This morning the team awoke after a fantastic nights sleep in the youth hostel in Crianlarich. The short day ahead meant that they were able to have a lie in until 0800. The extra few hours in bed in the morning and the night before were just what both the climbers and support team needed to refresh themselves and regain some much needed energy. Everyone got up very quickly though once Sarah announced the prospect of a cooked breakfast! Everyone tucked into scrambled egg on toast before saying goodbye to Rachel Mander, Sophie Archibald and Jack Lister who were leaving the team. The climbers then reluctantly headdc off for a day on the hills at a casual 0900.
After a short cycle up the road on the road bikes the team swopped their cycling shoes for their walking boots, collected their rucksacks from the 4x4 and made their way down a track to the base of Beinn Dubhchraig. This particular Munro had a long steady approach and as they ascended the weather started to close in and it became particularly foggy. The heavens then completely opened in time for the climb up the second Munro and the team got completely soaked as they climbed Beinn Oss, Ben Lui and Ben Chleibn. The team managed to pick up some good paths along the route but much of the day was spent clambering over heather and long grass. However the team did very well and managed to keep to schedule throughout the day despite the weather conditions. It was new support team member Tom Elliott's first day in the hills and he and Henry did a fantastic job navigating the team. It was all going well until they reached the forest at the end of the day and were forced to clamber through masses of thick undergrowth which the team were not too amused by! However the support met them shortly afterwards and they were in very good spirits and appeared to have enjoyed their day!
The climbers were sent off on their roadbikes for the final part of the day and they peddled back as fast as they could in order for Tom to do a radio interview for Central FM. The day then continued to get even better when it was announced to Tom, Ceri and Alex that Sarah and new member Charlotte Elson had managed to get the village hall in Lochawe for the night...another warm and dry night under a roof! Really good news to have a fourth night in a building as the end of the week and the coming weekend are set to be particularly tough for the team with a couple of 20 hour days. The team are full of confidence however since they experienced even harder days in the first week.
They are all in really good spirits which is excellent as they approach the halfway mark this Thursday. Make sure you follow the team’s progress tomorrow as they conquer another 4 munros in the Bridge of Orchy area. The Munros continue to be dedicated to the Royal Marines and tomorrow Simon Hollington, Uncle of Marine Richard Hollington, will be visiting the team at their camping spot ahead of his climb with them on Thursday. He will join them for Beinn Dorain which he has sponsored as it is dedicated to his nephew.
As we approach this half way mark we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored the Munro Mission team online and for the wonderful messages of support and encouragement. We printed them all off today for the team and they really are a huge boost for them and mean a lot. They were incredibly touched by all the support so thankyou very much.
End of Day 23 - 131 Munros climbed
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