Training Log Archive: jennycas

C • Noted! 5

Slow post-work jog along the creek before hosting WA meeting. Still very tired but not nearly as dehydrated as yesterday and the sunburn's improving by this end of today.

Woke up at dawn and it was beautiful watching the sky get lighter, wished I was on a rogaine. Sadly nobody else was up for me to share it with, but after breakfast the 4 musketeers all set off to find the remnants of the Terowie Emu Farm. We did a lap of it, waypointing the corners of the 8-foot high fence, which doesn't seem to have been completed (rumour has it that the fence was used to incarcerate marijuana plants rather than emus) and trying to work out how this may impact control placement and routes out of the HH, especially if the new owner of the land north of there declines to let us use it (something we won't know until Jan).

After yesterday (didn't drink enough, hopping in & out of the car) I was already feeling a bit thirsty and sunburned, and after Mark & I had done 3 more controls on BriGlen I was quite headachy, but didn't dare put sunscreen on in case it made me feel worse as it often does. Probably should have though, as it was mid-20s up there and getting double-burned on the back of my neck 2 days in a row was pretty unpleasant, as was breathing in flies at regular intervals. Checked out a couple of other sites in flat featureless areas and managed to make them workable, by which time it was after 3pm and we were ready to head for home - glad G was driving because I really didn't feel that great. But satisfied with how much we'd all got done this weekend, because now the 2020 ARC course is basically finalised.

Got up at 5am to finish packing everything needed for rogaining/camping and G & I collected Mark at 7am in order to meet the others @10 at our 2013 HH site on Scrub Rd. It was agreed that Zara & Steve would waypoint the controls which are on Twigham O map, Mark's sister's family the controls on Merridee O map, while the rest of us met up with the landowner who has the whole eastern part of our map, as he'd offered to show us some of the tracks on his property. As it turned out, he hopped in our ute for the afternoon and gave us a guided tour around the entire place and when we showed him where the control sites were, he told G to go off-road to see how close it was possible to drive to the exact control location...this wasn't exactly what Mark & I had in mind, as we actually like walking to controls, but it definitely gave Geoff & our new mate Darren great enjoyment. He kept saying to us "That's feral country, you should send 'em through there"!

We got to the campsite at BriGlen Springs a bit later than intended, and couldn't see anyone else, then spotted a Hilux above the cliff on the far side of Wonna Creek gorge. What the? It turned out that Mark's sister's family had been able to drive all the way through Merridee from Scrub Rd! I've run through before but never considered driving, because there doesn't appear to be any way down into Wonna Creek from the south. The others found a way, though :) also found Mark's parents camped back among the mallee. And soon Zara/Steve turned up (from the north) so I didn't have to worry any more about whether her little car had managed the bush tracks ok, and we all set up tents and Geoff made an enormous campfire and after dinner Mark made chocolate fondue for everyone and it was a lovely sociable evening.

Brief (dually begoggled) aquatic Meredith encounter.

Conversational redwoods run with Zara, discussing plans for this weekend's ARC-setting trip. Feeling very fatigued so was glad of a break when we encountered the Merchant boys!