Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Expedition
May 2010
The Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Award practice expedition was made all the more enjoyable for being scheduled through a period of excellent weather. The worries and concerns from the Year 11s embarking on the expedition of driving rain, showers of hail stones and winds that would make every step a painful exertion, were quickly forgotten when seeing weather that could rival a Spanish beach!
The group consisted of eighteen Year 11s with Miss Davis, Mr Cowan and Mr Gannon monitoring the progress of the two days of walking. The group were dropped off at Ott Mountain car park on day 1 and walked to the foot of Ben Crom mountain passing through the Ben Crom reservoir, past Slieve Lamagan and Blue Lough and a final checkpoint at the top of the Annalong valley, before turning back towards Rocky Mountain and setting up overnight camp at the river meander at Ben Crom mountain.
A comfortable evening and night was spent at the campsite, with only the cold northern wind making the experience a little chilly. The group set off at an early 08:45am and had a tough start manoeuvring around the southern and eastern slopes of Rocky Mountain. After walking along the Mourne wall the group then arrived at the Brandy pad with a gentle stroll past Slieve Donard & Slieve Commedagh, around to Hare's Gap. The final leg was a rocky but downhill walk from Hare's Gap to the pick-up point at Meelmore Lodge.
The two day expedition was a great experience and although there were some tough stages and some sleepy heads on the way back to school, everyone was glad to have completed the practice before the assessed expedition in mid-June.
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