DofE Bronze, Helios style
A few months ago I got asked “for our DofE expedition, can we do Kinder?”. Having thought about some of the normal day hikes that we do, the Explorers’ navigation, their kit etc, I thought “why not”, even though it was very much above and beyond what is required for Bronze.
Fast forward a few months and we found ourselves in Charlesworth car park. It was perhaps inevitable that given the heatwave at Apex last weekend, this weekend would be worse. It was. Very worse. Clouds down to 250m, driving rain etc etc. Still, not to be defeated, they were off, over Cown Edge Rocks and Lantern Pike towards Hayfield camspite.
Several hours later they arrived at the campsite wet through but still in high spirits. Trangias were fired up and enough pasta in sauce to sink a battleship was conjured up.
On day 2, a decision had to be made regarding the route. With the weather still bad, did we go ahead as planned? We discussed with the teams what they would like to do and they felt that they were up for it. We assessed their kit, their abilities, the weather etc and decided that with a checkpoint up in the fog (translation: “oh sugar, that means we’ve got to go up there too, best pack the kettle…”) and GPS as backup, they’d be fine.
So off they went unto the fog once more…
Still smiling even though the weather had come in in style, they arrived at the Kinder Low Trig point around 2pm, and from there it was a straightforward (once they’d found their way out of the cloud) walk down Jacob’s Ladder towards Edale.
There was a real sense of achievment as they arrived at the car park in Edale still smiling and singing, having successfully navigated on of the most challenging areas around in driving rain and limited visibilty. Their assessor said that they were a credit to the Unit, and rewarded them with Heros. Many thanks to Bernard for assessing us in the not-too-favourable conditions this weekend!
They wanted a challenge, they got one, and dealt with it in style. Well Done!
Next adventure: Well earned rest
