I have to say that the Windermere AT camp is one of the best things I have done as a cadet! I never knew the satisfaction you can get from just walking to places!
I was going to write a day by day diary for you all but sadly, up north, the internet hasn't quite caught up yet, they are still just getting over sliced bread!
We went walking for 3 of the days, and it may sound boring but every single place is different, for 2 of them we did low level walks in between valleys so that the staff could see what we were capable of in terms of map reading.
Then on the 3rd day we attempted to reach the peak of Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England, sadly, when we got closer we realised that the peak was covered in snow, and we didn't have any instructors qualified to do anything in something in snow, so instead we decided to go for the next highest ones and managed to hit 5 peaks in one day before getting lost and having to edge our way down the side of a crag, after getting down the steep part, we just had to walk across some fields back to the buses, but CI Fitt still managed to end up on his rear end!
For the 4th day we went climbing in an old quarry, it was really fun doing it on live rock especially since there were so many routes. I tried folloing a crack in the rockface and also attempted to do a particularly nasty overhang, but I failed on the second one. Then we went up to the top of the quarry and abseiled down it, getting over the edge was the hardest part considering I could only see a 60ft drop behind me!
At 1300, my team packed up from the climbing and headed over to Grizedale Forest for some orienteering. We went for the medium route and got 6 out of 9. Even though, we didn't finish it, we did the best because the other teams only got that many when they were doing the easy route. It was loads of fun even if we did get lost once or twice.
On Thursday we packed all our kit for an expedition, then the staff dropped us off at a car park, showed us where we had to be in 2 hours, and then drove off! It was only a 4 kM walk and we just went slowly and had a laugh. When we got there they gave us the option of staying there (boring!), or climbing Helvellyn, one of the tallest peaks in the Lake District. Obviously I climbed Helvellyn and we had a snowball fight when we got near the snowline! When we got back down they told us it was too cold to camp out, but we could pretend we were doing an exped anyway and cook our ratpacks outside and put up a tent. It was fun but it got dark far too quickly!
On the last day we headed over to Keswick and cooked our breakfast, it felt a bit weird cooking and eating ration pack breakfasts in a supermarket car park! Then we went to 'Go Ape!', a high ropes course that was in a forest near Keswick. It was one of the best things I have ever done, it was like a big obstacle course, except 50ft in the air! The best parts were the tarzan swing and the zipwire, where you just jump off a platform and into thin air...new pants all round!
After we had finished, we went into the town centre to do some shopping, where I bought a battered haggis! A lost delicacy of the North!
Everyone was sad to leave as we had gotten to know each other quite well, but at the same time I think everyone was glad to finally be going home after working so hard for a week.
Sgt Alex Goodman
Newbury Air Cadets