On the 28th May, 45 L6th students set off for their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award training expedition. The walking groups were situated at either Blair Atholl or Dunkeld and there was a canoe group on Loch Tay. A good weather forecast made for a glorious start after 2 years of alternative style expeditions. The students were in great spirits, arriving well prepared with healthy and varied food menus. Day 1 established camp and refreshed critical camp skills such as tent pitching and cooking in the field. This proved to be a good decision by the instructors as the weather soon turned grim for day 2 and 3, so camp skills needed to be spot on.

The training was a huge success, the overall feeling was that the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the difficult weather conditions made the training significantly more valuable.

The assessment expedition will take place in August, with the route being fully planned by the students. Now that they know their group’s capability and intentions from the training expedition, Mr Rowlands and Mr Monair are looking forward to seeing their plans. More updates will be posted on Twitter @FC_Expeditions