This was a complicated day. We were trying out as many as
possible of the twelve expedition routes to be featured in
the new Expedition Calendar. This meant that the explorers,
helpers and dogs were divided into teams. It worked out as
follows:
Melissa and her dad, Chris, went to the Samalaman Caves.
Thomas and Benjamin went with Pamela and Brucie to Smirisary.
Calum and Nicole went with Gary and Heather and Roo to Egnaig.
Robbie and Alasdair Crawford went with Howard, Johnnie and
me to the Three Old Maids.
Fern and Rowan went with Sharon to High Mingarry.
Chris and Becky went to Briaig.
Matthew Evans and Sandra went to Lower Shielfoot.
Maureen went to Camusaine.
Allan, John Donaldson, Robin D. Zander and Matthew Dove went
with Jem, Juliet (and Amy), Philippa and Stephen, plus Ellie,
to the Fee Donald Mine.
The idea was that everyone would follow my map and instructions
and see how they got on. For the most part it worked fairly
well, but we uncovered a few mistakes in the instructions
and sometimes the ground was a bit difficult. Melissa and
Chris found the caves OK but took a funny route back. Benjamin,
Thomas and Pamela made incredible time to Smirisary Sands
and back with no problems at all. Calum, Nicole, Gary and
Heather managed to find the old lead mine near the causeway
but had a hard time negotiating the high bracken at Egnaig.
Chris and Becky reached Briaig without much trouble but couldn't
find all the features on the way. Fern, Rowan and Sharon got
up to High Mingarry but couldn't locate the small route up
the hill. Matthew led all the way to Lower Shielfoot using
the instructions and had no trouble at all. The older boys
and the assembled Doves got to Fee Donald Mine easily but
it took a long time and they were the last back by a long
way.
My instructions for Camusaine were rather faulty - I seem
to have had a phase of putting left when I meant right in
the instructions. However, Maureen was keen to have another
try later.
Which brings me to the Three Old Maids. I left everyone to
follow the instructions up to a certain point, when I made
a decision and got it wrong! It all worked out all right in
the end since Alasdair discovered a fantastic Emperor Moth
caterpillar, which we wouldn't have seen but for my diversion.
Since the Pantry was not open that day, we all assembled at
Loch Shiel Hotel, who coped incredibly well with a huge group
of tired explorers and adults arriving over a long period.
John
Dye
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