Lure of the Wild Country

Adaring girl by nature, Lizzie Dingle felt she wanted to take some time out and learn a bit about her chosen subject before going to university.

To raise money for her gap year adventures, the 19-year-old, her younger brother Charlie and two sisters, Rebecca and Helen, cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats – in under two weeks.

But despite managing the feat in this time, and having completed several Ten Tors challenges over the years, nothing was to prepare her for panning for gold in the wilderness of north-west Canada.

“Camping out high up and being able to see the mountains everywhere around you was the most amazing thing,” she says of her five-week stint in the country’s Yukon territory.

She spent half her time on the McQuesten Lake, canoeing and panning for gold, and the other half in the Selwyn mountain range, appropriately named after Alfred Selwyn, the director of the Geological Survey of Canada which took place between 1869 and 1895. Appropriate because Lizzie was off to study for a degree in natural sciences and geology just three weeks after her return.

The former Taunton College student from Cullompton, East Devon, wanted an insight into her chosen subject before starting at the University of Durham, so signed up with the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES).

The charity, which last year celebrated its 75th anniversary, was founded by the late Surgeon Commander G. Murray Levick, a member of Scott’s 1910-1913 Antarctic expedition. It provides opportunities for 16- to 23-year-olds to take part in adventure projects that involve science research in some of the world’s wildest places.

To raise the required pounds4,000, Lizzie worked and undertook sponsored events, like her cycle trip to John O’Groats. Managing to secure a place on the team, she flew out to Canada with 25 other students, hoping to strike it lucky.

“The area became famous during the Gold Rush for its deposits of precious minerals,” says Lizzie. “But I didn’t have any luck and didn’t find any gold.

“We spent the rest of our time in the mountains. There was no one around for miles. It felt truly isolated.”

“We were divided into three groups. I was in a group which climbed ridges and mountains and looked at the geology of the place.

“Others were more into biology and animals so they studied the local wildlife. They saw quite a lot of wolverines, water fowl, peacocks, caribou and bears.

“It was so remote – a completely different way of life. It was challenging, but it was also fascinating.”

With the most recent maps of the region dating back to the 1960s, the group had to rewrite their own.

They slept in tents and trekked from food drop to food drop, on one occasion having to trek along a riverbank in the middle of the night to avoid missing their next one.

“That was the eeriest thing,” she says. “Walking at 2am along this river and hearing the animals rustling in the foliage and the trees. We could even hear bears, which was a bit scary.”

But despite her near encounter with Canada’s nocturnal wildlife, Lizzie is already planning another trip into the wilderness – this time in Europe.

Also organised by the BSES, her expedition to central Norway this summer will allow Lizzie to build on what she learned in Canada and the first year of her degree.

She is also hoping to gain an NVQ certificate in group leadership and management and develop her first-aid skills.

She has already raised an impressive pounds1,700 towards the cost of the trip.

“I’ve raised money doing the Three Peaks Challenge and other things and will be working during my holidays,” says Lizzie, who has six months left to raise the remaining pounds1,800 sponsorship money.

“My mum and dad and the rest of the family are all very supportive. They really encouraged me to go on the BSES expedition.

“I think it’s very important to get more young people involved in scientific field work, discovering nature and exploring wild regions of the world.”

Anyone wishing to sponsor Lizzie’s next trip to Norway can contact her via e-mail on lizzie_dingle@ hotmail.com

(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.