Day 18 - Thursday 18th August; Every Silver Lining...
When Mother Nature gives you sun, you are pleased. When Mother Nature gives you no footpaths, you are less pleased. Tom, Ceri and Alex were blessed with a lovely summer day and were all for making the most of the glorious weather after a number of incredibly wet days. So they set off into the hills only to discover that not only were there no footpaths to help them on their way, there was also an awful lot of scrambling to be done. For those of you who have never had to scramble, be thankful. It is somewhere between full on climbing and crawling (vertically) on your knees. Very dignified! Making matters worse, Mother Nature then decided that the team were in danger of sun burn and sought to rectify this by sending rain.
The support team welcomed back an old friend. Lewis Ashton rejoined the team after a short time away. After picking Lewis up from Pitlochry, the support team head further down the road to Braemar to pick up supplies, wash some very smelly socks and pick up a few more bits of waterproof kit so the lads are better equipped to face the wet, autumnal weather that seems to be following them around the highlands. Sarah also headed off for a well-earned break at the Blair Castle International Horse Trials where DecAid was the charity appeal of 2011.
Tom, Ceri and Alex finally arrived at the camp site, just east of Comrie, in the dark and pouring rain. The team (or Tom) demanded hot chocolate and scones as soon as they dismounted their mountain bikes to help recover some energy, warmth and all important morale. A more nutritious course of lamb tagine and a mountain of couscous followed the rather strange starter. The team went to bed with the happy thought that the BLESMA veterans from their home in Crieff, had supplied them with delicious looking pack lunches which Lucy had picked up when she met Nancy Johnston during the day. A special thanks to Nancy and all the lovely people at the BLESMA home in Crieff.
All of the Munros climbed on 18th August were dedicated to fallen members of the Royal Marines.
Creag Mhor was sponsored by Whetman Pinks Ltd. and was dedicated to the memory of Marine Richard Watson. http://www.whetmanpinks.com/
Sgiath Chuil was dedicated to the memory of Marine Ben Reddy.
End of Day 18 – 111 Munros climbed
Day 19 – Friday 19th August ; Two wheels, good. Four wheels, bad.
Tom, Ceri and Alex, once again mounted their trusted steeds (the mountain bikes) and set off towards Ben Chonzie on fairly good paths. Better than the previous day’s no paths. The climb was fairly epic owing to the steep side of the mountain. However, as the old saying goes, what goes up, must come down. After a swift descent, the team executed a swift transition onto the road bikes and set forth to conquer Ben Vorlich.
Not long after the support crew had waved the lads off, disaster struck. The 4x4 became trapped by the most notorious off-road trap, a ditch! Eventually, Ian, a heroic worker from the local estate appeared on the horizon to come and rescue the stranded vehicle. Lewis had to drive the stricken vehicle to Perth to swap it for a hastily arranged replacement. It all worked out in the end as the rest of the support team were recovered by the van and the rest of the day’s transitions went without incident. The team once again finished the day in the pouring rain. Can you see a trend emerging...?
All of the Munros climbed on 19th August were dedicated to fallen members of the Royal Marines.
Ben Chonzie was sponsored by Marches Care Ltd. http://www.marchescare.co.uk/
Ben Vorlich was sponsored by Brigadier Jack Johnston, Nancy and Toby. They have a special message for the RAMC; “Remembering all our troops and special thanks to all RAMC personnel for the valuable work they do."
End of Day 19 – 114 Munros climbed
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