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Greville Troop Easter Hike 2009

Adapted from Arthur's parents evening speech

The Easter hike takes place every year and is just for the older scouts. This year the hike was in the Peak district National Park.

In previous meetings we had split into 2 groups, 4 in each and shared the equipment out between us (tents, food, gas canisters, cooking equipment). We also planned routes, the groups doing the opposite to the other.

We set off nice and early on the Saturday morning in the new scout minibus, us being the first to use it. After one of the leaders spilling petrol all over the petrol station floor we were on our way to the peaks. When we got off the motorway and headed down the country roads we were hit by stunning views of the luscious green hills, little did we know it would be a lot harder to climb them. We arrived in a picturesque village and sat on a grassy roadside to eat our lunch. Next we put our rucksacks on, for the younger ones on the trip a bit of a shock at the weight we would be dragging around with us for the next few days.

5 miles doesn't sound very far, but with a 15KG rucksack on and climbing up mountains you see the number 5 in a very different light. After walking along the side of a few fields we reached our first ascent. We climbed up a steep hill and came onto a ridge with many ascents and descents on it. At the top of one of the hills on this ridge the view was amazing, seeing for miles around the beautiful National parkland. Stopping for many breaks on the way we came on the end of the ridge and looked down onto Baberbooth, the village we would be staying the night in. Walking down to the village all anyone wanted was a to sit down and stay there forever, but we knew we had to soldier on, but the worst thought was we had twice as much walking to do tomorrow. Arriving at the campsite (a field with a water tap next to a railway) we collapsed for 5 minutes on our rucksacks. Putting the tents then proved harder than first thought, with missing pegs and poles, some of the tents gave us the impression that the next 2 nights weren't going to be pleasant.

Cooking that evening went quite badly for one group (luckily not mine) with mashed sausages added to the menu at the last minute. All shattered we went to bed after eating and a bit of train spotting.

The next morning we woke up, cooked breakfast and packed most of our bags back up (but John was feeling "nice" so we didn't pack the tents). We set off for Kinder Scout, first trekking through the rest of the campsite (which was bigger) than we thought and then ascending. The peak of Kinder Scout was quite a way up, as it is one of the highest points in the peak district. When we got to the top we couldn't see much as it was fairly misty, apart from what we thought could be Manchester. Heading down we saw less and less people, getting into the quieter areas of the peak district. We met up with the other group for lunch and crogers got out this orange tent thing to keep us warm.

After lunch we headed off again down some lovely footpaths surrounded by green fields and hills. After about 10 minutes the map let us down, showing a path that wasn't visible. We leapt across a stream (with john) and headed up a steep hill with grass at waist height. I cannot express to you how tough this was, we scrambled and waded for 200 metres on our hands and knees still with our heavy rucksacks on. When we reached the top it felt like we had died and gone to heaven. The worst part was we could see the path we should've come up. From then on end there was no more map reading but still a long way to go. After another hour we had an injury, tom's ankle was killing him. We stopped by a stream and the rest of us had a rest while he got bandaged up. We set off again. We hiked for another few hours when we finally got over a hill and could see Baberbooth. We radioed the other group who were already back and resting. We tried waving to them but surprisingly enough they couldn't see us. We headed on down, our bodies now surrendering to the pain. The campsite seemed to get further away as we craved it.

When we finally got back the rest was better than anything I've felt before. My group again cooked a successful dried Lancashire hotpot, while the others managed to go wrong again. The poring rain had forced us to cook in the trailer. As their chef not naming any names was boiling the rice he decided to show it off to us. Forgetting that the portable saucepan had a detachable handle he lifted it up and the rice came pouring out all over the trailer. Don't worry, he cleared it up later.

Going to bed that night filled with energy from the dried dinner we were more excited than last night....

Waking up on the final morning we were all eager to eat our muesli with milk powder, how filling and delicious it was! We struck camp and headed off walking in the pouring rain with our waterproofs on ourselves and our bags. The views this time weren't so stunning, apart from a lot of wet sheep. Walking on the other side of the valley to the other group we could quite clearly see Kingsley's fluorescent cover for his bag so we radioed them. The walk was slightly depressing, getting very hot under all our waterproofs and no nice views. On the way back, whilst tying my shoelace, the weight of my bag pulled me over and I landed face first in the muddy grass. As we approached the place where we started the thoughts of lovely warm baths creped into our minds whilst kicking a little ball along a track. When we finally reached the minibus we ate our lunch then hurried off home. On the way back Harry kept us entertained with his version of "I spy with my little eye". The Easter hike was tiring, beautiful but great fun.

More pictures are avaliable on our pictures page.

24 Oct 2009