Thursday 8 May 2014

Asbestos Sandwiches

A long day for Dan. He admits he underestimated the challenge he would face today, spending 11 hours out in the wild after leaving the Culra bothy this morning. He had a lovely surprise on arrival yesterday evening, John Hoosen had kindly left him a bottle of beer and a note to welcome him in on the end of a long day. And yes, they spent the night in the bothy; John Deegan, Mark Roberts and Graham Patten, feasting on a breakfast of asbestos sandwiches to set them up for the day. If anyone has been confused by the double tracker, don't be. Graham Patten is carrying a second in order to complete a little mountain research.

Big respect must go out to Aled Butler, who featured significantly at the start of Dan's challenge. This morning he cycled into the bothy to collect some kit. The boys may have taken advantage of his kindness as he navigated his way back to the van significantly overloaded. He's taken over at the helm of the motorhome now that Ben and Christeen have returned to Keswick. Many thanks go to them.

You'll have noticed, that much like Manchester, the map of Dan's completed Munros is slowly turning from red to blue. And the really good news is that Dan's ankle is starting to feel 'much, much better'. Dan can't believe it but, 'touch wood', slicing up the last few days or so into manageable chunks has really seemed to have helped.

However, tomorrow is a brute of a day. Massive hills and terrible weather forecast, it will be grim on the tops. Let's just hope Dan's recovery continues and in the days ahead he continues to navigate his way north. In 2 days time everything south of the Great Glen will be done.

2 comments:

  1. Beinn na Lap was the first munro I ever climbed up when I was 5 or 6 so I hope you climbed up it quickly! Kate S

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  2. Glad to hear the ankle is improving.
    Here's a suggestion for the route off Gulvain, if you can persuade somebody to take a mountain bike up Glen Mallie.

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