It was only four weeks earlier that, as a result of COVID, final approval came in to organize the expedition. The challenge of organisation, logistics, advertising and execution of the expedition in such a short space of time fell upon Expedition Leader and Unit Adventurous Training Officer, Lt Michael Hughes. Spending many a late night after practicing law during the day the event started to come together. While the short time frame meant many who were keen already have commitments a group of the Ship’s Company came together to embark on what would prove to be an enjoyable yet very challenging weekend.
AB McIver, AB Gallagher and AB Stewart (as an MLT acting as 2 i/c) joined Lt Hughes (SML) and our brave driver, LH Connie on Braemar Exped 21.
The aim of the expedition was to wild camp two nights and “bag” the munros of Tolmount and Ben Bhuidhe. Our intrepid adventurers made their way at night on the 15th from Auchallater Car Park, load carried their kit 3 miles to the camp site next to a bothy at Lochallater Lodge, set up camp and got their heads down for the night. However, their sleep was disturbed by a menacing presence, initially thought to be some rather brave deer pushing against the tents.
The next morning after some breakfast, our group started to make their way onto the hills. Unfortunately, very early on, they lost AB Stewart to some blisters. A result of his boots having being unused for some time do to covid restrictions. AB Stewart decided to stay at the base camp and protect the tents and gear while Lt Hughes, AB Gallagher and AB McIver went after the summits.
Although pushing Winter, the group were met with pleasant conditions all day. It was mild and sunny with a gentle breeze (for now). The group made good time (aside from one navigational error: quickly rectified) and by 1100 had summited Tom Bhuidhe. Only 45 minutes later, they had captured the second summit of the day: Tolmount. Finally the party made their way back to the Base Camp (following a member of the armed forces clearly training for “selection”) and after 14.3 miles and 6 hours on the hills they returned to find that the menacing presence from the night before was in fact, a group of local horses with a distinct lack of respect for personal space. It was from these gallus horses that the Expeditions motto “cave equos” (“Beware the Horses!”) was born.
Before the true nature of that motto could be realised, the team had to deal with another challenge: the Braemar microclimate. Having enjoyed the conditions during the day, the party would have to endure the most unpredictable climate in the UK. With freezing rain coming in, the temperature plummeted to minus 2. The decision was made to move into the bothy leaving the a couple of the tents up in case any other parties needed to use the bothy. Jet Boils were used to bring the ambient temperature up and after some rigorous debate and pleasant conversation, the parties went to sleep.
When the morning came, the weather was overcast but pleasant. The site that Lt Hughes awoke to was not! Having purchased a new Gucci tent only the week prior, he exited the bothy to find that the horses had completely destroyed it. That was August’s reserve pay run down the drain!
In any case, the party packed up and made their way back to meet the driver at the spot where they had been dropped of for their night navex two nights earlier. LH Connie and the van was a pleasant site as was the McDonald’s on the way back.
Asked about the expedition the group had this to say:
“Of all the benefits of being in the British Military AT, I would say, is one of the best. It not only teaches you skills that will help you in your day to day role but also gives you a chance to bond with others”
AB Stewart
“The camping, wildlife, walking in the clean, fresh air, and a good bit of exercise were all enjoyable. The only challenge was the sudden drop in temperature on Saturday night.”
AB McIver
“I was keen to get this organised. After COVID and so much time out of Unit and away from each other, morale was low. We needed something for the Ship’s Company to either participate in or see done in order to show that, despite the challenges of the last 18 months, we are a Unit that can still achieve ambitious aims. For me, I think we demonstrated that well and now there is more enthusiasm about what can be done in the next year. A massive thank you to the Ulysses Trust for giving their support in helping me put this together in such a short time frame”
Lt Hughes
Click on the images below to see a larger slideshow version
