed like a ridge(ish), and were very pretty, yet when they came to the top of the last Munro of the day the team were confused by what seemed to be two peaks on each side. They couldn’t decide which peak was actually the top! Jack and Steve placed a bet on it and after looking at the map, Steve was the lucky winner of a pint to be enjoyed at a later date.
The problem however is that after making it to the top, you then have to come back down. The walk down the Munro was very long and the team had to make their way through thick heather and bog back to where they started. It was very painful on their knees and there was also a lot of fence crossing in the dark which almost resulted in Tom doing himself some serious injury on barbed wire. Furthermore Jack completely misnavigated them and they ended up at the wrong point which meant they had to walk along the road. However, the team could now proudly say that they had made it up their 94th Munro and were now officially a third of the way through.
The climbers made their way down to the base of the Munro at 2300 and ahead of schedule. They got into their cycling gear and onto their road bikes to cycled the 12k back to camp. The team were camping outside an eco farm/bunk house and were able to use their showers and facilities which was wonderful. Sarah cooked them all a lovely risotto but unfortunately managed to burn her fingertips really badly in the process. She is now sporting white bandages on the tips of her fingers and is looking a little like Mickey Mouse. The boys were in bed by about 0030 after Si did an excellent job on Alex’s feet and spent hours taping them etc. which will do them the world of good. Today was the first day of the Munro Mission’s 3rd week and in the first 2 weeks the team have summitted 90 Munros, climbed the equivalent height of Mt Everest four times and covered almost 500 miles on foot, bike and kayak. An incredible feat already.
However at the weekend the Munro Mission team received some tragic news. On Friday, Lieutenant Dan Clack of 1st Battalion The Rifles lost his life in Afghanistan. As a former member of Exeter UOTC he was a wonderful friend to many of the DecAid team and so his loss has been felt strongly. DecAid’s thoughts and prayers are with the family of Dan and of course his fiancée Amy. He will be missed very much and always remembered. This tragedy highlights how important DecAid’s mission is, and reminds us all of why we are doing what we are doing. Please join us in honouring and supporting the brave men and women of our British Forces and their families.
Lieutenant Daniel Clack
Can you include a bit more weather detail? So important for the team, and provides a bit more of the "conflict" element of the whole story - "battling against the elements for days on end", "relief at keeping boots dry all day" (as if!). From 800 miles away, it's a bit difficult to relate to the conditions for you all.
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