Getting warm soon.
A six day week: Invigilation; First Aid certificate renewal; Lead DofE practice expedition, then back to Invigilation.
Colour testing the Masonary paint. It’s close, a smidge dark and blue. I’m steadily getting this done but my efforts are spread thin over too many jobs.
Next jobs, plaster skim coat, remove scraps of backing paper, hang fresh lining paper etcetera.
Painting is the most satisfying bit but the ceiling will be hard.
12°C, sunny but rain at the end
A day to wait, cleanup and packing the minibuses carried on against a background of sun and a cloud inversion.
A cold front drew over us as the day finished bringing rain, heavy rain. We waited. Then, Group B arrived, They finished first! Happy, relieved, tired and very smelly. They wanted chips. At 4pm, chip shops haven’t opened but I drove off in search, and found. Group A completed just before our return and by the end of the hour all groups were in. I was beaming contented grins at them and heaped congratulations upon them all. A fine end to the year’s expedition season.
The drive back is normally a bit of a come-down. Unlike last year, they didn’t fall asleep in the bus, they discussed the week. They recalled the day that things ‘sort of clicked’. It was Wednesday, the day they faced camping up on the moors that did it. I felt the huge, warm glow of job satisfaction from this.
there is a lesson to learn from an experience like this. It’s wider in scope then the expedition, navigation and all those campcraft skills. It is about the way we think when faced with problems. Finding blame has it’s place but certainly not within an ongoing situation. Blaming prevents clear prioritisation and adopting a working solution. That’s the posh was of saying that blame is pointless. Blame is a feature of our society, heads will roll, somebody is culpable and the buck has to stop; and so on. Maybe, but first, the problem has to be solved.
12°C, rain of the drizzly variety. Sun later.
Our assessor gave them a low level route which was mostly the Trans Pennine Trail. The tops were shrouded in hill fog and rain fell heavily at times. We decided to walk the reverse route to meet them.
This section of the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) runs on a disused railway. The tracks are long gone rather like the Tissington Trail. Then, the railway runs through a tunnel below the Moors. The opening of the tunnel is blocked by a gate and electric fences. It’s drafty but sheltered from the rain. We sat here and ate lunch while I got the stove out for a warm brew.
As it worked out, we saw both groups about half way and only separated by half an hour. Our next idea was to head across the moorland to make a walk of it. We turned north into classic Hill and Moorland territory.
Just visible on top of this ventilation shaft is a walking boot. I have no idea how long it’s been there or who threw it. From here a track heads south west passed some pillars. the pillars appear to be some kind of mount for theodolites. I presume a system was set up to dig the shafts in the days before laser measurements were first used.
Anyway, our own track amounted to 5 hours 40 minutes and brightened up into the afternoon to sunshine.
12°C, some sun, some drizzle.
Second day for my Gold groups, and it’s quite a long one. One had to be withdrawn by the first checkpoint, she had a knee injury. I tried lending a neoprene support but it didn’t work.
The rest rest her group tried to pick up the pace but still took 2 hours reach the second checkpoint. Not very encouraging.
They arrived energised but worried about failing. Picking them up in the minibus would certainly mean a fail. I really didn’t want to pick them up as much as they didn’t (if you get what I mean). So I sat them down at talked through their options. Their next checkpoint is high up on the moors and the descent over the other side would lead them to their planned camp. A few of them vocalised very unhelpful thoughts on who is to blame and the acclimatisation day on Monday. These girls have done this before. Whenever something isn’t right, they use their thinking time to blame somebody. Trouble is, that’s no way to solve problems so I cut them off mid-sentence. This is what we’re going to do…
Firstly, the training day on Monday was a half-distance walk, you carried light day packs, we provided supper which you ate indoors in a warm building with good showers and a warm bed for the night. There is no reason why you wouldn’t start Tuesday fully refreshed with dry kit. Let’s focus on what’s going to happen today.
