Cheshire Hike 2018
The younger two kids belong to a fabulous Scout group. It was a bit ho-hum when they were Beavers, and on to Cubs, but now that they are in Scouts (actually have been for the last 2-3 years), it is FANTASTIC!! The difference is the leader, as your group is only as good as your leader. Their leader is so organized, and manages the kids well. He takes youth leaders of the Scout group away for a weekend every January where they plot what the group will be doing for the upcoming year, then he produces a calendar, which we receive still in January (customized w Scout photos from the previous year's adventures) with all of the doings for the year, all color-coded as to where the event will take place, if it's a fund-raiser, etc. I honestly do not know what he, as a Scout leader, could do to improve. And he manages all the finance too. We currently have at least 35 Scouts, and 10-15 "older" youth--I'd range their age from 17-22 who dip in/out of the Scout doings. I really just love their Scout group, and the great things they do. Am so glad to have found it, as the first year or so that we were here, I didn't know where our local Scout group was, when it met, etc.
One of the things our county Scouts does is the Cheshire Hike. Now, anyone (living in Cheshire who is a Scout-male or female, or Girl Guide) can do the Cheshire Hike, but not all local Scout groups enter teams or promote it amongst their Scout group. Our local Scout group that our boys belong to is 1st Great Sutton, and generally do have several teams participate in the Cheshsire Hike. About five years ago, our group put forward winning teams, several years running, who won the Cheshire Hike.
It's a very big hike. You enter in pairs. Juniors (aged 11-12 1/2) hike 19 km Saturday, and 12 on Sunday, Intermediates (age 12 1/2-14) hike 25-30km on Sat and 16km on Sunday), Seniors (age 14-16) hike 29-39 km Saturday and 19 km on Sunday, and Senior Plus (16-18 years) hike 34-39 km Saturday and 19 km on Sunday. They achieve scores for various things they need to have in their backpack, if your backpack is under the weight limit, check points (where they are tested on various skills/knowledge), observation points, map reading, your tent and how well you pitch it, adequacy of your food and drink, etc. There's an award ceremony at the very end of the weekend. (I'd be happy just to finish it, and my reward would be a hot shower!!)
Some Scout groups do various drills in their meetings leading up to the Hike. Setting up a tent quickly and correctly, map plotting, etc. Our group did a few hikes in preparation-one at night, and I think one night they worked on plotting map courses. They were advised to take hikes on their own with their back pack filled with dog food, to simulate the weight. They get I think six points (lat-long), and from these, they have 5 minutes to plot their route to the next check point. Checkpoints are spaced about every 5 km. There are MANY different routes, so you can not just follow the group in front of you. There are 4 separate camps (based on the age groups). The hike follows the countryside
W chose not to do the hike the first year he was eligible. He did do it last year, but N did not. This year, both W and N did the hike. Here are some photos.
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| Entry number affixed to W's bag. |
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| W-before adding in the tent and camp stove and some of his food..... |
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| W-side view. Doesn't look too bad, but he has more to put in that bag, and I know its heavy! |
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| W-Rear view |
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| N-front view |
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| N-Side view |
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| N-Rear view |
You are not allowed to contact your child per mobile, nor to follow their location, over the weekend, due to child protection laws. Teams are equipped with pre-programmed mobile phones to be used if they need help, if they feel they are lost, for guidance, etc. They are in sealed containers, so it's obvious if the team received help on the Hike. There are various twitter feeds and fb feeds over the weekend, to keep parents aware. On Saturday evening at 9pm, everyone received a text saying that all junior, senior and senior plus teams were in to their base camps, but that there were a few inter teams still out and being bussed into the Intermediate camp. Of course, they couldn't say what team number, or who, so I was worried all night. I needn't have worried. N and his partner were district Junior winners (different than county winner), and W and his partner were district Inter winners. I'm not sure how many teams entered from our district, but county wide, there were hundreds of teams across the ages. Lots of blisters on their feet, and sore shoulders and arms from carrying their rucksack/weight so far, so long. After a hot meal, and a hot shower, to their warm, soft, quiet beds they went. Lights out!! They left Saturday morning from our house about 715, and got home Sunday evening about 730pm. A long weekend.
In other "news", spring is trying to arrive and stay. Here is a current photo of one of our tulip patches.
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| Budding tulips |
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| Daffodils at our roadside |
Our daffodils are blooming well. There are a few tulip buds in there too (can't see them in this photo), and we planted rose bushes in here in autumn. Roses will still be small this year, but hopefully for next year. The climate here is so good for roses--they just go and go.
That's all for today, folks!! Have a good week. xx
