Week 3: Alltnacriche

It was another journey up north for the 3rd week of the holidays. This time working on the SU Camp at their outdoors adventure place Alltnacriche, just down the road from Aviemore. I had the responsible job of being travel leader. This involved counting them on and off and having a list of names and emergency numbers should we drive into a ravine off the A9 and die! No such action but there was a close shave both going and returning to Aviemore. We'd pulled into a service station for a 'comfort break', and by chance an identical bus, also going to an SU camp rolled up. There was a moment of madness as kids returned to the wrong bus. On the journey back the same happened again...except it was a bus full of blokes on their way to an 80's weekend stag party. Not a pretty sight and I managed to prevent our 14 year olds being chatted up by a bloke dressed as Limahl.

Anyway I can't really say too much about the camp itself other than it was maybe a little bit to rigid/tame given that we were in the highlands where adrenaline junkies thrive. That said the lads I took from Dunbar loved it and found the mix of physical challenges combined with the spiritual dimension of the camp a welcome change. Great location and I did a bit of exploring when I could. I went out for a couple of runs up a hill on an old track called the Burma Road. It was used as a key route for the Jacobites. On the last full day I did the same route but took a detour into the bracken and rocky outcrops. Careful navigation of the floor required total concentration. I like that kind of challenge, but it does have risks. For a split second I lost focus as I saw the road was close. In that time I managed to wedge my left ankle and right shin under a boulder as I travelled forwards at great pace. I found myself lying in a ditch with both legs and ankles in agony. I really thought one was going to be facing the wrong way, but it was just severe bruising and a gash. It stopped me running for 3 weeks though. One unexpected highlight for me was going to church at Inch Parish Church. Located high up overlooking the loch, this was a special place. Chatting to people there I discovered that there had been a church on the site for 700 years. They knew this because they have a bell that had come with the first missionaries and has stayed there as long as there has been Christian worship on the site. I couldn't help wonder what it was like for them and what their hopes and dreams were for their church back then. I love that sense of history to a place and that it involved people with pioneering spirits. The church stood on the footprint of the saints

All in all it was a good week, although the midges were appalling and at times I looked like an acne infested teenager. There were lots of them too and some even more annoying!