Training Log Archive: PrueD

After arriving by car in Alice Springs and spending a few days recovering, I headed down to Ross River. Ian and I did the last rogaine that was held here (apparently 9 years ago, although it didn't seem that long). I had thought it one of the best things I had ever done, so was looking forward to this event. In the previous event we had spent a lot of time in the mountains down south and so decided to go elsewhere this time, with a loop to the west and north west, and moving across the top of the map. We had also planned to stay out all night.
Once we started walking, I knew my feet were not going to last the 24 hours. They felt a bit tender from the start and I could feel a lot of the rocks through my shoes. Ian wasn't highly motivated either. Anyway, we collected 30, then 70 (which was a steep climb and then descent) and then moved across to the NE. I found my left leg lacking a bit of power on the uphills, possible a symptom of a back issue. I was also very careful, as the rocks were very sharp, and I didn't want to trip. We completed this circuit and made for the water point, where the SA attendant there announced he knew me, despite the disguise of hat and sun glasses and not looking at the name, from when he worked in Benalla 20 YEARS AGO! It's a small world!
We then went up north and reached 71 on dusk. My feet were quite sore already and Ian was flagging behind. We then went up a wrong gully, as the entrance to the gully we were seeking was hard to spot. We intended to follow the marked track east, but it was hard to follow and we would have been better following the creek. We went down to the next water stop. There was a mass of silver foil on the ground - yes, a row of people wrapped up in their space blankets snoozing - something we had not considered. Morale flagging, we decided to walk back to the HH and have a sleep. The return walk took an hour and was a wasted effort. In retrospect, we probably should have kept going.