Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Expedition

Written by Hermione Foster and James Harvey

Poland 2006 brought us our Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Awards but it did much more in addition. There was the challenge of the mountains, the beauty of the landscape, the horrors of Auschwitz, the delights of Krakow - all given added meaning and value by the charisma and unity of our team.

Ninety Kilometres of Trek

Our trek commenced at Kiry, an entry point to the Tatra mountains. Our first summit, Giewont or ‘the Sleeping Knight’, at 1,801 metres was not the highest of the trek but it was still a challenge for only our second day.

Day three was arguably our best day. The weather cleared progressively so that by the time we reached the top of our next ridge we had breathtaking views laid at our feet.

Swidnica at 2,300 metres didn’t give up its crown without a struggle but we were rewarded from this highest of borders by more spectacular vistas, stretching now into Slovakia.

The next day we covered over sixteen kilometers, passing through the beautiful valley of the five lakes and the largest waterfall in Poland.

We arrived at a hut where we were to spend two nights. This was the base for our toughest ascent yet: Mount Rysy at 2,499 metres, with only six in our party achieving its awe-inspiring summit in less than ideal weather conditions. 

top

Auschwitz and Krakow

We had finished our walking, traveling over ninety kilometers in five days but our trip was not yet over. Our bus took us straight to Auschwitz concentration camp. Words fail to express the harrowing emotions engendered by this place and so it was in a somewhat sombre mood that we were to enter the city of Krakow and arrive at our final hostel.

Suitably refreshed by a fine supper and some equally fine story-telling we were ready for our last day of sight-seeing and exploration in this wonderful city of gothic architecture.

top