Today was Turkish Delight, and he picked around Ban Pong past San Kamphaeng – a place guaranteed to get complaints from everyone, to the north or the south! But really with the new road, it isn’t so bad, and when I got there, lots were milling around already. Milling around nervously sharing tales of previous TD fuck-ups! Nobody remembers the good runs, just the reasons he is known as a GM’s delight! A little heckling in the harebrief, but he was eager to set us off. We were part way along the lake, and he pointed us back towards the dam.
None of us had seen any paper on the drive in, so Graven and I lazily walked along the dam wall while Brownie followed the trail below – everyone scanning the distance, but not seeing anything. Finally we were called back down the road and then cutting onto a turkey run hacking our way to the left. There was a bit of a traffic jam, but better to be patient at this point, and soon enough we were on open trails. A good trail had us running smoothly until I spotted the main FRBs ahead looking confused. A glance to the left showed a False Trail hidden neatly on the back of a tree. The hare was definitely winning this battle as we turned back and followed Knock Out and Pussy Whisperer.
In my mind now we had 2 choices, around the lake, or back around the hill to the east of the lake – left or right. God Damn It, the hare was twisting us all up with the tight checks, keeping the pack close together. We headed towards a hill and I was gripped with fear, as there is no good solution from there. If we go up that hill, it is a brutal climb – I know – I’ve set it, with KO. But if we go up it we can’t go down the other side, we’d have to hack higher, and around to the left, and I know that hill is full of the kind of shit that Turkey might just decide to use… Damnit. I was worried! I was slowly making my way back towards the front, and the pack started coming back just to my left. There wasn’t much space there, and they weren’t far away!
I cut across and I was back in the game! Graven had shared some information – at an earlier check he had seen Turkish at the end of the dam – apparently he had seen the ONIN already. but having seen the hare there gave a lot away, and we had to be heading to the dam. Now the checks were starting to get easier – I’ve been here before. A circle check and first TMB comes back to check another way, I carried on, and saw Graven poking around, and Sups coming towards us down the main trail saying he hadn’t seen paper there. Sloppy was hacking his way through the hill on the right. I decided I didn’t want to go up the hill, so the only way I wanted to go back was skirting around the side of the hill. I did so, but went 150m or so before I found paper… I really wasn’t sure whether to call on, as I wasn’t sure if I’d missed part of the trail, or we could even have been on the out-trail – the trails were FFFFking close together!
I was right, and I was at the front. Another check, and it had to be left, but then there were 2 trails – I plodded along the right one, while Brownie and Graven charged along the flatter left one. I was right, but they weren’t going to go back, they were looking for the intersect, and sure enough after 100m the trails almost joined. I saw them, 10m to my left, charging along. I asked – are you on trail? Graven replied “I’m on a great trail!”, I asked, “is there paper?”, and the reply was “no…” Hmmmm… I guess I will follow the paper that turns away from your great trail then and leave you to run in to the out trail! I called ONON, that is all I could do… Chuckie followed, as did, the Lizzard! Chuckie had honourably done a ridiculous false trail up the hill, that nobody else even considered doing – he said it was 200m, it could have been 400m, nobody could validate the story! But he caught me as we crossed the small bridge at the other end of the dam, and there was the ONIN.
An excellent Turkey set! The pack was kept together, the checks were good! Dam good – looking at the map, the trail was very, very close on the way out and the way back, and I remember scanning the hill to the left, trying to spot paper, and didn’t. Good job!