Pheasants and deer trotting about in the dew on the way up Ben Vorlich...mist clearing from the valley below, dew on the grass, and good company on the way up, maybe this weekend won't be so bad after all.

10.30 run out of water, great way to start, idiot...luckily the snow patches give me a second chance and give me chilled water for the rest of the day, very nice. And a ptarmigan croaking on a nearby rock, wonder if I can say I've flown round the Tarmachan if I take a photo of this one...

Johann proves that taking off into a steady breeze and disappearing straight over towards Lochearnhead isn't the rotory disaster I was dreading, so I follow. I get a climb straight away but base is too low, I can't use the height - there's no point sticking with the lift, it's going nowhere. Johann lands lower down for a rematch, I fly down, not convinced that conditions will improve.

2 pilots "climb out" above Balquidder as I plod along the road, (well they get 200 ft and make a run for it, is that how these mountains work?), I dither about walking up and decide to leave it till I get closer to Ben More, another walk up might just finish me off, this isn't Derbyshire :-)

I keep plodding, the great scenery making the effort worthwhile, but wishing I could borrow Ulric's legs for a bit...then another pilot takes off and ends up at the bottom, at least if I plod I can guarantee the turnpoint...eventually. Enjoy his company to the end of the road, where he comes to his senses and realises that he'd rather do something enjoyable with the rest of his weekend and hitches back, game over...

Andy catches me up and we plod together till I can't catch up. Am really hoping Dave T's wind predictions are right and there might be half a chance of a flop off the northerly side of Ben More but the increasing tailwind and brief shower makes it more and more unlikely. Take borrowed poncho out of bag and discover it has Mickey Mouse on the side of it, very fetching.

Finally make it to the road and plod towards Killin. By 9.30 I've run out of energy and crawl into my tin roasting bag for the night (after Andy checks under the bridge for trolls, ta Andy!)

Wake up with rain splatting on my face, oh no that means I need to wake up and cover my stuff so it doesn't get any heavier. Cover everything, fall asleep, wake up briefly at 4ish with owls hooting at me, then sleep till 6ish, not bad night's sleep at all. What a place to wake up, views of Ben More, leaves sprouting out of the tree above my head, feels like summer, and a stream to wash in, which is a pointless exercise as 10 minutes later I'm sweating along the track again.

Today's goal: run all the way to Killin, straight up the Tarmachan, get a climb or three push forward and land at Lochearnhead. But failing that, breakfast at Killin would do. I start plodding again. What happened to the flying bit of this event? And why didn't I accept that offer of lightweight harness and reserve?! Plan B is great, fried egg rolls at Killin taste fantastic,(actually anything tastes fantastic if you've eaten nothing but vile nutrigrain bars for 24 hours) then the nice woman at the restaurant says 4 pilots stayed there last night. Hmmm maybe I've taken this "spirit of the event" thing too seriously. Still, they weren't the ones to wake up with a highland cow standing in the river first thing in the morning doing all that fantastic scenic Scottish stuff.

Somehow find enough willpower to waddle along the road towards the Tarmachan, meeting Dave H on route. We struggle up the evil steps by the pipe for half a lifetime, onto the easy path, contemplate zigzagging up the shoulder of Tarmachan but opt for the easy path instead. Big mistake, waste loads of energy, enough to finish off Dave who has the biggest blisters I've ever seen, ouch.

Am not quite sure whether it's more important to me to make the turnpoint or more important to get some flying out of this weekend, both would be nice...It's getting a bit late, there's no way I'll get back to Lochearnhead in time, there's a chance I might be able to fly up...

I decide to plod up to the take-offable shoulder and see how I go from there. GPS says it's 2km to the top, and I'm going at 2kph. Great, only an hour away. Shortly after that it's steeper and the GPS says I'm doing 1.8km per hour, and it's 1.8km to the top. Then 1.6kph, and 1.6km to the top. Then 1.5kph and 1.5k to the top. Game over for me :-( (In hindsight maybe if I'd stood still I'd have been doing 0kph and the GPS would have said 0kph to the top?)

Take off while I can still launch, air feels odd, lumpy, wavey? Or is it caused by that big cunimmy thing brewing over the back? Wish I'd flown here before, maybe this is normal air for here...maybe I'm just tired, am really glad to be on my MagusXC that is friendly in snotty air(touch wood) and not on some unfamiliar lightweight kit...head left towards Tarmachan a couple of times but don't like the air, so abandon it and fly down, then in a particularly lumpy bit of air a lovely voice on the radio says "pilot on the blue and orange glider over Killin, I'm in the retrieve vehicle..."

Fantastic service, what a nice way to end the day, thankyou organisers for appreciating how knackered some of us would be!

Went flying the next afternoon then went for a run, must not have tried hard enough...maybe next time :-)

Helen