RussellsAbroad: Serenity for the Hiker's Mom

My 17-year old daughter is doing a three-day hike this weekend. What a great experience for her, but I have to admit it's a bit of a nerve-wracking experience for me.

She and three other girls had to plan their route and must carry everything they will need for the weekend. It is part of the Duke of Edinburgh program which was started by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh himself, also known as Queen Elizabeth's husband. It is similar to the scouting program in the States. There are three levels you can earn: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. This is her first year to do it and she decided to go straight for the Silver. Bronze seekers do a two-day hike while Silver and Gold do three-day hikes. There are other components to earning the award including service hours, learning a skill, and doing a physical activity. It's a fantastic program but requires quite a commitment. For the skill portion, she is hoping the driving lessons she is taking will count. Physical activity is no problem as she plays soccer almost year round. Still waiting to see what the volunteering will end up being. Then there is the "Expedition". This weekend is actually only the practice run. In three weeks time they will do it all over again for the Final Expedition.

Preparing for this hike has been a lesson in planning skills. The groups start months ahead of time, learning about map and navigation skills, first-aid, meal planning, equipment planning, etc. So why did it come down to practically the night before the hike to get everything ready? I think (and hope) the girls learned the importance of planning ahead. Apparently it didn't sink in to the girls to really pay attention when they were supposed to be learning about planning the route and what are good things to take along. Suddenly the time is upon them and... well, hopefully, lesson learned.

But I shouldn't be so hard on the girls, they did get all their "stuff" together. Imagine having to carry on your back your sleeping bag, tent, cookstove, clothes, water, and food to last for three days. It helps that they shared the load, each girl carrying either a tent, tent poles, or stove. They weren't even able to fit all the food they had bought in their backpacks. The girls showed up to the walk with extra food hoping someone had space left for it but every rucksack was full to the brim.

Lexi's backpack was heavy but somehow the weight gets distributed well so she didn't just topple over under the weight. Here she is looking confident the night before the big hike:

My hiker girl

I really don't know how many miles they will go but they hike all day Friday and Saturday and return Sunday afternoon. There are checkpoints along the way to make sure they are doing okay. They are expected to use maps to find their way to each checkpoint. No GPS allowed! They don't just walk along roads but rather through fields and paths. At night, the groups come together to all set up tents in one area.

Being a mom I can't help but worry about my baby girl. I can't imagine how hard it must be to figure out the right paths to go on while lugging all that weight on her back. If they don't make it to the campsite by nightfall, they still have to find their way there and set up camp in the dark. Another mom told me how her daughter did the walk last year and got lost. What was supposed to be a 5-hour hike turned into 8 hours. They had to set up their tent in the dark. But the daughter still managed to have a great time and is back this year for more!

I've been trying to keep myself busy to keep my mind off how the walk is going. At least my oven is now clean. I find it calming to work on my cross-stitching. I started this particular cross-stitch project 12 years ago but I only pick it up now and then. I think back to Lexi being in Kindergarten when I started it. I remember working on it when I was waiting for her while she tested to see if she could skip 2nd grade. She missed by one point. I remember working on it during many family ski trips. My goal when I moved to England was to finally finish it. I'm getting close. I enjoy the memories I have every time I pick it up. How appropriate it is that it calms me. You see it is the Serenity Prayer that I am stitching against a beautiful nature background.