Scout Hiking Challenge 2008
The Hiking Challenge was set to run from the summer of 2007 until May 2008. It was designed to replace the Scout Rally and Incident Hike events which had to be cancelled in 2007.
There were two trophies up for grabs. One for completing the longest distance around the London Loop and a second for the best write up of the walks, regardless of how far they walked.
There was only one entry to the competition but I refused to award the trophies on that basis and insisted that it was judged fairly and that if it did not meet a high enough standard then noone would be awarded the trophy. The winning report was judged by the DC, Jill May as it was from my Troop.
| Winners |
|---|
| 9th B&D |
Rosemary and I walked with the Patrols on each of the 10 legs of the London Loop (sections 16 to 1). Our Troop has now walked over a third of the way around London, more than 150 km!
We didnt have the same Scouts every leg, but there was a solid hardcore that come to most of the walks. Our lowest turnout was the last leg, just 4 Scouts, but in almost all the others we had a minibus full, up to 17 of us.
We started walking them in pairs, two legs straight after one another on the same day, in the summer of 2007. We missed one leg because I had a personal matter to attend to, which we completed at a later date.
We had planned to go out during half term but our minibus was stolen. There was a bit of gap before we could arrange another few hikes, using the minibus from the 21st B&D.
For our last leg we didnt have a minibus available so we had a bit of an expedition on the train. We got the underground to London Bridge and then came back past almost the whole route on the overground train to Erith!
Our Scouts did all the map reading, using just the London Loop leaflets (apart from a handful of occasions) and I am very impressed that they only got lost once. While walking the section from Chigwell to Havering-atte-bower we took a detour up the biggest hill around. Akela was not impressed when she realised we neednt have walked up there and that we had gone a little out of our way! Other than that they lead the way and took it in turns to navigate.
I was also very impressed that we didnt have a single complaint. Many times we were tired and they would have liked to stop for a rest or paused to tackle a hill, but they kept going with very little breaks. I am proud of the way they walked, in good spirits, laughing and joking, enjoying the surroundings and tackling the route with gusto. More than once Akela and I had to hurry to keep up the pace they set!
We had many good times over the 8 days and lots of incidents that were very enjoyable. From standing in the middle of the Thames, to standing on top of the hill in Enfield looking over the whole of London. Seeing the dead dog in the river to having lunch by a babbling brook. Taking turns to have a go in the super loos to walking through the forest with the sunlight streaming through and the birds singing.
The London Loop has much to offer people of all ages and we should not forget that there is a whole lot more to London than city traffic and skyscrapers.
We are already planning a hiking camp to tackle the legs in Southwest London and are looking to finish the whole of the Loop over the next year or two.
Photos
PhotosFor further information contact: Darren Dowling | webmaster@barking-dagenham-scouts.org.uk