Duke of Edinburgh Expedition

On Friday 3rd September, 12 intrepid explorers from 5th Form set off from Merchiston for the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Expedition to Ben Alder. Our challenge: to spend three days hiking 55 kilometres and camping around Ben Alder, whilst being assessed on our skill in areas of D of E such as map reading and camp craft.

We arrived on the first night to fairly cold weather, and we all immediately set up our tents. We got off to a quick start the next morning, and were soon underway, with one group taking one route to the campsite near Ben Alder, and the other two taking the other way.

The weather had been wet on and off all day, and during our approach, the weather deteriorated, and wet tents, (hands, bags, and in fact everything apart from the waterproofs), were a common occurrence during our set up.

The night provided more of the same, with high winds and rain continual difficulties to our ability to sleep, along with the occasional tent-flooding. We awoke on the second day to discover the small streams we remembered from the day before had become fully flowing rivers!

Eventually, we made our way out, and decided to take a trip down to the farm of Mr. Armstrong’s parents, in Perthshire. They very kindly allowed us to camp in one of their fields, and we all enjoyed a drying bonfire during the night. The next day, we packed up for the final time, before going on a 10 kilometre walk through the Perthshire hills.