THE pretty ordinary weather of the late summer and early autumn did not dampen the enthusiasm of Beath High School's Duke of Edinburgh Award seekers.

On Monday September 4 17 pupils from S5 set off on their Duke of Edinburgh Silver assessed expedition. This was three days of hiking in the Ochil Hills with two overnight camps and it was a pretty exacting experience.

Alice Fox writes: "We set off from Muckhart and within minutes of leaving the minibus the heavens opened. This torrential rain continued the entire day without stopping. "Everyone was utterly soaked through, every layer of clothing and, to be honest, we were all utterly miserable. "However, out of these challenging conditions came camaraderie, a great sense of humour and fantastic teamwork as we all worked hard to keep each other’s spirits high and to keep going."

A short detour to the Tormaukin Inn for a hot chocolate, a piece of tablet and a chance to dry off a little in front of the open fire helped morale!

After seven hours they reached camp and luckily the rain had eased a little making pitching tents and cooking dinner a lot easier.

Added Alice: "Day two saw yet more rain although this wasn’t continuous as it had been the previous day. As with day one, the terrain underfoot was extremely boggy and it was a relief to get out of wet boots and clothes again that night.

"The final day brought dry weather! Spirits were high and we were very motivated to get to get to our final destination in Glenfarg. We all literally speed-marched without stopping for lunch!

"I don’t think anyone on that expedition particularly enjoyed the experience at the time, however, looking back, we all feel a huge sense of achievement.

"This achievement is both on a personal and team level. This year’s DofE Silver Group is the largest that Beath has ever had and at this moment in time, 14 of the 17 pupils have expressed a strong interest in continuing onto doing Gold. We only hope that the weather is kinder to us next time".