Aiden Macdonald completed preparatory training for his Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award, including courses on emergency preparedness, first aid, navigation, camping skills, and food safety. He then undertook a practice journey and qualifying journey. The qualifying journey involved hiking over 14 km on the first day to set up camp at Flora Lake. Heavy rain impacted the third day's hike to Greendrop Lake. After two nights camping, the group hiked back to their base camp, arriving soaked but having gained valuable experience.

1. Presentation
for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – Silver
by Aiden Macdonald

2. Preliminary Training
As a Group Youth Commissioner and a member of Scouts Canada for
10 years, I have acquired several skills, as well I have received and taught
training courses in many areas. For this, I helped our Advisor set-up
an 8 hour refresher course for our Adventurous Journey group that was held
on July 15th, 2014.
Refresher course included:
 Emergency Preparedness & Survival training
 First Aid
 Map, Compass and GPS training
 Campfire safety
 “Wilderness Code of Behaviour” training
 Food-Safe basic training
 Proper and safe use of camping equipment
 Light-weight camp/hike training
 The importance of campsite selection

3. Our Practice Journey
 When did you go?
 July 19th & 20th, 2014
 Where did you go?
 We went to Chilliwack Lake Provincial
Campground for our practice journey.
Our 6 km hike took us to Lindeman
Lake where we set up our one night
camp to return the next day.
 What did you do?
 Before and during our Practice Journey,
we rehearsed what we had discussed at
our Preliminary Training update plus
specific additional topics such as:
 Bear Safety
 What to do in a Thunder Storm
 Light weight cooking & food preparation
 Route plan analysis for our Qualifying Journey
 How to use our new GPS
 Appropriate Clothing for the forecast

4. Our Practice Journey Cont.
 How did this prepare you for
the Qualifying Journey?
 Our discussions during our
practice journey greatly helped us
plan for any situation that may
occur during our Qualifying
Journey.
 The knowledge and discussion of
what to do during a lightning
storm helped us as we did in fact
face a lightning storm. It also
helped gauge the physical fitness
limits and pace of the group as a
whole.

5. Base Camp
 At our base camp, situated at the bottom of the
mountain, we organized and rationed all our food and
supplies prior to setting out.

6. Equipment
 Personal Equipment
 Sleeping Bag
 Rain Gear
 Dry Clothes
 Extra Socks and Shoes
 A water bottle/cup
 A Hat
 Odorless personal sundries &
sunscreen
 Backpack
 Flashlight & Batteries
 Group Equipment
 Lightweight Tents
 Food
 30 ft of light cord
 First-Aid Kit
 Butane Gas canisters
 2 Single Burner stoves
 Matches & a Flintstone
 Laminated Maps
 GPS and Compass
 1 Tarp
 1 Kettle
 1 Pot
 1 Lifestraw (water filtering system)

7. Day 1 – Start of our Journey!
We were excited to begin our
journey through the flora lake
trail!
 Hit the Trail at 7 AM
 Terrain was Steep and Rugged
 We saw amazing scenery and
wildlife
 We travelled about 14 km to Flora
Lake on Day 1
 We set up camp about 6 PM

8. Day 1 Part 2
 The hike was tiring because it
was up hill, but we were making
progress.
 We slowly made our way up the
mountain. As we continued it
began getting increasingly steep.
 We saw snow caps and a single
deer
 The weather had been very
bright, but as we travelled up it
began getting more misty.

9. Day 1 Part 3
 Our first check point! Time
for some rest.
 This area just short of half way
up the mountain, but it
appeared to be quite high.
 Here, we took several pictures
and had a couple snacks.
 Some of us began feeling
fatigue in our legs, but this
rest period immensely
restored our energy for the
soon to be even a more uphill
battle.

10. Day 1 Part 4
 Nearing the top
 This area is very significant
for the absolute thirst we
felt.
 As the sun shined bright,
our water had began
running low, so we had to
rely on natural water
sources as we hiked.
 We planned a visit to a
stream of fresh cold
mountain water to refill our
water bottles.

11. Day 1 Part 5
 Reached the Summit!
 At the highest point we
reached while on the trail, a
sense of relief for sure, as we
realized that there would be
no more uphill treks.
 The air had been damp and
cool, but the incredible
amount of mosquitoes did
not allow us to enjoy the
weather!

12. Day 1 Part 6
 Time to go downhill!
 The trail became muddy.
 The downhill trek went
quite quickly and was a lot
of fun. Although the drizzle
and water trickling down
the mountain had made the
trail down more difficult
and muddy, we were able to
get to Flora lake on
schedule.

13. Day 1 Part 7
 Finally we had arrived at Flora
Lake!
 The lake beautiful. Green and see
through, the reflection of the
trees created a beautiful
landscape.
 The sun shined on the mountains
to create a contrast to the dark
lake.
 We began unpacking our
equipment and setting up camp.
 The mosquitoes were extremely
thick.

14. Day 1 Part 8
 Tent up, time to rest after our
14 kilometer hike to Flora
Lake!
 Time for some dinner
 And then time to sleep, we all
needed our rest

15. Day 2
 Breakfast time!
 Relaxation day. We
decided to rest for the
entire day after the hike
from the first. We
played cards and
chatted for the day, as
well as planned out the
rest of the trip.
 We all took a shower

16. Day 3 Part 1
 Time to get on the trail
again.
 Broke camp at 8 AM and
headed north west toward
Greendrop Lake
 The rain subsided a little
from time to time, but
then poured at other
times.

17. Day 3 Part 2
 A boulder path, a
landslide had covered
the path some years
earlier.
 As soon as we started
into the trail, a
thunderstorm began.
 The rocks were
slippery in the rain so
we took it slowly!

18. Day 3 Part 3
 Partway through the trail,
a little break for noodles
in the rain.
 We set up a tarp shelter,
just to get a break from
the rain.
 We were getting very wet.
 Even the best gear was no
match for this rain.

19. Day 3 Part 4
 Even more boulder paths!
 There were several of these
boulder paths throughout
the trail to Greendrop
Lake. Over time we began
getting quite well at
maneuvering through
them.

20. Day 3 Part 5
 Pictured is an area where we became
confused as a recent landslide had
covered the path, but our training
was good and Greendrop was upon
us.
 We arrived and set up camp at
Greendrop Lake at 4 PM.
 Met up with the Park Ranger who
was hiking the opposite direction
(first human contact in almost two
days).
 Hoped the rains would let up, but
they only became worse as the night
went on.
 Needed to secure a lightening safe
space for the tents and tarp shelter.
 Dinner, a game of cards and bed was
the only agenda.

21. Day 4 – Return to base camp
 The wet had definitely gotten the
better of our patience and gear
 Even though the rain had subsided by
morning, our gear was a lot heavier for
the last leg of our Journey.
 We packed up camp at 9 AM and
continued our hike past Lindeman
Lake, where we had been a few days
earlier, to the base camp at Chilliwack
Lake Provincial Campground
 Arrived back at the base camp at 2:45
PM in time for a late Lunch which our
Advisor had ready for us.
 Unpacking and drying the equipment
took a lot more time than anticipated.