September - DofE Assessment, New Forest

If you've followed this Blog this year you'll know that 2013 has very much been dominated by 'DofE' for me. Having taken on the role of DofE coordinator at school where I teach, I have not only been through the process of gaining my own 'countryside leader award', but also organised and run my first practice hike for the pupils, and this months organised their assessed expedition.

For the pupils the two days involved a hike through the new forest to get from AtoB. For me it involved mountain biking through the new forest in a rather non-linear fashion to meet the various groups at their different checkpoints!

The 14 pupils who took past all had a successful expedition with excellent feedback from the assessors! The New Forest was a great location as it gave the pupils a great sense of wilderness without being too far from civilization! I'm looking forward to organizing future DofE trips, but have thoroughly enjoyed my first year in this role!

August - Pic du Tallion (3144m)

This months summit lay on the boarder between France and Spain in the Pyrenees. We took two days to climb, starting at 'Gavarnie' with an over night stop in Le Refuge de la Brèche de Roland. The 'Breche du Roland' itself was probably the highlight of the walk, a 100m high and 30m wide gap in the cliffs that separate France from Spain that we had to pass through on the way to the summit. The walk had a little bit of everything, from an incredibly picturesque valley to an impressive rocky summit with a bit of walking, scrambling, glacier walking and boarder crossing thrown into the mix. A great couple of days out in the beautiful Pyrenees!

The valley of Gavarnie

Le Refuge de la Breche du Roland

La Breche du Roland

Glacier Walk

The Summit of Pic du Tallion

July - The Lost Valley of Glen Coe, Scotland

The Approach

The Lost Valley of Glen Coe

June - Duke of Edinburgh Practice Hike, Dorking

In my March post I mentioned that I was completing the 'Coutryside Leader Award' in order to run the DofE Award scheme at the school where I work. In June the 16 pupils who chose to take the award this year, supported by 8 staff, took part in their first overnight hike as part of the award. The hike took place in the countryside surrounding Dorking.

This was a new experience for me, as rather than just being responsible for myself on a hike, I was suddenly responsible for 24 other people too! The hours of route planning, sorting out gear, completing reccies and filling out paperwork weresuddenly all worthwhile when the pupils completed their hike exhausted but with that sense of satisfaction and achievement you can get from pushing yourself in the outdoor environment!

May - Deer in the Mist, Brock Crag, Patterdale

April - Dale Head, Lake District

Ice Falls on the way towards Dale Head summit

 

Summit view from Dale Head over Catbells, Maiden Moor and High Spy

This month I completed 10 more Wainwrights;

http://www.mrpinswainwrights.blogspot.co.uk/

March 2013 - Countryside Leadership, Chiltern Hills

2013, my 4th year of blogging about my outdoor pursuits, approx. once a month, sometimes on mountains, therefore my 4th year of (sort of) 'mountain a month'!

Although I didn't realise it when I set it up in 2010, this blog has suddenly become very handy indeed. I have recently taken on running the 'Duke of Edinburgh' award scheme at my school, and as a result I need to complete the necessary qualification in order to safely take groups of pupils out into the 'wilds'! Back in February I completed my outdoor first aid training course, and now I am in the process of completing my 'countryside leadership award'. Part of this is keeping a log of all my outdoor pursuits over the last few years, so it's very handy to have it all recorded here on my Blog for reference!

In March I completed my 'Countryside Leadership Award' training in the Chiltern hills. It was wet. It was windy. The course included daytime and night time navigation skills, and to be honest despite a few years of experience walking in the mountains I was able to pick up a few tricks and tips which I wasn't aware of from a navigational perspective.

Looking forward to completing the rest of the training so I can be fully qualified to take the pupil on their DofE practice hike in June!