If in Doubt, Paddle Out!

Last week our intrepid adventurers heading off on a four day canoe expedition up the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness. The night before the trip started was fraught with far too much discussion on which group should take Thursdays breakfast and whether or not it should go at the bottom of Wednesdays barrel or the top of Fridays barrel and then in fact, whether or not Thursdays barrel should be able to fit it all in anyway! But once all of the food was packed – with 7 teenage boys it’s very important that you have all of the food – the students settled down with a movie and some much needed chocolaty treats!

Everyone was jovial as they jumped in the van the next morning and headed north to their start point where the sun was shining and the wind was blowing in the right direction for sailing! Day one went as smoothly as any you might imagine with good weather and some healthy banter – including the invention of a ridiculous moose game - more on that later. Day two was a little colder and wetter but there were some exciting lessons in raft building and how to successfully get along with your paddling partner without wanting to push one another overboard! Day three dawned with a drastic change in the weather and with it came a slight change in the mind set of the team – this day was described shortly by the group leader as equal parts joy and misery, closely followed by a night of torrential rain and the unfortunate discovery of leaky tents for some of the students. Day four had similarly bad weather but our valiant, rain-soaked students took it all in their stride and made the decided effort to paddle all the way to the end of the Great Glen and not take the easy route out, and we couldn't be prouder!

Needless to say that they discovered lots of new things about one another on the trip some of which they may not have wanted to know about, but they came back an obviously stronger team than that which departed, and I might add, with a much stronger scent than before they left also! The in-jokes have been flying between the group since their return, as has the beaten up old spray can that they dug out of a loch and have proceeded to hide throughout the property of others in the centre. So please, as a parting plee, if you see one of our students, immediately make direct eye contact with them and have your hands on your head in the shape of moose antlers – the more public the place the better. I’ll let the students show you the consequences of this one!

Until next time! Live the Adventure.

#Training #Scotland #Instructor #Outdoor #Yearof201516