b'THE ELLESMERIAN 63opportunity to take a dip in the River Dee, after starting the activity with an exhilarating drop over the Horseshoe Falls.This was the pupils assessed expedition, which entailed two days of complete self-sufficiency. Pupils needed to walk and navigate unaccompanied and then provide their own meals and shelter over two days and one night. The first day was spent completing a 15km walk through the hills from Trefechan to Llangollen.Pupils were very tired after the physical demands of the walk so, after making themselves a hot supper, it was an early night all round. The campcraft skills and behaviour demonstrated by pupils was outstanding and, after a speedy breakfast, the various walking groups packed up their tents and set off for their second day of walking. The weather remained good on the second day and the route required some challenging navigation. The groups did incredibly well and their navigation skill were dramatically improved from their training expedition in October. However, a slight navigational error by one group did lead to them having to climb to 550m over Moel Morfydd! After a very successful day of walking the group returned to College ready for a rest before the white water rafting on the final day of expeditions. This proved to be fantastic reward for the hard work pupils had put in over the previous two days. Hauling the boatsSilver Awarddown a steep bank to that start point of the Horseshoe Falls warmed everybody up. We navigated a series of rapids and pupilsThe Michaelmas term started off with the usual training for the enjoyed swimming and jumping off the rafts on the calmer sectionspractice expedition that runs the week before the October half of the river. term. The term started out with team building and leadership tasks to allow walking groups to be selected. The groups then got stuck We then returned to College and the walking groups spent timeinto producing route cards and putting their routes on maps. To drying out their tents and completing presentations on the aim ofensure they were as ready as possible we also took time to polish their walk. Aims ranged from examining the impact of man on thethe pupils navigation skills, tent assembly, camp cooking and bag environment to studying the local wildlife. The assessor waspacking, so they could walk in the right direction, stay dry, and eat extremely impressed with the presentations and all pupilssomething; all essential when trying to complete an expedition in the successfully passed their Bronze assessed expedition. Welsh wilderness.JKEThe morning of the practice expedition was sunny, which is always a relief to staff and pupils alike. Once kit checks and packing were done,'