Category Archives: Hiking

DofE 4.3: change of weather and an emergency.

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Rain from before dawn. 13°C, easing through the day.

A slightly slower start becaue of the rain. It fell upon me to breif and set all the groups off. All 72 kids. It was an hour and a half before all groups were underway. Hat time flew flr me and gave a temporary repite from my throaty cold that arose overnight. The rest of tne team packed a d took the maquee down around us.

A call for help: over the radio, we got a call for help, somebody was injured from group 3. Chris and I set off once we got the grid reference. After some searching around, we found them. The grid reference was slightly out but 2 of the girls stood on our path to meke it easy.

I got there first. The casualty was sat on the edge of a gravel path, cold and in pain from a fall that twisted her knee. I’m so glad the recent first aid course was of such high quality. It was obvious that apart from her knee and losing body heat quickly, there were no serious injuries. Priority was then to get her warm. Out came carry mats, a sleeping bag and my bothy bag. Another girl got inside with the casualty and the warmth gradually built up. Meanwhile, Chris radioed to get colleagues to phone for an ambulance. I fixed a tie to hold her feet together, including the one that was at a funny angle. There was very little else I could do, she had to guide me on what is comfortable but couldnt have any painkiller.

It took quite a while for the ambulamce to arrive but the First Responders were quicker. They gave Y some gas-air painkiller and she had the giggles. With 3 staff and 2 medics, I decided to move out to make myself useful elsewhere. There were 3 groups unaccounted for to the east. I set off but missed the fiasco of the ambulances getting stuck in the gravel.

Apparently, the Forest Rangers were not impressed with the ambulances but they were with our first aid response. We found one group and the other two completed by themselves. That took about 3 miles of walking on an empty stomach.

I’ve paid a personal price for this day. Although I didn’t get cold at any point, I now have a heavy head-cold. Its not made any easier by incremental tiredness and giving my food away to kids who raised the call for help. They were so brilliant, they deserved a better reward than a smokey-cheese sandwich.

DofE 4.0: Cannock Chase.

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17° C, sunny and dry.

Very early start, wake at 4am and pack to drive the 100 miles to the school. The other staff for the trip were out and about gathrring kit and minibuses. So I hung my head round the drama studio door. All of the kids were there, with their kit ready. Then something happened that I will never forget. I got a standing ovation! They roared and whooped. I’ve never had a welcome like that, it send a shiver down my spine.

The coach ride to the start point was relatively short, and day 1 was training in navigation and camp craft. The group I had were easily the most receptive I’ve worked with this year. I got through masses of material which meant they got the most out of me too,

This little guy landed on my map while we were discussing a navigation descision. The girls recoiled until they saw my reaction, with one hand, i manouvered my phone and unlocked it for the photo. All the while expressing wonder at this little chap. It worked, the girs came over and took pictures of their own. This is a way that city kids can become comfortable with this environment.

DofE 3.0: South Downs (Surrey Hills)

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19°C, clear , still and dry.

264 mile drive to get here straight from work. We’ll see whether it leaves me too tired next week. That will be 16 days work without a day off. The forecast is good. This, unfortunately, this is such a noisy campsite. There is another school’s expedition finishing in the next field. Only one other leader did the same is me and arrived the night before.

Day 2: Wilson’s School, from that london (a big city in the south). A very likeable group of lads who gelled together well. We ha a good day training and a couple of fine navigators shone out. As always, the day wore on and teased out those with stamina away from those without. At all times, they were polite and calm.

DofE 2.0 North Downs

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24°C, cloudless and still

I led DofE Bronze with MapMyRide+! Distance: 18.27km, time: 08:35:00, pace: 28:11min/km, speed: 2.13km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2868937525

Each day started cold, Saturday was +4.5°C and Sunday morning colder. Here, the sun happens to shine down the inside of my tent, usefully. Later, we all became hotter as the sun climbed higher in thd cloudless blue.

This little scatty object is usually overlooked. There was a spider out on the limb, right, but when she saw me, she scurried into the nest.

The expedition: The North Downs are interesting; like the White Peak, there are dry valleys and dew ponds. Most of the wild plants we saw were the same too. There were, however, some magnificent Red Kites. They’re surprisingly large with long vee shaped tails, perhaps inspiration for Star Trek spaceships. I was impressed.

Renew First Aid

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22C, Clear sunny blue skies. Still day one, breezy on day two.

I learn’t more on this course in the first morning than on the entirety of the previous course three years ago. One aspect of their teaching technique was drill. They drilled into us the routine of Assess/check Airway; Breathing; Circulation and then damage checks (ABCD). There were lots of role plays (which I normally hate) but it did build up nicely.

