27th April 2012 - Day 1 D of E Gold Expedition

Looking south toward Coire an Lochan

Anna with her new Deuter Pack. Snow very much evident still

Some of the rough terrain covered. Easily navigable but a bit testing for the candidates with full packs on

Taking a break in a lovely spot below Ben Vane

Anna demonstrating expert supervision skills

Inside our new tent. Anna had a cold night!

Apart from the road and the dominating dam, it was a lovely camp spot. Woke up with ice on the tent though...

Day one of a four day qualifying expedition for the Cowal Duke of Edinburgh Award Group. Anna and I were there helping some of the other guys to supervise 5 girls who were hoping to qualify and go on to complete the assessment expedition. I was also there in the capacity as an assessor, giving further training and advice to the other supervisors as well as the candidates in order for them to be as ready as possible for assessment.

The first day began at Butterbridge in the Arrochar Alps, and headed north-west up Glen Kinglas, before skirting Beinn Chorranach and heading south east up Glen Uaine onto untracked terrain. Only one of the girls had completed the previous D of E awards, so four were new entrants, and it was interesting seeing how they coped in wilder terrain. The weather was glorious, and we were joined by Adam, an ML working with the D of E from Dunoon. The craic was great and the scenery superb. We left the girls for the most part uninterrupted until they arrived at the camping spot for night one - Loch Sloy Dam.

They all coped very well with the day, and were open to a bit of further training regarding route choice and navigation which was great. Anna, Adam and I camped a good distance away, almost directly beneath the dam (which gave Anna the fear!). Apart from a few dirt bikers who made the pointless trip up to the dam and back out again (!?) we never saw another soul until the next day. This was also a great opportunity to test out some of the new kit we had purchased over the last few months. I will review the camping equipment at the end of Day 4.

Day 2 would be the girls biggest test, we had to wait and see how they coped...