The worst case scenario, I explained, is that you would reach the next checkpoint by 17.00. That would mean descending in darkness and we haven’t trained you in night navigation. So, I told the group that if they had not made the descent by 6pm, then they should make camp wherever they are. At the latest, within half an hour of sunset. That does mean a stay on the Moors for the night, you are carrying all the right kit so there is nothing to stop you. I am not going to pull you out of expedition because of darkness. You can stay the night on the moors.
That’s okay because I will come to you from the north at sunset to find you. I can then check you out and fix up a water supply for breakfast. Even my colleague expressed concern at the idea of searching on the hills in the dark. We staff are trained in night navigation, well, Mr H, Mr K and I are. You will have your radio on by then anyway, as we’ve always told you to switch them from 4pm. They were terrified by the idea of staying on the moors. If necessary, I will bivvy somewhere nearby up there to keep you within earshot. Okay, so that’s the worse-case scenario.
The second worst scenario is that you arrive to leave open-access land but have ot navigate through woodland and some dark lanes after sunset. If this happens, I will come along and walk with you for the last few kilometers. I have a headtorch and a couple of bright hand-torches. You do have lights don’t you? They had.
I had their fullest attention throughout this briefing. A decision was quickly made and they grabbed their packs and got up.
They soon “got a wriggle on” and set off. As soon as it was obvious that they’d correctly chosen the right path at the nearby junction, we headed back to the minibus. i could imagine them walking at pace with the whites of their eyes visible. The drive is long round to the other side. But we parked up and started heading up. They responded on the radio very clearly- that means they are close. Actually, they were very close. The group not only passed the checkpoint but were on the edge of access land within 1 km of us! They really had got moving. All of them were dead pleased with themselves when they saw us.
There was no need to escort them to camp, over an hour remained of dusk. the camp is a nice one, it even has showers unlike the night before. Not that they could use them, not one of them had brought a towel.
12C, dry and mostly sunny.
After a sharp climb, the groups get themselves onto the Pennine Way on kinder. We hiked up to man the checkpoint on a col near a crash-site. Both groups were later than we expected, but were happy enough.
A nice day for us, despite much waiting around. We got a good walk up Kinder ( I went as far as Kinder Downfall) and then visited a WWII crash site. Another DofE leader appeared to do his checkpoint duty with a an open group. “Dave” his name was was a lot of fun and we met him and his group later.
At the checkpoint, when we finally met our groups, we urged them on to ensure camp before nightfall. They arrived at camp around dusk which meant setting camp in torchlight. The sun goes down early evening as we’re near to equinox.
Both groups will probably find the first night one of fitful sleep. First nights are always like that for most people. For us, the long drive back to Edale got us in at 20.30 approximately.
12°C, white cloud start, rain later.
Gold Acclimatisation and Training day: walked a circuit on Kinder Scout to train this group since they didn’t pass their first practice expedition. Below, under “more” is a copy of their feedback I wrote to them in school at the end of July.
Today, I focused on navigation methods. They were ill prepared for their practice last July and repeated mistakes again today. At least they had lighter packs, down from 22kg to 17. However, only one in the group had gloves.
Apart from that, their progress was good for most of the day. Some compass work seemed to confuse them. They did say that they’d had no navigation training when they did bronze (this isn’t true). Some work to do then.
The day worked well generally but their mood changed by about 5pm. They allowed themselves to become tired. I don’t think they ate enough and the rain washed away any remaining enthusiasm.
The descent wasn’t well liked. It was really just a sandstone staircase. Even in the heavy rain that had started by 5pm, it should have been fun. Instead, they began grumbling. Its an infectious habit that always spreads from the same girl. Admittedly, the weather was gloomy and the rain, obviously set in for the night. It was not however, cold.
20°C, light breeze and sunshine.
Two groups of Gold remained to complete. They had routes south towards the Rhondda Valley, limestone country. Time allowed us to consider cutting the day short. I elected to intercept the second group and bring them to the finish via a shortcut. Rolling grasslands were pockmarked by shake-holes. They look like large bomb craters that have long grown over. Oh, except one which was filled with junk. Flytippers had dumped rubbish there.
Once again, I got a phone call to say the second golds had not even gained access land. They had to be picked up. The outcome didn’t look good for that group.
