Lorraine McCall

Only improvement would be a little more talking as we drove.

I think Lorraine knows we all found her excellent and this will probably be repetitious for her.
She gave 110%, of course, 16-18 hours per day.
She skilfully chose and adjusted routes and days to the weather.
She allowed me to sometimes leave the group (within safe limits) and go on ahead, a bit.
She gently and without fuss helped group members to develop their confidence in successfully tackling terrain that they might otherwise have avoided.
She gently nurtured their confidence in their ability to cope with future higher grade Wilderness trips.
She shared her knowledge and love of Scotland giving me good suggestions of where to visit/ what to do during my following weeks in Scotland.
She was an excellent companion for the non-walking hours.

I liked how we progressed from day to day and even more special to accompany Lorraine on a reconnaissance hike for a future trip.

As I noted earlier, Lorraine excelled in every possible way. She was well-informed, kind, and highly responsible. She was also fun. I'd hike with her again in a hot second!

Lorraine is amazing!! I hope we can stay in touch.

Sometimes I felt unsure or rude if I powered ahead of the group. Leader could let us know where we are going, where to wait for them. Did expect the pace to be more brisk often.


TEAM WILDERNESS RESPONSE

It is great to hear that you had a great time on your walking trip, Argyll is such a lovely area to explore. Our guides will always try and balance the pace of the walk to suit everyones needs taking into account the length of walk and the terrain the walk goes over. We appreciate this may not always have been at the pace you were hoping for. Thanks very much for the feedback our guide will certainly reflect on this.

Thanks to Lorraine for her most expert and friendly guiding. I really appreciated her choice of walks and routes - for example coming down via the newt lochans on Eigg, going up and over to the walk along Loch Morar and the walk along Canna - including hunting for the settlement and tunnels. The last day on Rum was spectacular too.

I have covered this in the overall description of the trip but here is a personal message for Lorraine.

Thank you so much for sharing this corner of Scotland with me. You did a brilliant job of guiding us, choosing walks that were varied, interesting and suited the weather conditions.

I loved the way you made each day special whether it was wet and howling a gale or we were blessed with sunshine and a light breeze.

You had a lovely way of being that really fostered the team spirit. You were encouraging when we needed a boost, shared your knowledge of walking and mountaineering with us (thanks for the trekking pole tips!) and gave us a real appreciation of the region - its flora, wildlife, history and culture.

I liked the way you homed in on our interests whether ancient history, wild flowers or peak bagging! It's not easy pleasing everyone in a group but you nailed it!

I really valued the way you put your personal stamp on the trip. One of my favourite days was the walk to Loch Morar from Loch Nevis which you said was one you'd happily do again and again. I felt you were sharing your special places with us - just loved every moment of every day!

Thanks for 'making' the trip - just brilliant :).

Lorraine was a great guide, always checking to see we were OK, sharing her wealth and breadth of experience and knowledge of the area
Highly recommended as a guide on every level

Lorraine ment it very well and tried to fullfil wishes which sometimes leaded to time management problems by the end of the day.


TEAM WILDERNESS RESPONSE

It is great to hear that you had a lovely trip in the Hebrides. We appreciate that the day’s itinerary may not always end on the exact timings given due to the varying factors that come into play when out exploring such as fitness levels and outdoor conditions. The guide will always try and assist each clients requests and support needed to enable the most to be achieved every day. This is undertaken with the best intentions of not compromising time at the end of the day to relax as much as possible.

Lorraine had to improvise because of the inclement weather on a couple of days in the middle of the trip. The alternatives were well chosen, but we all agreed the walk among the pylons in the rain was not up to the standard of the others.

Lorraine was amazing, so experienced and such a lovely kind person, balancing all the needs of the people in the group and adjusting walks to suit the weather conditions. She really made the trip such a wonderful experience

Lorraine was very knowledgeable about the history and landscape around us - all very interesting.

Lorraine was an excellant and informative Guide. She made us all feel very relaxed and welcome. She was fun to be with and I felt totally safe in her knowledge of the mountains and weather conditions etc. I am tempted to go on one of her trips to Orkney!

