BEN NEVIS KILTWALK

 

On Saturday 17th April, a few of the "dafter" elements of the Tartan Army & friends decided to walk from Glen Coe over the Devil's Staircase all the way to Ben Nevis, then up & down that too (29 miles in all).

 

Many thanks to Jon Haber from Walkabout Scotland Adventures and Angus MacLellan from Hopscotch for driving their minibuses in the night.  Also thanks to Dave & Speedy (our support team).

 

The 24 walkers set off from Altnafeadh in Glen Coe at 1.30am.  By dawn they came into Lairigmor (the great pass),.  By 12 miles in, on the long descent down to the Nevis Forest, the strain was starting to tell.  Many of us wondered if the #*#^!X* forest would ever end!

 

After 19 miles of hard slog, the groups coming in collapsed in heaps at the centre, ate "breakfast", pierced blisters, strapped up feet & got changed into dry clothes.  Dave & Speedy did the honours with hot drinks & biscuits again, the sensible ones among us decided enough was enough & the lunatics then set off up the Ben.

 

Following our worst winter in 30 years, there was still plenty of snow above 3000 feet & as the weather closed in, the conditions became pretty testing.  Getting to the top in near-whiteout conditions & navigating back down was a massive achievement for those who made it, but more importantly, all the walkers used excellent judgement (definitely not a standard Tartan Army trait) in deciding when to come back down the Ben, not taking any risks.

 

Everyone made it back in one piece.  Few of us have felt more grateful at seeing a pub than when arriving at the Ben Nevis Inn at the foot of the Ben.  Some folk were just too "done in" to make it back out for food & pints afterwards & even the thirstier walkers amongst us were grateful for their beds when last orders were called.

 

So next time we're at Hampden singing "I'll walk a million miles for one of your goals......" some of us will be thinking about the stretch we put in that day.  Chris and the guys who did the Ben Nevis Kiltwalk raised nearly £12,000.  TACC in turn donated £6,000 to their other chosen children's charity - Hopscotch.