Silver D of E Expedition

by Cadet Sergeant Lisa Whitaker

Saturday 25^th May brought the first day of a Silver D of E expedition for four cadets and an adult sergeant from 1224 Wharfedale Squadron.

We set off on saturday morning from the town of Addingham at 10:30am, starting with a long hill climb. After a very slow start we reached the village of Draughton where we stopped for lunch. With the sun glaring down upon us, we headed for Halton East and began the second big hill climb of the day, after which we walked along a very scenic route parralel to the River Wharfe and eventually arrived at our campsite in Appletreewick. We set up our tents and started cooking some food, and one of us enjoyed two steaks for dinner! After a satisfying meal, hot showers were in order followed by a bit of social time before we settled down for the night.

We awoke on Sunday to a chilly morning, with sore feet from many blisters and looking rather red from sunburn. We set off at 9:45am, ready to take the day of a slightly longer walk of 17km. We walked through the town of Burnsall then down into Hebden and after one steep rocky hill and a boggy marshland we reached Mossy Moor Reservoir, where we stopped for well deserved lunch. We then proceeded down the valley into Grassington and then on to the town of Linton and continued to the campsite in Threapland, just outside of Cracoe, where we were to spend our second night of the expedition. We arrived at around 6pm, quickly set up camp and ate our dinner, indulged in a shower and got an early night.

Monday morning started rather cloudy as we crept out of our sleeping bags to cook breakfast. Setting off at 10am with high spirits knowing that it was our last day, we headed for the small village of Flasby, which was at the bottom of a hill that stood between us and the town of Embsay, which was our finishing point. At the top we had a quick rest and looked upon the villages of Hetton and Rylstone, which we had travelled through previously and where we had yet to walk. The rain starting to come down as we trekked the last few kilometres to Embsay where we all gladfully removed out rucsacks and tucked into our remaining snacks from the expedition.