I was kept on my toes all the way through, mainly because I’d learnt so little on the first course.

We finished not long after 5pm each day which gave us a free evening on day one. A little group of us decided to walk up to Mam Tor to watch the sun go down.

peverilCastle

The route was gorgeous (pun intended) but we were late for the sunset (20:05). Even so, there were plenty of people on the hill enjoying the beautiful evening. Moving east a little along the saddle is the descent. From here we needed lights. Our companion Karen, was a little nervous about this. I was a little annoyed that my head-torch battery had gone flat and had to rely on a hand-torch. It was plenty adequate.

From a leader’s point of view, this is where it got interesting. Karen knew the route from walks in daylight and took the lead. However, she went off track which immediately seemed wrong to me. It’s interesting because you can see how smart people make mistakes. The combination of stress and changed estimated distance was one thing. Another is that once her stress levels rose, she admitted “being frightened”, and then there is the single-minded determination to see it through. These meant that she didn’t see the over-view and take in all the available clues on that dark hillside. This whole area of compound errors is studied in heuristics.

Heuristics is something I am conscious of when leading teenagers in DofE. More of that tomorrow.

Working away.

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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.

Early morning walk.

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I walked with MapMyRide+! Distance: 11.96km, time: 01:59:57, pace: 10:02min/km, speed: 5.98km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2819841856

I woke very early this morning, up by 04.30 and invigorated after breakfast. I embarked on the wall even before coffee. Such is the effect of spring and the escape from a recent head-cold.

There were also some unwelcome colours in the canal.

Probably diesel from a barge.

By 7.30 I had done my good deed for the day. Passing a remote cottage, I spotted bank card in the road. Usually, these things are junk but this one was valid and signed. I did the obvious thing and went to the nearest house and knocked. The woman who answered looked worried at first. Perhaps she thought I was police. I was mostly wearing black. I asked by saying [his name] and she said “yes, he lives here“. His credit card was lying in the road and I reached it over. She must have realised and melted into gratitude. “Are you just out for a walk” you’re not police then?

The card was probably good for a few contactless purchased up to £30 each time before it got blocked. However, it’s worth more to hand it over and make somebody’s day instead. You don’t often get to do that.

Carneddau ring:2

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–8°C start, then warmth came through steadily. Mostly sunny once hill fog burnt off.

A very long day’s walk, it turned out later.

A cold night: g knew it would get cold, it reached -8°C by about 4am. I piled on all the layers g could but no more would fit in the sleeping bag. That bag liner was helpful.

First summit. Carnedd Llewelyn 1034m in hill fog but milky sun was trying to break through. Navigation was easy enough using slope aspect and my newly repaired compass.

Ridges and cornices:

Do I need to spell out how utterly beautiful the views were? I went for a few reasons

  • Break in my legs after a long winter,
  • Get a wild camp for my Dlog,
  • Stamina exercise
  • Test my fitness,
  • Experience,

The walkout was, perhaps a little too long. However, I was driven right to the end by the urge to get back to the car before dark.

Bethesda: the route skirted the edge of the village because the ideal route is impassible. There have been no repairs to destroyed bridges on th sites Caseg forcing a detour West.

Rhaeadr Fawr (Aber Falls): I’m not normally so impressed by waterfalls but this one (two) make it onto my recommended list. There is a well made path leading in from the north for tourists. Of course, I got there by the cross-country route from the south west.

Long walkout: The rest of the route is a long slog back to the car. The paths are nice enough, and as it turns out, the setting sun cast a fine golden light over the land.

Kit to remember next time: where did I put those little micro-towels? I had the wrong kind of gas too. This stuff had no pressure in the cold.

Carneddau ring: 1

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6°C start sunny patches. No wind.

Hiking in semi-winter conditions. The theme here is ‘no planning’. My first idea for a start was changed because of a closed road. There map a cross country running event that forced closures. Other people having adventures.

The next obvious car-park is far more remote near a roman road. It’s along track with very steep bits and all single-track. At the car-park, I got chatting to an elderly woman who wanted to hike there despite her recent his replacement. She keeps these years secret from her physician. I could have chatted more, but it was 12 and time to go.

I’m trying to use the Carneddau as a horseshoe. So far, the idea has worked. I’m now camped in the Lee of Carnedd Lleweddlyn by a crash site. It’s cold, the sky has cleared and temperature has plummeted. Inside the tent is +1°C. Outside must be 5 below that. No wind though. Utter peace but no animals. I miss them.

This picture is taken on Foel-Fras in the Mountain Rescue hut. Don’t worry, I only went in to brew a cuppa. Despite there being ice on the inside walls, it felt considerably warmer than outside. I headed for the lake on the east where we wild-camped on my ML training course, summer before last.