A day off work! Woot Woot! No public drinking, so only one place to go, the hash. Bendover stepped in at the last minute to help out when Blows Herself got sick – she got better enough to run though!
A familiar spot along Sameong Road, and when I parked up, it was likely the hill would be involved. Harebrief done, and we set off. I guessed the first few checks right, hugging the rubber wall. I even managed to talk Brownie into checking the wrong way up. Finally the inevitable happened and we were climbing, with the pack all close together. A V-check where Tasty nobly took the trail back down the hill, and the rest of us continued up. I’ve been up and down this hill so many times over the years, and pushed on up. It is a serious climb…
Finally a check, and I turned sharp left, following Brownie I later found out – it was a gimme… The trail started down a bit, traversing the side of the mountain. The pack were thundering along behind, and so I edged to the side to let Brownie pass, which we didn’t until Graven came charging up. I let them both head off to the beer stop. Beer stop protocol is an ongoing debate… I sat for a while… it was hot… I was hot… I set off with Tasty and Brownie and Cartoon, but it wasn’t long before the pack caught us. I was down to a slow jog, as the pack caught up at a strangely placed circle check.
I went back a bit and spotted some paper, and as I was about to call “ON”, my call changed to “OH SHIT!” as there was a terrifying bridge over a chasm of death! Or well, a few branches to scramble across a metre or so drop. I edged my way over on my ass while Strangely Anal stood behind debating whether to call ONON or not. Once I was free, I called and set off, holding the pack off until the ladder climb. We got to a mainer trail and I was sure we had to go right back to the A, but the quarry has grown, and also the paper was leading us up into an orchard. I was sceptical, which gave Chuckie his chance to take command.
Another circle – the last – foxed me completely as I was sure we would go back to the mainer trail. Nope, Chuckie was right, and I walked in a bit behind the pack. Nice set, lots of climbing, lots of descending.