Page 25 - 2007 AMA Summer

Capt Rawlinson (L) &Sgt Vanden (R) at the first night's camp.
members. After the obligatory group photos we began to decent and follow the ridge on once again. All thoughts of only heading downhill were dashed as our route undulat­ ed and bucked it’s way to Cabana Podragu - a moun­ tain hut where we would spend the night.
The final day was ten hours of decent to the village of Victoria. Once again the BFPs proved their worth in taking some of the weight off our knees. As we descended, so the temperature rose and we were delighted to discover our campsite also doubled as the local communal swim­ ming pool. Bliss. That swim was the best swim ever, despite the water turning sev­ eral shades greyer as one by one the group dived in.
From Victoria we bade farewell to the BFPs - safe in the knowledge some walkers heading up into the moun­ tains would put them to good use. We caught the train back to Bucharest just in time to do some more sightseeing before we flew back to England the next day.
The expedition worked out very well. At somewhere over 90km it achieved it’s aim of being arduous and adventur­ ous and of bonding the staff in preparation for Op TELIC 10 in 2007. It also gave us the opportunity to see a country few of us would have other­ wise visited.
CpI Wilshaw on the descent.