DofE in the Lake District
The last weekend in August saw Lupine supervising and assessing groups of Gold Duke of Edinburgh participants from a school in London. They started in the valley of Borrowdale, which serves as a great starting point for many of the other beautiful valleys the Lakes has to offer… This proved a bit of a problem however regarding their route choices; my Gold practice group had tried to fit in everything, jumping to Wasdale to Langdale to Buttermere and all the mountains in between, and unfortunately most days had to be altered as their routes proved too long. A good learning point for those with assessments coming up however.
The start of expedition was frequent heavy rain showers and strong winds, making it feel almost like winter! They arrived at Wasdale Head campsite just before they changed the sign to FULL, as this site doesn’t take bookings. The group had done very well and were good at navigating in the low cloud conditions we experienced on top of Green Gable. An easier second day was had to avoid their original plan of Scafell Pike, which was a shame, but not a good idea with the threat of thunder and lightning…it’s always important to have an escape route planned!
A long third day saw the group setting up an impromptu Wild camp, which they were well prepared for and enjoyed a lovely starry evening in the mountains, improving their view on wild camping somewhat!
It finished off with glorious sunshine for their last day, which was a nice ending to an otherwise typical Lake district weather experience, and a chance for me to enjoy a last ice cream before the end of Summer! Overall a great few days with these young people getting them prepared for their assessments coming up.
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