Bright run 22°C, light wind
Carl and I took two groups of Silver for training onto a small plateaux at the eastern end of the Brecons. Our two groups were spot on with navigation through farmland and higher up on the open access land. One participant gap struggled to keep up with her group. She was badly overloaded so I elected to empty the most unnecessary kit from her backpack. She is only slightly built, but carried a very heavy bag. Even I was considerably slowed down with the handfuls I took.
The search for water: Carl took the two groups to the top and I headed off west a short way to collect water. We would get through a lot today and it’s unlikely there’s be more at the top. With my little filter, it took about 20 minutes to fill 3 litres.
The descent and a casualty: we all reached the bottom with few problems. Our gold group were there sitting cooling off. One girl looked wrong. Pallid, cold and clammy, she had clear signs of heat exhaustion. the group had not got enough water on the ridge. This would be the end of her expedition but she has enough to complete her practice.
Finding the bunkhouse: I hate Satnavs. they don’t do anything to inspire confidence. This one tried repeatedly to direct me over bridges over the River Usk that were too small for the minibus.
14°C, rain all day. Some heavy.
late start with much to do in the morning. It turned into a QMD. I stopped the clock at 6h 50m.when I got back to the minibus.
late finish but not as bad as last night.
Carl and I dropped the Silver trainers off and I set off to Pen-y-Fan summit to intercept the two Gold groups. Incidentally, I had a fright on the way up when my map blew away. Fortunately, I had the bag off at the time and could set off in rapid pursuit. It hadn’t gone very far, much to my relief.
The summit was easy enough with a sandstone staircase for the last bit. There is a substantial cairn at the top with a plaque.
Other schools were using the ridge for their Gold Practice runs too. Group after group headed east from an independent Girls’ school near London. They seemed so confident and upbeat in the harsh weather. One of their guys on the checkpoint thought he’d seen a group of four go by so after sandwiches, I headed east. I was quite anxious that I’d miss them and it would be a wasted journey when Carl might have appreciated help with the training group.
Behind Cribyn, I found them. They were happy but cold. Only 2 had gloves, 1 a hat and 3 no waterproof trousers. Abi was especially cold in her cotton tee-shirt. Lend out 2 pairs of gloves and a merino base layer to them. I was so pleased to see them and be able to help out.
This gold group thought that the other Gold group can’t be far behind. Two of those had packs weighing in at 20kg which made their likely position beyond the first summit. So, off I went.
The phone rang to say that Gold group 2 weren’t even on access land. They had problems. It was better for me to intercept one of the Silver groups approaching Fan-y-Big. About turn and go east again!
Silver Practice group’s first ever mountain summit.
This silver group were on the Bwlch before Fan-y-big and in good condition. Not far in front, Gold were on the summit so I could catch them. From a distance, they were visible in the hill fog making the correct descent near cliffs in the mist. A very capable group, apart from their kit.
Both groups made good descents once I’d finished the photo shoot.
Once again, I marched west, this time to catch the 2 Silver training groups on Pen-y-Fan. However, they’d returned forcing me to find a route down on the next ridge. there is a fabulous path across the north face of Cribyn.
19°C run and clouds, little rain.
Some chaotic organisation and a very late finish today. My Silver training group began the climb to Fan Fawr in the Brecons. The incline came as a shock to them, they carried full packs which were sometimes, overloaded. They really need to be ruthless when packing.
We never made it to the summit but did do some good navigation tuition- contour, aspect, zig-zags, hand-rails, attack-point and walking on a compass. They need a different range of skills to those used in farmland.
All of them did enjoy the view on this ring-contour. After, we set off north aiming for a path junction. They made the classic mistake of steering right because of the slope.
The day, however, turned into a late one. Rain drew in and the Silver Practice group arrived at their camp near dark. Carl and I drove back and forth with stuff for various groups. Then it became obvious that their campcraft was inadequate. They were tired and miserable putting up a tent in the dark with lights were poor. The rain started about this time. I couldn’t put my own one up because it was locked in the van.
Finally, I got my own food on the stove about 12:30. For me, it worked out better to eat before pitching my tent. In bed by 1am and lights out be half-past.
Micycle 