Moray District Scouts – A Quest like no other (so far).
Karen Darke is a GB Paralympian who has won a number of medals at Paralympic, Commonwealth and World Championship level, she is also a traveller who likes to challenge herself in some pretty remote and rugged parts of the world.
She won GOLD, which has the number 79 in the periodic table of elements, in handcycling at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, coincidentally this was also the 79th medal for the country, 79 has become a special number for her!
Her own Quest 79 challenge will see her travelling 7 continents in 9 significant hand bike rides and plans to journey unsupported by any vehicle other than a bike, exploring with friends, sharing stories and raising funds for a charity close to my heart: The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA).
In late 2017 I received a call from her asking if Scouts would like to get involved in her Quest 79 on a more local level, during our talk it came out that the Great Glen Way was 79 miles long and so the plan was hatched.
So it was then, that at the end of May 2018, 18 Scubs, Scouts and Explorers from and 9 Leaders from around the District in support found their way to the Western sea lock of the Caledonian canal at Corpach near Fort William to start their big adventure. The plan was to cycle for 3 days, Corpach to Fort Augustus, Fort Augustus to Drumnadrochit and Drumnadrochit to Dochgarroch where we would swap transport modes and take to our canoes and kayaks.
The longest day was day 1, nearly 30 miles of fairly low-level cycling on tracks following the Canal at the western end, then the western shore of Loch Lochy to Laggan then the eastern shore of Loch Oich to Aberchalder before regaining the canal side track into Fort Augustus where we stayed in a local campsite. The Scouts were tired and hot but full of smiles throughout the journey and this was a good warm up for what was to be a pretty epic second day.
Day 2 saw us on the forestry tracks high above Loch Ness, then even higher as we took on the "high" route. We knew the low route was undulating and whilst exhilarating coming down would be very tiring and dispiriting on the numerous ups. So, the thought was go high, go along, and then come down into Invermorriston. That plan almost worked but we didn’t plan on the steepness of the going up nor of the steepness of the coming down. So we pushed up and walked down.....the bit in the middle was really good though with some stunning views along Loch Ness.
The second part of the day after lunch saw another big uphill section (the Hill Neverendum) but once that was done it was all reasonably flat and then a lovely downhill into Drumnadrochit where we camped in a local campsite.
Day 3. A shorter intense day. The day started flat as we followed the A82 out of Drumnadrochit. This warmed us up nicely as we had a huge climb ahead of us. Yesterday’s Hill Neverendum had a big, steeper brother and most of the morning was spent pushing our bikes up hill. The Scouts worked really well together helping where necessary and giving words of encouragement all the way. The views when we got to the top were truly worth the effort. From there it was a relatively level cycle along forest tracks to the Abriachan outdoors centre where the support team were waiting for us with lunch and water. We knew it was almost all downhill from here to Dochgarroch and spirits were lifted. The centre staff were really interested in what we were doing and asked us to do a lap of honour around their site so they could get photos for their social media pages.
The big down came about an hour later. We dropped from 310mtrs to 71mtrs in just under 3 km, on a lovely smooth tarmac road, wild fun and the looks on the Scouts faces said it all.
We had finished early afternoon and spent the night at the Cally Rally field. We all took advantage of the canal side and the wonderful sunshine which had blessed us all along the route, to rest up for our last day, the kayak/canoe along the Caledonian Canal into Inverness and onwards to Clachnaharry which is the canals Eastern sea lock.
Day 4 was another scorching day and we were away from Dochgarroch in good time. It took a while to get the hang of the working a boat so progress was a little slower than we thought it might have been, but the Scouts, as they had all weekend, got on with it and with smiles and songs made it to the Muirton basin just after Lunchtime. From there we walked the basin to Clachnaharry were we were met by Karen and her friends Christine and Kevin. After lots of hellos, high fives, congratulations and Bravos we Invested two Scubs into the Scout section and the sea lock.
It was an amazing adventure, made more amazing by the sheer willingness of the Scouts to see the challenge through and not to let the little mishaps and set-backs along the way get to them. They were truly inspirational.
I must say a few words of thanks. The Kilmallie Scout group for the lend of their hut. The legendary support team who sheparded the Scouts along a magnificent route and looked after them at the way points and overnight camps. Marcus for his wonderful video and, of Course Karen who set us such an amazing challenge, a challenge that everyone embraced and one which everyone who was involved got something from.
There was another purpose to the challenge and that was to raise some money for a charity that is close to Karen’s heart the Spinal Injuries Association and to raise some funds to support the 3 Moray Explorers who have been fortunate enough to secure a space for the World Jamboree in America in 2019. As well as cycling and paddling the Scouts were also asked to raise £79 (79 theme, right?) in sponsorship. All money raised to be split in half. Well. They raised more than the asked for £79.....between them a staggering £2528.12 was raised. BRAVO to them.
There will be a video to watch and some photos to trawl through, I hope you enjoy them. Take a good look at your Scout........it’s a wonderful being that is capable of awsome things. It was an honour and a privilege to have led them along the way.
JB
Below are some words from Karen and the Spinal Injuries Association
Karen
Hi JB
Thank you SO much to you and all of the scouts and team involved. We are so proud of what you have done, and so grateful for your incredible fundraising work too. That’s a significant amount you have raised. Amazing!!!!
I’m so sorry I’m in Spain and couldn’t be there tonight. It looks like it was a super special evening. I’m so happy and grateful that Christine and Kevin join.
Please can you pass on my thanks and congratulations to all involved. It’s been such a privilege for us to have this connection with you, and the memory of meeting ‘the gang’ at the end of their Quest on the canal will stay with me forever.
Sending a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of you.
With best wishes and wishing you a Happy Christingle!
Karen
SIA
Dear John,
Christine Graham recently got in touch with me to let me know what incredible support you have given to our ambassador Karen Darke in her ‘Quest 79’ challenge, so I wanted to get in touch and say a huge thank you to yourself and everyone else involved.
Raising over £1200 is an incredible effort, and from speaking to Christine it seems that you managed to raise a huge amount of awareness too - getting a huge group of people together to take the challenge on – and it sounds like it was no mean feat either!
We would be delighted to be able to send a certificate of thanks up to yourself and the boys involved, so if you are able to double check the official name of the group for me (I know you all have different troop numbers), and we can get something sent out a.s.a.p. If you can let me know how many boys were involved, we could potentially even do one each for them all – provided that it isn’t hundreds (we can’t post half a tree)!
In the meantime, please do pass on a heartfelt thank you from everyone at the Spinal Injuries Association to all involved, and let them know that they really have helped us to change lives with their efforts!
Chris Massarella
Community & Challenge Event Fundraising Manager | Spinal Injuries Association