During the weekend of 27/28th March, over 50 Explorer Scouts from Woking took part the Woking District’s annual 2 day lightweight expedition challenge.
Most of the Scouts will use the weekend experience as their practise for the Expedition section of the Chief Scouts Award and Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and will carry out their final qualifying expedition in the Black Mountains in Wales in May.
A team led by Aaron Gauntlet from The Maverick Unit in Westfield won the competition.
All the teams were extremely competitive, and they all had the added challenge this year to get to their finish on the Sunday at Liss station on time, where the trains only ran on a hourly basis. The training which began last October has certainly paid off and the weekend will hold the scouts in good stead for their final expedition in Wales.”
The teams had to catch the train early on the Saturday from Woking to their start point at Milford Station. They then had to navigate to Blackdown near Fernhurst, along the Serpents Trail and up to the Temple of the Winds view point, where they could see as far as Chanterbury Ring, and also the storm lashing down on Woking, whilst they bathed in sunshine. The day ended at their campsite in Camelsdale where they cooked and enjoyed meals such as spicy chorizo sausages and pasta and kedgeree. In bright sunshine the second day’s hike took the scouts across the Sussex Border Path to Liss, where they had to catch the train back to Woking. During the expedition the Scouts had to complete a project based on the flora and fauna found in Frillinghurst Wood and Blackdown, and then give a humorous account of their findings.
The route saw teams of 4 to 5 scouts aged 14 to 18yrs old, on a 45 kilometre hike, carrying all their equipment including food and cooking gear for the two days.