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)
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.