The gold Duke of Edinburgh group embarked upon two practice expeditions in preparation for their main Isle of Skye expedition in June. The first trip was to theMourneMountains in CountyDown, leaving on the evening of Friday the 11^th of April and returning on the afternoon of Sunday 13^th. It was the first time the majority of the group had campedor completed such a walk since their Bronze award, but arriving at adark campsite with rain on the way everyone remembered it fast. Thewalk itself was a completely new experience with the Mourne’s provingto be quite an obstacle, but the group was expecting as much and apartfrom some rain on Friday night was blessed with excellent walkingconditions.

The second practice was to the Antrim hills for one night only, this time leaving the evening of Friday the 9^th of May returning afternoon of Saturday the 10^th.Several people from the group chose not to come as either they hadother commitments or had completed other expeditions with the scoutsetc. and are already qualified to go on the main expedition. Althoughonly for one night, the group had to walk 20km on Saturday which was adaunting task. The Antrim hills did not disappoint, a route full ofmarsh, heather and forest made the walk a challenging one and indeedthere were quite a few falls and legs disappearing into hidden puddles.However the rain stayed away and the walking groups were bathed in sun,making it a challenging but fun walk made all the better knowing thatyou were returning home to your own bed, rather than a tent.

The next stage then is the final expedition on the Isle of Skye.Although 4 days long and around 80km walk in total, the two practiceexpeditions have made it seem less of a near impossible task, andhopefully the good weather we were blessed with over the two weekendswill follow us.

                                                                                  Michael Shannon Year 13

All photographs thanks to Mrs. Reid and Michael Shannon
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