Olivia Story's Story

It was hard going but I think everybody seemed to enjoy it ( even if there was a few dumbys getting spat out at the time ).

 

We set off at 13:45 on the Friday in the pouring rain,  made very good time and got to Fort Augustus ( 31 miles ) without incident by 21:45, bivvied up for the night ( and got absolutely no sleep what so ever due to some lunatics who were having a party on a barge and also due to Mark who snored his head off all night ) Anyway set off at 06:00 on Saturday ( 1 hour late ) up Loch Ness ( a never ending 23 mile epic ) and once Pipsey had some extra kayaking lessons ( curtusy of Mark ), not to mention 3 different kayaks and a new 'shorter' paddle! Anyway after calming Matt down ( who threated at one point to 'burn his Kayak' )we finally arrived in Inverness ( 30 miles ) at 16:10. total time for kayak = 26 hours 25 minutes

After an hour or so to sort out our kit ( and get 3 portion of fish and chips each down our necks )  we set off from Inverness on the bikes back to Fort Augustus at about 18:00 ( felt good to stretch the legs ) however a couple of the lads(  both really good bikers ), who had struggled a little bit with the Kayaking, decided they had a point to prove and set of like there was no tomorrow.  So the rest of us had an epic keeping up ( I hadn't realised when doing the recce... from the car,  just how hilly that road is, sorry Jonah!! ).  I Knew we needed to conserve energy for the next day, however, there was no telling the lads and we all got back to Fort Augustus ( 35 miles ) in Rag order, with cramps, dehydration the lot ( cheers Pipsey, cheers Briss ) at about 21:00 and bivvied up for the night. 

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Anyway got up the next day at 04:00 on Sunday and set of about 05:30, this time the penny seemed to have dropped and we set of at a much better pace and got to the Achintree pub ( 35 miles ) at Fort William by 08:30.

 

After sorting all our kit out and getting some big eats down our neck we set off up Ben Nevis at about 09:40.  For me this was when the fatigue started to kick in and it was a bit of an epic getting to the top plus the weather was pretty severe with winds gusting 50 / 60 mph, very low vis and a lot of snow on top.  Anyway we all got to the top ( 1344meters ) at 12:46.24sec making a time of 47 hours 2 minutes and 24 sec. Also Catherine and Claire who up until then had been doing a great job in the support vehicle joined us and it was great to see them get to the top.

 

I didn't realise how long the tourist route up Ben Nevis was and it seemed to take forever to get down.  Anyway we all got down ( once Gareth had finished de-briefing other walkers on the correct equipment to wear in the mountains ) and collapsed into the pub for a few beers, Job Done. However our plans for a big piss up didn't materialise due to everyone being totally knackered.

 

Thanks to everyone who took part ( Mark, Jonah, Pipsey, Matt, Briss, Gareth ), supported, donated and encouraged.  Also special thanks to Catherine, Claire, and Pete for their Stirling work as support crew and also to Dick for his camera man skills.