Written by Ingrid (15yo)

On Monday, May 20th, we began our big adventure to the top of Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis is the highest peak in all of the United Kingdom, with the summit sitting at 1,345 meters.

Our day started early with alarms ringing throughout the boat at six-thirty. Everyone scrambled to eat a nutritious breakfast, pack lunches and snacks, and somehow pack three liters worth of liquids for the long, dry day ahead of us. The taxis picked us up from the harbor of Corpach at eight and drove us to the trailhead. At the trailhead, we were eager to begin. Not wasting any time, we knew it would take us a while to climb the 1,345 meters.

It took us four and a half hours to hike through the rocky, rough, sun-covered terrain to the summit. The first couple of miles were a breeze. Even though the sun was pouring down on us and some strange bugs were constantly nipping at us, leaving red dots all over our bodies. The terrain continuously got steeper and steeper. Everyone was out of breath, chugging water, and fueling up when taking breaks. We saw amazing views of Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe. Along the trail, there was a waterfall with snowmelt, where we refilled our water bottles and dunked our heads.

All of a sudden, we were hiking in the clouds. There began to be a breeze, our stunning view was gone, and we had to layer up. The hike turned into a scramble over loose, slippery rocks. About a mile from the summit, we hit a large, steep patch of snow. We obviously had to stop there to have a snowball fight and lay in it. After a long 5.6 miles, we reached the summit. At the summit, we ate our lunches consisting of fried rice made the previous day as we went through ten lochs, and sandwiches. After lunch, we went to the actual highest point made up of a concrete slab. Near there, we were ready to start our descent.

The descent started smoothly, everyone feeling good after a nice long break. We were keeping a steady pace and happy to get the view back. We took another long break at the waterfall, which was kind of a halfway marker for us. In the second half of the descent, we all started to feel pain in our legs and feet. In the last 800 meters of the hike, we got to see sheep, with little curly horns and thick wool coats, a whole bunch of mamas and lambs. Once we were back in the parking lot, we all dropped our bags and laid in the tall grass, waiting for the taxis to arrive. Arriving back at the boat made me personally feel amazing. We did it and made it back safe and sound. For dinner, we had a treat: fries and sausages.

On Tuesday, May 21st, it was time for us to depart the Caledonian Canal. We went through the final, 29th lock. After the last lock, we were back in the salt water, starting our twenty-four-hour sail to the Isle of Skye. The passage was smooth, everyone sticking to daily routines. A cake was baked, and games were constantly being played. We arrived and anchored a little before eight Wednesday morning.

Wednesday was a slow day, everyone recovering from their night shift. Early in the afternoon, we kids dinghied over to the island where we explored. We went to a coffee shop and an oyster shed. The rest of Wednesday was spent doing school work and relaxing, stuck inside due to the weather getting worse and worse.

Thursday, the storm was still in full gear, so it was a day inside full of school work, crafting, games, and baking. We had a yummy dinner of homemade dumplings. We also received our first lesson on navigation from Laura.