Grinton, Feetham, Gunnerside, Muker and a slow group

The girls had a relatively straightforward route from Grinton to Muker today. There were some light showers in the morning but it turned into a cracking afternoon when the sun came out. As I expected, they struggled with their heavy bags on their first expedition and walked at around 2kmph. This resulted in a rather lazy day for myself and a lot of waiting around. Because this was their first exped, I didn't want to leave them alone or out of sight for too long - just in case they went too far wrong. To my surprise, they still managed to take the wrong track a couple of times and I spied them sitting aimlessly at the side of the road looking rather sorry for themselves.

Looking across the River Swale from Ramps Holme towards Muker, Yorkshire Dales

Keeping a close eye on them, I managed to get them to walk a little faster and eventually they arrived at their first camp in Muker. The look on their faces, as the rain started while they were putting up tents, was priceless to say the least!

Looking across the River Swale from Ramps Holme towards Muker, Yorkshire Dales

After taking through tomorrow's route, making sure they didn't set fire to anything, and seeing them all eat something hot, I headed over the hill to Hawes for the night. Hopefully the girls will be faster tomorrow.

The Dales, Hawes, Grinton and D of E

This evening I drove down to The Dales to assess a group of fifth year girls from George Watson's College on their D of E silver practice expedition. James and I drove down the M6 in convoy and were in Hawes for a spot of afternoon tea by mid afternoon. It was a gloriously hot sunny day and we had made good time driving down from Edinburgh.

Eventually the coach arrived in Hawes and half of the groups got settled into Hawes Hostel. After helping to unload all the gear, I headed over the hills to Grinton Lodge to get the others settled in. On the way there I had a fantastic view over the fells and, looking at the forecast, it was looking like it was going to hold for the next few days.

After sorting out rooms, kit, tents etc, it was time for the traditional English hostel three course meal - magic. I then sat down with the girls and talked them through the next few days. They all seemed a bit unsure about everything. As it turns out, none of them had done bronze before and this was to be their first expedition. It's certainly going to be an interesting few days...