A Welsh Adventure

On 31st May - 4th June, Pocklington detachment took 11 cadets to Wales for a 5 day expedition. The cadets were put through their paces with navigation training and testing at 2, 3 and 4 star as well as gaining expedition skills and the cadets were given the chance to cook an evening expedition meal each night, working together as a team. We had incredible weather for the trip, cloudless skies and the temperature did not go below 20 degrees during the day, although this added to the challenges of the day without a lot of shade to offer some respite. Over our 4 nights, we camped at 3 campsites, which each gave us different, but beautiful scenery throughout.

The first day started off with a short 3km walk along the Mawddach Trail to stretch our legs after the journey to Wales, seeing us into the first campsite of the trip (Cefn Coed). The first team were then up for cooking the first group meal of the trip.

Day 2 we had a 16km walk through Coed-y-Brenin forest, with some steep ascents in the morning, the day heated up in the afternoon and with little shade it tested the cadets resolve to continue into our next campsite by Trawfyndd Lake (Cae Adda). We saw different terrain and scenery on this walk, from forests to lakes to mountains on all sides and with a closure on the footbridge at the end, a trek across some sandy dunes were necessary to reach the campsite.

Day 3 we left our second campsite behind and travelled further north to Beddgelert. A shorter walk today, but no means easier with some steep climbs again during the hottest part of the day (but worth the views at the top and a good place to stop and have lunch), however once again the cadets overcame the challenges and continued to put their navigation skills to the test walking into our final campsite at Llyn Gwynant.

Day 4, our final day for walking and the cadets were certainly feeling the strain from the walks and heat of the past 3 days. Today a gentler 8km walk around Llyn Ogwen to Capel Curig, we began with a scramble over some rocks around the lake before finding flatter paths to the end. We then transported to Llanberis for the afternoon, where we took the train up Snowden to give our feet a rest and take in the stunning views the mountain had to offer before having a chippy tea in town and heading back to camp for our final night.

Day 5, the final and adventure training day. An early start to the morning to strike camp, but worth it for the event planned for the day. Our adventure training activity at Go Below took us into an old Victorian slate mine for zip wires, climbing, abseiling and waterfalls (although with little rain from the past 2 weeks it was more of a trickle) and the coolest spot of the trip to have lunch.

The cadets and CFAV who attended would like to thank the Yorkshire Cadet Trust who provided funding for this expedition, without which it could not have gone ahead.