Day 1 of Expedition - An Casteal

Explorer 5 are a great team; supportive of each other and fun to chat with. They were even interested in the flora, especially the carnivorous butterworts. There was lots of learning on day 1, the weather was kind and the views were pretty good.

Blip is the group on the summit of An Casteal at 995m. It was a hard slog up from near Crianlarich via Sron Gharbh 709m with full packs, especially the scrambling bits. One was scared of heights and found some the steep ground daunting... but it was all done safely of course and they were proud of their achievement. Hilarious quote of the day from one lad whose shoulders and leg muscles were complaining, as his knees folded to the floor for a rest stop: 'I ache all over; is this what it feels like to be old?!' I may have fibbed a little telling him I was too young to know!

We descended to Bealach Buidhe and scrambled around the eastern end of the Beinn a Chroin ridge to Carn Liath and down to camp beside Lochan a Chroin at 700m. It was a beautifully sunny and warm evening and the boys enjoyed cooking on the little stoves and splashing in the stream and the sun dropped.