Back in October half term, Wild Wolf took 8 Explorers to the hills of Scotland for the week. Read to find out about our expedition and adventures…

Sunday:

It was a very early start to the trip, meeting at Scout Park at 5am on Sunday. We packed our bags into the minibus and set off with excitement.  As we slept for the majority of the journey (10 hours drive!), time flew by and before we knew it we arrived in Scotland!

Gazing at the views, we set up our tents that afternoon in the Red Squirrel campsite, Glen Coe, in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands.  Another short drive in the minibus took us to the supermarket where we shopped for dinner and Monday breakfast. 

That evening, we cooked a group meal of gnocchi as well as sitting around a campfire. Finally, it was off to bed before a busy week! 

Monday:

As the weather was looking amazing for the next few days, we decided to complete a 3 night expedition right at the start of our trip!

Monday morning we packed up camp and headed back to the shops, where, in our tent pairs, we planned and bought meals for the next 4 days. Some pairs went for pot noodles each evening whereas some chose more exciting meals such as stir frys! Then we packed our bags for the expedition and headed into the mountains. After driving to the start location, we put our bags on our backs, laced our hiking shoes and waved goodbye to the minibus. 

That afternoon we hiked from the west end of Loch Arkaig, along Glen Dessary, to our first wild camping location. The good weather and abundance of energy set a great start to the expedition. 

After arriving at a camping spot, we set up camp and in our pairs made our first expedition dinner (some better than others). Lastly, we stargazed before going to bed. 

Tuesday: 

Tuesday we decided to do a day hike meaning we left our tents and some kit at our camp, and took only what we would need for the day up the mountains. 

Starting our hike at 10am, we began with a steady pace gaining elevation until we met a large section of scrambling. Everyone enjoyed the scramble, it was one of our groups’ favourite sections of the whole trip. The hike took us up two summits: Sgurr na Ciche (1040m) and Garbh Chioch Mhor (1013m). These were lots of our Explorers’ first Munros which were exciting. Then half of group continued on to one more Munro: Sgurr Nan Coireachan (953m). While the rest descended back to camp and watched an amazing sunset. 

Dinner again that evening on trangias in pairs, lots of hot chocolate then to bed after a long and tiring day!

Wednesday: 

We got up early to watch an extraordinary sunrise!  We then packed up camp, tents and all our kit, and walked back along Glen Dessary and over the pass into Glen Kingie to stay at Kinbreack bothy. Towards the end of our hike a few Explorers and Leader Nigel attempted to add a Corbett, however with the winds and fog it was not possible to reach the summit. 

Afterwards we regrouped at the bothy, set up camp and made dinner. That evening consisted of hot chocolate and cake around a table in the bothy to celebrate Nigel’s birthday! Kinbreack was the first bothy visited for most of the Explorers and the inside social area was appreciated by all of us. We talked and read out stories from the bothy visit book. Finally the Leaders slept in the bothy while the Explorers were in our tents.

Thursday:

After packing up camp, we quickly walked out of the hills towards the van. It wasn’t the longest walk but the lack of path provided a challenge to us all. Despite us all being tired, we pushed through with the motivation of getting to the minibus to take us back to civilization. We made it to the bus in a great time! And not long later we were on the road to the Red Squirrel campsite. 

We stopped off at the shops to get a well deserved hot drink and shop for dinner. At the campsite we made curry and sat around a fire chatting about our amazing hiking experiences. More hot chocolate was made and quickly drunk before going to bed very tired. 

Friday: 

Two different walks were planned today however because of high winds and rain they were unfortunately called off. Instead we drove to Glasgow and walked around the city! We visited the Cathedral and had a look at the Necropolis. After we went to our last campsite just outside of Glasgow, enjoyed a fish and chips dinner and a fire to finish off the camp before driving back home the next day. 

Overall we had an amazing experience and hopefully we will be returning to Scotland next year! A massive thanks to John and Nigel who gave up their time to plan and run the camp (and Nigel who gave up his birthday!).