28th April 2012 - Day 2 Gold D of E Expedition

Loch Sloy Dam and steep difficult terrain

Anna looking over the map

Tussocky Purple Moor Grass - the bane of any hillwalker

Looking north towards Glen Falloch and Crianlarich

Me at our camp spot and Glen Falloch in the background

Day 2 of the expedition began very cold, but once the sun was over the crest of the surrounding hills it was very warm. The group set of some half an hour later than scheduled, and passed over the side of the dam. However, one of the girls had had a very poor night, and did not feel well enough to continue. We arranged to have her accompanied back to Inveraglus to meet Dougie and decide on a course of action. The other four girls continued as planned, with only Anna and I supervising from a distance. This stretch of terrain, trapped on the steep ground between Ben Vorlich and Loch Sloy is tricky to negotiate with a full exped bag on for those with limited experience, and it would be treacherous in wet/windy weather.

It took the team far longer than expected to cover the ground from the beginning to the end of the Loch, and they were soon over 2 hours behind. However, they were still moving, moral was exeptionally high and both myself and Anna were extremely impressed with how they dealt with any obstacles they came across. They moved efficiently after this point, and started to regain time. The rest of the day was spent on rough tussocky terrain, covered in Purple Moor Grass which is horrible under foot.

We camped in a lovely spot by Lairig Arnan with superb views up Glen Falloch. I love this part of the country, it is steeped in history and legend and it doesn't take much to feel very isolated. The girls got themselves set up quickly, and dinner was soon under way. Again they were quite happy taking advice, and we spent a good session discussing geographical features, how they were formed and good examples for each feature.

The weather was again fine only chilly once the sun had sunk, but overnight the tent froze up again. This time I slept in Anna's sleeping bag to give her a shot of a down bag as she would like to purchase something new. Tomorrow is a short day, only 8km on easy tracks so hopefully we will get a shot at teaching some in-depth navigation techniques so that the girls are confident for assessment.

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...