WOWSERS!!! We are totally stunned and delighted at the support everyone has given us on this adventure. Our target was to raise a total of £2k...and here we are at almost double that.

Humbled.

So, it was a truly tough time. Here’s our tale, blisters and all...

It was a 7a.m. start with a cycle that was way harder than expected, with the wind against us. Then it rained a bit – brilliant.

 30 miles biking later, wet, muddy and with sore a**es... Zoe and Nick, our FABULOUS support team set us off with dry gear and full bellies to start the walk. I say walk, it was a proper hike, with proper hills, and plenty of them.  

I think we all had our moments of quietly thinking to ourselves 'Erm...what on earth am I doing???!' But mostly spirits were high and the chat of reasonable quality – “Rach, if you were an animal....what would you be, and why??”

We reached the Bronze stop about 5ish. The sun was shining, the cakes provided by the local ladies group phenomenal. Replenished, off we popped.  

More hills (so over the hills Hetty!) rewarded us with spectacular views of Loch Ness - the pix by Jude go some way to do them justice.

There were some quiet moments of contemplation too. A group of men overtook us at one point wearing bright orange t-shirts emblazoned with 'Doing it for Ewan' on their chests. I don't know who Ewan is or was, but still I shed a quiet tear in solidarity with those on the receiving end of the damage cancer imprints.  

As our shadows got longer, so did the miles. Our pace slowed - even the malt loaf's magic effect began to wear off. Mile 20, 8.45pm and light began to fade. The Silver stop at Drumnadrochit 5 miles on felt as far away as the Bronze we'd left 13 miles before.

We trudged on knowing that we were far behind schedule having hoped to be in and out of Drumnadrochit support stop by 9.30pm latest. Averaging 2 / 2.5 miles per hour, the reality was that if we did go for Gold – another 20 miles on after Drum – we’d be starting out at 11pm earliest, into the pitch dark and plummeting temperatures.  

As night properly fell and gloves, jackets and hats were pulled out of our rucksacks, we were greeted by the welcome sight of Zoe, Nick and Innes striding to meet us from the Drum camp. Hurrah! we thought, it can only be around the corner...

Maybe it was just me, but the last two miles in the dark to Silver stop were definitely ‘Highland miles’ – Rach’s theory being that like cat years, Highland miles bear no resemblance to ‘proper’ miles.

We got to Silver by 10.30. To keep going would have meant changing to wearing full thermals and carrying survival bags. The clear sky was lit by a full moon, which although pretty meant sub zero temperatures. It seemed like the sensible thing to do, to quit whilst we were ahead.

Quite an adventure. Quite a few aches and pains. Quite a sum of money raised.  

Heather, your dad would be very proud of his miner bird's major achievement.

Thank you all for your support. Thanks to your generosity we can contribute to make sure that Maggie’s continue to support cancer sufferers and their friends and families.