THINGS DON'T GO TO PLAN
Rob and Diana in happier times.
Back at the campsite, there was no mothership. Ian and John were asleep in the van. Apparently the others had moved on towards Crianlarich. I was furious – where was my shower, and what about incoming runners having someone to look after them? I was presumably expected to kip down for the night in the van. However none of this could happen as Ian's shoes were not on the ground where he had left them ready.
There seemed nothing for it but to let Ian and John go in the car, and drive the van to the mothership to find Ian's shoes. I had decided to drive the van because I felt that I could husband the petrol enough to get there and back. Rob was got out of bed, and put in the back of the van, totally unnecessary for him to be driven all over Scotland to end up a few hundred yards down the road, but Diana insisted and I was not thinking about him. I was still soaked through and unfed since my run.
The drive must have been hell for Diana who is a very nervous passenger, and for Rob being thrown around in the back. To save petrol, I was driving with as little acceleration and braking as possible. Anyone who knows the windy road down Loch Earn can appreciate what that means. The minor road to Ben Chonzie was worse, and I did not slow for potholes. A spare gallon in the car, was enough to see us back again, but not without a similar sort of drive.
There was some heated discussion the next day about the whole process. Rob, quite reasonably felt that he should have been left in the mothership. Everyone thought that I should have waited at the western end of Loch Earn, which had not occurred to me until I reached that point, by which time I thought that Ian might be fretting about our non-appearance. I felt that the whole thing was caused by a last minute change which too many people did not know about. Tony thought that the new plan was far better and that the shoes were an unforseeable piece of bad luck.
The one idea I would raise retrospectively is that both the sections where detailed planning was left until nearer the time seemed to cause doubt amongst people as to who was doing what. Elsewhere, where I had originally thought the planning to be over the top, things ran smoothly, even though changes were often made, but with everyone who might be affected agreeing.
Tony writes:
No this is totally wrong, YOU were the only one who was not told of the revised plan (how could we? – you were on the hill.) You are erroneously linking two totally unrelated incidents.
Firstly – your feeding and showering – Diana could have fed you from the van and as for showering – you could've waited until morning and used the one in Colin's van, Both of these are unreasonable expectations – they happened to everyone else and (as you point out earlier in the case of Kinlochhourn – Alwyn's early morning return to the mothership was unreasonable to everyone else). Quite why you had to use the campsite shower is unclear. I imaging that you used it as a focus as you made your way around Ben Lawers in less than ideal conditions. (Absolutely right – Eddie.) However, why should your personal needs prevail over the greater requirement of the rest of the team to sleep?
Secondly, Ian's shoes. This was entirely Diana's fault in her role as 'good housekeeper.' Ian had left his shoes outside the transit (quite why is unclear) and she, thinking they had been left behind from all of the others that were airing, picked them up and put them in the mothership. It was just one of those things – nothing whatsoever to do with the plan.
In both cases there was nothing wrong with the revised plan – merely its execution. It's worth pointing out that most of the chaos caused that night was due entirely to your impatient, irrational and to some extent selfish actions. We already knew that Diana had the capacity to be a 'headless chicken' in times of stress – you demonstrated that you do too. As for poor old Rob, well that was just unnecessary.
I'll just add that I blame nobody, but my behaviour was far from irrational. You are absolutely right that my thinking was not enhanced by my anger created by disappointment. However I correctly saw immediately that I had to collect Ian's shoes and drive them over. I knew nothing about where Rob was going (although if I'd thought I could probably have worked it out – I wanted to go alone but Diana insisted.
Ultimately I prevented a disaster by getting Ian's shoes to him, had I not done so goodness knows how Ian with his already blistered feet would have done his leg. As for Rob I alologise unreservedly to him for his torrid time.
Meanwhile, oblivious of all these goings-on, John had his own cross to bear.
There is no charge for reading this account but please consider donating to Worldwide Cancer Research, the new name for the charity that we ran for.
Share this page