For the third time in a row we win the Rayner Trophy

The Rayner Trophy is a senior scout hiking competition, known as one of the toughest competitions for scouts in South Africa. The secrecy surrounding the hiking destination each year and the activities we complete over the course of the hike secured it immediately as one of my favorite activities undertaken as a scout. I have competed in the Rayner Trophy four times, hiking the Highland Trail in Kleinmond, along a beach by the Koeberg power station, and twice at the Hawequas Scout Ranch, and each one has been a challenging and adventurous weekend where us scouts created hilarious memories and jokes. This year I was in a team alongside Thomas Roomes, Simon Bean and Natasha Roomes.

The competition was held at Hawequas over the first weekend of March. Though the area was well known to most of the scouts, the combination of temperatures of 30+ and an extremely steep first hour of hiking ensured the competition lived up to its challenging reputation. Night bases were a blast as usual, with our team acing Morse Code for the first time in our scouting careers, and us successfully popping balloons from across a “deadly chasm” (the Barn floor) and disarming “reactive nuclear isotopes” (more commonly known as buckets of water).

The second day of hiking drew us away from Hawequas in the morning, and we returned in the afternoon by kloofing on the river. This take on the Rayner hikes was new and exciting, as well as a welcome reprieve from the heat. Pioneering and lifesaving were paired with water bases at every opportunity to provide relief for the scouts.

Meal prep is always a huge highlight because each team can really comes into their own with the variety of meals allowed. Sharing tastes of different patrol’s meals and concocting our own was one of my favorite times, and adding small details and surprising judges with drinks, desserts and menus always puts a smile on my face.

Rayner 2020 cultivated new friendships from other troops, taught the training team the ropes for next year, and to my team’s delight, gave us the opportunity to have the Rayner Trophy in our den for another year! Overall, it really was one for the books.

Rebecca Sparg