Backpacking Update

Here's an update on my daughter's hiking experience. An earlier post describes how I was feeling the weekend she did the first hike. See the March entry: "Serenity for the Hiker's Mom".

Before the final expedition

How did they do? Apparently it depends on who you talk to. Lexi says they did fine. The teachers said they need to work on compass skills and on following a map.

Even Lexi had mixed feelings about the weekend, lamenting that "Saturday was the worst day of my life".  But also stating that the camping part was fun. They got lost and had to call the teachers to come pick them up. That day Lexi didn't eat enough protein and didn't snack during the day so she was almost in a daze when they finally made it to camp after all that walking around.

The idea is that they are truly backpacking and carrying everything they need with them. The reality was that they camped at the same place each night. It seemed crazy to them to have to load up all their gear for the day, only to return at night and set up the tent again in the same spot. Lexi quickly figured out that adjusting her backpack and tightening the straps around her hips helped take the load off her shoulders and back and put more weight on her hips which was better.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the practice hike ended up being the longer hike, lasting 3 days. The final expedition was shorter with just 2 days of hiking and 2 nights camping. They were more prepared the second time around, knew what to expect, and knew what was/wasn't essential to bring. Hiking only 2 days instead of 3 definitely helped.

They were blessed with beautiful weather for the first walk, thankfully. Sunny and cool. The second walk was more typical of English weather with rain off and on the entire time. They even got hailed on for about 30 minutes on the second walk. The girls said that was miserable, the teachers said the girls overreacted. I think I'd be more in alignment with the girls!

The teachers that head up the Duke of Edinburgh team at their school are a geologist and a park ranger, so they are both used to expeditions like this. When the girls signed up for it they thought it would be fun but afterwards are wondering why anyone would want to do it.

The teams get assessed by the teachers during the final expedition. If they get lost they fail. Sadly, Lexi's team made an error in judgement. Supposedly a checkpoint got added at the last minute. When the girls missed it they decided to call in that they were lost instead of backtracking to go find it. It's karma because now they have to go back for another day of hiking to prove they can do it without getting lost! Just when the girls (and the Moms) were relieved that it was all over, we find out it's not. At least there will be no camping this time meaning they won't have to lug so much around.

When Lexi came home after the first hike, she told me not to expect her to walk at all that night. I could certainly understand, especially seeing the blisters on her feet. The second time the blisters weren't such an issue. Lexi was mostly happy to have dinner on clean dishes without dirt and mud on everything.

I, along with the other moms, just wanted to pamper our girls when it was all over. We were so proud of them for their hard work. The teachers are definitely not like their nurturing moms. The girls were thinking how their moms would've helped them get settled in and comfortable at the campsite in the evening, no such luck with the teachers. Of course, I'm sure the teachers weren't real pleased to have to deal with the girls either!

Now the stories have started coming out about how they saw a rope swing and of course had to stop and play on that for a while. And a hill beckoned to them to roll down it over and over. And being out in an open field made them want to sing so they took a video of themselves singing and that's why Lexi's phone battery died and she couldn't check in with us that night. For some reason, one of the teachers felt the need to follow behind them on the last day to monitor their navigating skills. That day was not nearly as much fun as the other days. They just had to sadly look at a rope swing as they walked past it.

I was more calm during their second outing, didn't even pick up my cross-stitching that weekend. However, I'm putting the finishing stitches on it now as my son Ryan had surgery in the States for a torn ACL in his knee yesterday and the worrying begins anew.