Sunday, November 6

Salcombe Hill, Sidmouth - Strapo and Swampy - 6th November 2016

The pack gathered in a busy car park at the top of Salcombe Hill, Sidmouth.  Several regular car park users appeared quite put out by our presence, judging by the looks we were given as they drove in and backed out again.   We stood shivering in the opening circle as the temperature had dropped into single figures for the first time in a long while.  A new family of hashers were welcomed, one member of which was seen to be stretching before the trail – very keen!

The trail started off downhill before heading right into some woods.  Child Catcher and I found ourselves front running (highly unusual and probably never to be repeated), for a very short stretch, before being overtaken on an incline.  We reached a check, which those who had gone ahead seemed to have missed and there was much faffing around as a couple of hashers took the wrong (left) path, whilst others strained to hear nonexistent calling from the front runners.  Eventually, we decided that as the front runners hadn’t come back, we would follow them and assume that the trail was in that direction.  After crossing a road, there was a mark for the walkers, with a less obvious mark for the remainder of the pack.  A long short split saw the longs taking a scenic route downhill through the woods before heading out onto a lane and then some fields.  This is where it all went wrong for CC, Howling Wilf and I as we completely lost the trail and went over some fields, past a green shed, over some more fields, over a stream and up a hill, before deciding that, as we hadn’t seen any marks, we must be wrong.  We doubled back and found a mark pointing us along a path, but there were few marks to reassure us that we were going in the right direction.

Eventually, as we headed out of a wooded section and into another field, we could see the rest of the pack at the top of an extremely steep hill.  The hill became steps as the gradient increased and it took supreme effort to struggle to the peak;  CC needed a lie down at the summit.  Compensation was in the form of tasty sweets and a beautiful view.  At this point, we realised that Isoscles was not with us.  Strapo went to look for him, as he’d not been seen for quite a while.

The trail followed the coastal path along the cliff top before heading back inland to our starting point.  There was a further long/short split, but I didn’t take it due to oxygen deprivation and laziness.  Back at the car park, Isoscles’s car had gone, so we presumed that he’d found a way back.  There were plenty of fines from Twin Peaks - obviously trying to enhance the kitty before the Christmas party.
(This week's words by Bollards)

As always, please don't forget to rate the hash


Next week we're at The Pinhoe Hoard EX4 8GA (map). Its Rememberance Sunday, so please arrive with plenty of time so that the pack can observe the 2 minutes silence at 11am.  
Sweetie Stop - with a view
and another just to keep Spocky happy!