June has passed us by in the blink of an eye, we have barely had time to sit in front of the computer so busy have we been exploring and celebrating the great outdoors. The blog has, inevitably, been neglected but before it’s off to the Brecon beacons again early tomorrow, here’s a bit of a round up of what we have been up to!
We started the month in an Africa-centric frame of mind with Ian signing a contract to lead a Tribal Tracks expedition to Mount Elgon in Uganda leaving on his birthday in 2020! There was also a leader training session with Camps International where flesh was put on the bones for the Tanzania trip which departs mid-way through July. After that it was a first ever visit to the Isle of Purbeck in beautiful Dorset where Storm Manuel did it’s best to destroy the morale and tents of the Silver D of E expedition we were assessing! We survived…..just….but the weather did it’s best to continue to dampen the enthusiasm of our walkers as we survived another wet week of walking around Talybont in the Brecon Beacons. A brief visit to the Chilterns (plenty of Red Kites) before it was back to the Beacons for three day ascents of Pen Y Fan and one of the Sugar Loaf, the weather finally started to play ball 🙂 Two weekends in the White Peak on D of E assessments whilst Nathan led a group from Collette on a Lakeland walk from Grasmere to Rydal and back along the water’s edge to the start point. Finally, a couple of days of caving and bridge building at Standon Bowers Outdoor Ed centre, and that’s June done! It’s another fortnight in the Beacons now and an early start tomorrow!
