It was a reduced North Face contingent that visited the Gang Show this year, with as many of our Explorers on the stage as there were in the audience. Lewis had retired due to injury and Rowan had to go to a meeting at school, to which he also took along the Explorer Scout Leader, leaving only Max, Mop and Alan to see the show. The opening sequence had a wee girl singing on her own that she ‘wanted to be in the Gang Show’, waiting for the mail to bring the results of her audition. She was soon joined by others and eventually the whole company as the show got under way.

The acts were of a high standard this year with some fine singing and super dance sequences… but we have to say that, because both Rachelle and Ewan starred in these. I hope that Ewan will, at one meeting, teach the Unit how to do a Cossack dance! Sprinkled among the musical numbers, a couple of comedy routines had the audience in stitches — one, a dumb farce in a restaurant, and another involving two ‘ladies’ heading off on holiday, were particularly well done. The show finished with the whole company bidding us farewell and riding along on the crest of a wave as an encore. Thom Dibdin of the Edinburgh Evening News gave the show a four-star review, so it isn’t just that the writer is a little biased!

After a short stop at the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum for Chips and a drink, we drove through Bridge of Orchy, leaving the main road just before the bridge and driving up a track to Achallader and parking the cars - it was about 2000, pitch dark and -6.0 Celsius. 

Putting on our packs and locking the cars we set off for the 8Km walk to Gorton Bothy.  In the cold night air the sky was like crystal and we could see thousands of stars, Orion, the Plough and the Pliadease were all magnificent.  A short distance from the farm we had to squeeze through a kissing gate to pass a deer proof fence.  Clearly it had not been designed with pack carrying Scouts in mind, as it was a tight squeeze.  Next a river was forded, finding a suitable crossing in the dark was not easy and we splashed across the icy water and continued along the track.  Underfoot the snow was only about a 1cm deep and it made a crisp crunchy sound.  We followed the track and then crossed a bridge wide enough for a Land Rover but made only from simple planks with no side rails and occasional holes.  The track went on, following the main river and climbing slightly. 

We passed icicles and snow covered trees, before eventually the track ran out.  Which way to go?  There were three paths which seemed to go straight on, left and slightly to the left - then in the torch light we saw a roof!  The Bothy - it was 2215. Inside we took off our snow covered boots, leaving them in the porch, and went inside. There were two wooden floored rooms each with a large farmhouse table, and in one room some benches and a fire place.  Lettie quickly unpacked the coal she had carried and set to on getting the fire lit, meanwhile the explorers unpacked food and lit candles.  David unpacked the cooker and by the time the fire was going there were hotdogs to eat and hot tea to drink.  We sat round the fire and then had a go at playing pass the pigs!  Patrick - one of the Scouts from the 25th who had joined us won the game. Then we went to bed.