Page 12 - Mercian Eagle 2014

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Cpl Chambers and LCpls Browning and McCormack on the final miles through Red Rock Canyon
Beginning the descent in Lucerne Valley on the first night
wouldn’t be any Starbucks in the Mojave Desert that we planned to cross and we would need to cover more than double the distance. But none the less, we began on schedule, loading up the group’s pick-up truck with all the kit, equipment and staples of life that we would require. Water alone would run at 200 litres per day.
The trekkers were forward mounted to
a start point high in the San Bernardino National Forest at the idyllic Big Bear Lake. Having learnt from our acclimatisation experience, most of the on foot movement would be conducted under cover of darkness when temperatures were considerably lower. But high in these hills,
we were comfortable and set off with
high morale, confident that we would complete the first trek of our epic journey without any complications, despite Pte Holmes insistence that bears would carry most of the group away and regardless
of our assurances that the nearest bears were over 500 miles away. After climbing through the forest we began our decent into Lucerne Valley where our first desert camp had been established in a dry lake. A borrowed cam net from the USMC provided shade and issued mosquito nets would protect from snakes and spiders,
a much more credible threat than the aforementioned bears. Food is waiting for
a grateful and exhausted group who have trekked thirty miles tonight, arriving at 0400 after eight hours on the move.
The following morning and we would get our first taste of the desert. By 0900 the temperature is soaring past 32oC and only getting hotter. The group is exhausted, but the nearby town of Lucerne provides much needed ice cream and bemused looks from locals not used to tourists in this sleepy desert mining town.
Over the next two weeks the group would continue through the town of Baker, via Barstow and Death Valley and into the finish point at Red Rock Canyon, covering over 250 miles on foot in some of the
most demanding terrain and environmental conditions available. All junior commanders in the group would experience navigating and leading through the desert, mountains and canyons of California and Nevada.
On the final night trek along Rocky Gap Valley, the group got their first glimpse of the reward that had kept blistered and tired feet going, Las Vegas. Through a gap in
the mountains, the lights of The Strip could clearly be seen, just a few hours trek and a short vehicle move away. As the sun rose on the final morning, the group were met by the stunning Red Rock Canyon.
And so the trek was complete, hundreds of miles covered and £1,500 raised for the Mercian Benevolent Fund. The reward was three days in Fabulous Las Vegas, and what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
LCpl Bush conducts a desert nav check
THE MERCIAN EAGLE