A DALES adventurer completed a challenge of a lifetime after spending a 16-day trek on horseback to Lake Khosvgol Nuur in Mongolia.
Jack Morphet, 21, from Sedbergh, joined friends Joshua Hosford, 20, from Dorset and Tomos Davies, 21, from London to ride 250 miles unsupported from Moron in Mongolia, to the top of the 14th largest lake in the world in Khakh.
The trip took 28 days in total, and to their knowledge they are only the third British group to ever complete it.
The project was made possible with the support of the Mark Evison Foundation, which provided the team with a grant of £5,000 towards its cost.
The charity’s mission is to promote in young people their own personal, mental and physical development through challenge.
Jack said: "We originally had planned to circumnavigate the lake but it took longer than we initially thought to source and buy the horses, which delayed our departure by five days, so we had to change our plans. But this meant we ended up riding for nearly 50 more miles and saw the most stunning landscape.
"The experience has benefited us hugely. We have learnt many new practical equestrian skills and have also strengthened our mental skills, necessary for expeditions. We had some hairy moments surviving on less than 1,000 kcal a day; staying up all night to ensure no one stole our horses; and the difficulty with the language barrier. But all of these really encapsulated what this was all about – an old fashioned adventure."
The team is now raising funds for the Mark Evison Foundation and is making a high-quality video of the trip.
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Dr Margaret Evison, executive trustee of the foundation, said: “The team have done amazingly well with what was a fascinating and challenging project, involving horse buying in Mongolian markets, survival in the wild, and finally creating a video about it all.
"They have come back with not only a new set of practical skills, but also the confidence and increased resilience that comes from dealing with hardship individually and as a team."
To support their effort please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Chomping-at-the-bit
To find out more about the Mark Evison Foundation and support its work please visit http://www.markevisonfoundation.org
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