Lorraine was great

Obviously I can't say enough about Lorraine. SO fortunate to have had her as our guide... to learn a little about her adventures and how those adventures continue to guide her life. :)

Superb! Lorraine is a real treasure.

We were sorry to have Lorraine drop out, but we could understand her pain and have a feeling she carried on with significant discomfort. All the substitutes were as excellent as Lorraine. In some ways we think we had the best possible outcome, as each brought a different personality and approach.

She was awesome

Our guide Lorraine, was phenomenal! She was very caring and did what ever she could to make our trip memorable. She adjusted the schedule to deal with changing whether conditions so we were able to experience all the hikes she intended us to. Couldn’t have asked for a better guide.

Lorraine was very intuitive and incredibly good at reading all of us. This ensured that the group worked perfectly (it must be like herding cats at times but I always felt Lorraine had it totally under control). Very much enjoyed Lorraine's sense of humour and her impressive experience and knowledge in the outdoors.

Lorraine McCall was phenomenal! Her experience and knowledge of the Highland is extraordinary! She took into consideration all factors in planning our trip every day. She swapped two days around due to the weather, allowing us to experience the Isle of Raasay and Loch Coruisk at their best. Without that decision, we would be soaked in the rain on Raasay and might miss Loch Coruisk due to ferry cancellation. She is intuitive, flexible, caring, and decisive.

Lorraine was amazing! Loved everything about her. Her smile was infectious. Loves the history she shared and she did everything she could to make sure the trip was great for everyone.

Lorraine is doing a great job. She herself enjoys what she does. In the rain and sunshine ... no matter if somebody gets hurt, or somebody is cold, if the terrain is simple or as demanding, she can handle all situations.

Lorraine was very easy to get along with all week. She was clearly knowledgeable of the area, and did a great job managing a group that had vary degrees of walking experience.

Lorraine was a great guide, she was patient, kind and funny. She is also very knowledgeable about Scottish flora and fauna. We took our time to explore the beautiful places we went while hiking. She was just great!

Lorraine was the highlight of our hikes and frankly our whole trip! She is kind, funny, and badass! Privilege to know her!

Lorraine was a delightful and extremely competent guide (and driver!) In a relaxed style she was alert to group members’ needs and expectations and made sure that as many of these as possible were achieved. (Birds don’t always appear on cue!) Thanks, Lorraine!

Lorraine was superb - couldn’t have wished for a better leader. Kind, knowledgeable, flexible, responsive and absolutely lovely.

Our guide was one of the highlights of the trip

Loraine was amazing, best guide I have ever had anywhere

Lorraine was a complete pleasure. She took very good care of everyone, had lots of information along the route and had a great sense of humour. We laughed a lot this week!

Our guide Lorraine was wonderful. Her passion for the country was evident and infectious. She gently encouraged all of us to challenge ourselves and taught us skills that will hold us all in good stead in the future. She also provided some welcome comic relief by almost disappearing in a bog and then advising us not to follow her.

Both Joe and Andy were great. Although Joe clearly had less experience and history of the region, he'd certainly done his homework and really impressed with his efforts and helpfulness. Andy's obviously and old pro, which was helpful in managing a diverse and eclectic group.

Brilliant guide, Lorraine. Efficient organiser, great driver, good communicator. Calm in the face of whatever arose!

Our guide was superb - friendly, knowledgable, showed concern for our welfare,and whether we were enjoying out holiday.

As mentioned before- Lorraine was fantastic!!

Lorraine admitted from the beginning that his was her first tour after being away for two years. I wish that she had not told us that. She was a little rusty on some aspects of the tour but always researched it and got back to us with answers. She was always attentive to the needs and wants of the group and very flexible. She was a pleasure to be with and the group wished that she could party with us but she stuck to the rules :). I loved that she taught us walking techniques with poles, and backpack use and packing. She was a real pleasure to be with, a spritely soul!

Lorraine is a treasure. Knowledgeable, patient, calm, energetic, well-organized, willing to alter plans as need be... and a good driver. And she's had a remarkable life and is therefore an interesting to chat with. And how can she be in her 50s and look 20??!!!

see prior note