by Erin Derbyshire, Duke of Edinburgh Program Coordinator
On the morning of January 18, a group of brave Grade 10 students took off on a quest to complete their expedition portion of the Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. The Duke of Edinburgh program is available for all of our senior school students. It encourages students to be well-rounded individuals by completing community service, physical activity, learning new skills, and participating in outdoor journeys.
Our adventure started in the wilderness just south of North Bay at a beautiful log cabin operated by Voyager Quest, our guides for the trip. Students were well prepared for the frosty temperatures predicted after completing a practice trip in early December, where temperatures dropped to -20C. Sunday night, the students learned more particulars about the trip, the various roles they would play and set group goals for our time together. On Monday morning, starting at 6 a.m., the group worked together to pack our personal and group gear and load the sleds to transport everything we would need at our winter camping site. After a hearty breakfast, we trekked 3 kilometres by snowshoe across a lake to our site. Our day was then spent setting up a sleeping tent, lugging water from the lake, finding and cutting firewood and getting our tents ready for the night. We had three canvas sleeping tents, each equipped with a small woodstove to help keep us warm as temperatures were predicted to tumble below -30C that night. Although the next morning was chilly, everyone was well prepared as we worked together to pack up the campsite and head back to the main cabin. The trek back was much quicker, and after a delicious lunch, we headed out on a beautiful snowshoe hike (without the sleds) that had us crossing over rivers, using ropes to get up hills and snow up to our waist! That night, students cooked dinner by lantern light and slept in cabins heated by woodstoves. We capped off the trip with a final snowshoe hike along the ridge trail to a beautiful lookout.
Despite the challenging conditions, students remained positive, supportive and flexible. They worked hard and should be very proud of themselves for meeting and surpassing the challenges set before them on their Silver Expedition.
*Editor's note: Huge congratulations to the students for completing this challenge, and massive thanks to Ms. Derbyshire and Ms. Royce for their guidance and encouragement!
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