22 Day 18 | munrorelays.co.uk

Hilary Quick - Another "while you were in bed..." post - overnight Monday-Tuesday 20th-21st Marie and Fiona visited Lochnagar and all stations to Glen Clova (5 Munros), then Janine yomped over the peat hags and a further 8 Munros, finishing at Glen Shee. Amazing stuff ladies.

Vicky Thornton - Cairngorms leader logistics + Glen Shee Western Munro's X4 (June 21st)... Since I got carried away with my previous post this will hopefully be shorter?...oh it isn't! So much seems to have happened! We weren't expecting to find ourselves out in the field at this time since team leaders had previously agreed "no running while in charge of logistics" however this agreement had long since become redundant due to the requirement for more runners. This remaining leg, to get me off my bum, and away from the laptop was therefore a welcome treat and served as mental respite! Looking back I'm not going to deny that I found my comparatively short 4 day stint at the helm (June19-22) which, due to delays, coincided with the Cairngorms - very challenging!🤪 On reflection it was a role which may have been more suited to a grand master chess player!🤔 However I learnt lots and felt it enabled Heather and I to connect and get to know far more team members than we otherwise would have done.....as we listened to, gleaned and incorporated their wise advice. Collectively we wisely moved some of the transition points to safer locations, to cater for any radical weather changes. We were forced to tweak the routes and therefore also the movement of runners, bikers and vehicles which we successfully kept to the bare minimum. With all of the previous key support team members and leaders needing a partial break (even if that was back to proper jobs!) I found these four days demanding. I wish to say thank you to all who helped me especially Sarah and Heather who were always there and Hazel.👍😁 The use of Lina's and Hilary's 🏠's as a base proved invaluable and helped ease the tiredness levels. Hilary was able to make instant updates to the schedule while we were at her house without the use of WhatsApp. By the 21st Heather had started to refer to the relay as "the circus". Indeed she wasn't wrong as with any circus comes its clowns, lions, tigers and monkeys! In my mind all highly varied, entertaining and great fun albeit a little exhausting at times. Needless to say, knowing when to laugh and when to shut up is still a skill I'm trying to learn!🤣🙊

Before I move on, thank you to Ann Hayley and Graham, who most of us met by sheer coincidence at Linn of Dee, for their unexpected helpful bike retrieval and also all partners and son ' Wyn' who was roped in. The team's "newcomers" bikers and runners, with their fresh legs, really helped get us through the Cairngorms efficiently. ...

So we positioned our camper, with a slight phone signal, on the Glen Shee road ready to greet the fast moving night soloist Janine Hensman off the Eastern range.... She really smashed it!

So with most of the climb already done for us and ideal running conditions the first of three Munro's - Carn Aosda - felt like a walk in the park... Quite possibly aided by the fact that after this first one I cleverly avoided scaling the second - The Cairnwell! I swapped Heather's rucksack for the squirrel tracker and she all too readily agreed to leaving 'the circus' in its entirety 🤔 to visit this summit on her tod while I cut the corner.🤣

Now with a signal, I was able to finalize the outstanding business on my phone.👍By the time Heather had done the extra distance and climb the remaining logistics for the 22nd was done and my baggage felt considerably lighter! At last my own anxieties surrounding letting the side down were diminished. Together we romped along the good path to summit Carn a Gheoidh.

The final top - An Socach - was always going to be the hardest with it's off piste section over some tussocks and hags between the summits. Possibly I went too far left in a quest to save a bit of height (having not been bothered to consult Strava heat maps) however none of this mattered. We were now on a mission to reach the transitional top which was being knocked off in a pre-planned pincer movement given the good weather. Hannah biked in via Glen Ey and then on foot up the northern broad spur while we went up the steep south flank. All of this felt like it was meant to be and when we were greeted by Hannah's smiling face and her reassurance that she'd only been waiting five minutes, Heather and I felt positively joyous! Especially since Hannah had suggested we meet on top to save us a knee jarring descent of the slope we had just climbed. We exchanged quick stories and handed over the all important tracker and Hannah was off.

I couldn't have predicted the feeling of relief one gains from the handing over of a rather bedraggled 🐿️....we know you've all felt it!🤣🤣

After having more time to draw breath and admire our surroundings we were able to make a more leisurely departure from the summit, down the cruisey NE ridge (Heather reminds me I was more shuffly than cruisy at this point!) We returned to our camper ("Winnie") which, with some jiggery pokery (fairly accustomed to that by now after driving different cars, campers and bikes!), where she was patiently waiting for us at the bottom of Baddoch Burn.

Finally, although I have tried to give an insight into the team leader role, I wish to stress that I've not put in nearly as many hours, days and months as others and especially not our chief Fran Loots.👏

Hannah Burrows-smith - Back on board with the Veteran Women's Munro Relay, doing a circle of remote summits to the south of Linn of Dee.