(By Alice)
Forest Dump
HRA set a twisty, swirly, forest run from the new shelter behind the BaanSuanHimDoi restaurant writes Alice. It was wet when he set but luckily the rains held off for run and circle. Pack was small with one visitor, Forest Dump, a Septic from Seoul H3 originally.
Eye of the Tiger
Pre run Sheep Shagger demonstrated great skill with HRA’s blunt chopper and ploughed a few square metres of red mud while hacking the base of errant shrubbery. Turkish, with his Tiger Woods driving ability, played golf under the trees with a stick and told anyone who’d listen he’d paid 9K baht for a set of clubs, which he’d never played with.
Norwegian Wood
From the off we crossed the road into the woods and 200m later we were already buggered. The paper just stopped. No check, False Trail, just nothing. Shrek, Chack etc scampered further and further to no avail. Amusingly Frozen appears 2 minutes later from behind the milling pack, shouting OnOn as though he’d found trail.
Hallo Hallo Good to be Back
Eventually HRA was summoned and we were sent west past the farmhouse to locate paper and recommence. Back to the road and then a check, somewhere. ChackWao shouted checking and headed further along the road, other spread but quietly. I crossed the road and found a gulley heading deep into the forest behind the Snake Head Buddha Temple. No bugger was guarding the check or replied where it was, so 100m was difficult to judge. I heard an OnOn call and saw colour moving right. Guessing they’d gone up to the temple or similar I climbed up and thru to find no one and hear silence!
Take the Long Way Home
Back at the road I meet HRA and newly arrived Sloppy Rod. We get redirected to the check and trail. Damp forest, gulleys, sharp switchbacks and spurs, up, down and up. Bits of paper were missing in short sections here too and there wasn’t always enough at checks to leave clear trail to join the check to trail. It doesn’t help that some rip short strips into stamp sized morsels and scatter among stones, many of which are white.
Runaway Boy
Sloppy was running like a machine and disappeared with alacrity. I catch Frozen, describe the issue at the check – which he later describes as complaining! As if. Up through the wet, green trail, well marked until a steep but soft jungle bash down to an unkicked out check. Every bugger had run through and all the paper was still hanging by the circle. Shabby hash behaviour.
Sheep Shagger was carrying a rock the size of his head and dreaming of a road to dump it by. The road and HRA marking a W/R split came soon enough.
Wishing and Hoping
I headed across into the forest and reasoned that if trail was headed back to the A it must turn left at some point. In forest silence and alone, I clamber up a hillside hoping to find trail and paper. At the top….nothing…so I bash on up the spur to the adjoining ridge. Bingo! A check and paper hanging. Which with this pack of bastards could mean they’d already run through.
I check east down a pretty thick wooded slope for 120m, nothing. Shiite. Back up and along an adjoining spur heading south east….yeeeeeeesss. OnOn!
The Dangling Conversation
At this point I hear Chacky 80m behind and the pack of FRBs. Another check. Mmm. Left looks clearer and easier, so I go right, I know what a devious knave HRA can be. Checking right! I yell three times as someone starts to yell Circle Check. After ten seconds or so Sloppy appears on my trail 50 m behind.
Checking right I shout again.
Are you on?
Checking right!
Are you on?
Does checking right sound like on on?
Then why would I break the circle and lay paper?
How does checking right sound like on on?
Because you mumble. If you took your cock out of your mouth maybe I’d hear you clearly.
Yes, it’s that time of year again folks!
The End
Sloppy took left trail and found paper with an On On that sounded nothing like Checking right. I cut down a steep path and jumped a deep stream gulley to follow the streaking American out of the valley and up a bank to the A. ChackWao gambolled in next and the pack returned in good order. Jeff and SS with his rock plus Does Nothing were already home and Superman in a clean 18 years old hash t shirt and smart work slacks had arrived by car.
It was circle,bike and curry with the guys in town. Kudos HRA, another lovely set in one of your pet areas.