07 feb 2006
7p and i am KNACKERED.
the thermometer read 2C when i woke up this morning - that's like 36F... BRR! planned to meet cameron and arran at otorere for lunch and do some track work on the way... set out shortly after morning radio call at 815a. about 45 min into the plan, though, i realized that cameron had missed morning radio call. and while that probably meant he had overslept, it could mean that he was dead. and i was cleaning track instead of hustling over to discover his body. so i abandon track work and got there as quickly as i could, lugging a pulaski with me. still had an hour and a half of walking time to imagine all the scenarios under which he was ailing/dead... along with my own deep flesh wounds that a pulaski might inflict when i fell on it, after slipping and landing on it while rushing to get there. but alas, i arrived unharmed to find cameron alive and well and cleaning his hut (had been distracted by breakfast earlier).
we had pancake lunch and hung out for awhile. then arran headed back to waihohonu and cameron and i set off up the otorere valley. did a little bouldering on the way back... which was really fun but i totally spent my arms (as amateur unskilled climbers do)... and then had a 2hr walk back, still carrying the freaking pulaski. began to resent taking it on a tour of half the park, beings that i had used it for all of about 10 minutes, and that was hours ago.
also collected loads of nasty rubbish today. i've taken to carrying small plastic bag with me everywhere because there is always something to pick up. it wasn't even like i was LOOKING for rubbish; i was just picking up whatever i saw along the track. apple cores, tissues, cigarette butts, tissues, more tissues... the supreme NASTY award was given out twice today... when i found used tampons . right along the track. WTF?! lesson learned: beware of the large rocks near the track. yeech. there's a good use for the pulaski...
finally got around to doing some track work. maybe an hour or so of clearing culverts and cutouts... by about 430p i was almost back to the hut... but i had seen a pinus contorta the other day (non-native, invasive species of pine tree so we remove them if found) and carried the saw to remove it. it was only about 10 min off-track so i found my way back to it. and began what developed into an epic battle. it looked small, but turned out to be a very worthy opponent for my little handsaw. 40 minutes later, it was finally felled. and i had a pair of shiny new blisters on my hand. whew.
finally made it back, have eaten everything in sight, and am ready to just crash.
heading out in the morning... can't decide if i'm ready or not.
the thermometer read 2C when i woke up this morning - that's like 36F... BRR! planned to meet cameron and arran at otorere for lunch and do some track work on the way... set out shortly after morning radio call at 815a. about 45 min into the plan, though, i realized that cameron had missed morning radio call. and while that probably meant he had overslept, it could mean that he was dead. and i was cleaning track instead of hustling over to discover his body. so i abandon track work and got there as quickly as i could, lugging a pulaski with me. still had an hour and a half of walking time to imagine all the scenarios under which he was ailing/dead... along with my own deep flesh wounds that a pulaski might inflict when i fell on it, after slipping and landing on it while rushing to get there. but alas, i arrived unharmed to find cameron alive and well and cleaning his hut (had been distracted by breakfast earlier).
we had pancake lunch and hung out for awhile. then arran headed back to waihohonu and cameron and i set off up the otorere valley. did a little bouldering on the way back... which was really fun but i totally spent my arms (as amateur unskilled climbers do)... and then had a 2hr walk back, still carrying the freaking pulaski. began to resent taking it on a tour of half the park, beings that i had used it for all of about 10 minutes, and that was hours ago.
also collected loads of nasty rubbish today. i've taken to carrying small plastic bag with me everywhere because there is always something to pick up. it wasn't even like i was LOOKING for rubbish; i was just picking up whatever i saw along the track. apple cores, tissues, cigarette butts, tissues, more tissues... the supreme NASTY award was given out twice today... when i found used tampons . right along the track. WTF?! lesson learned: beware of the large rocks near the track. yeech. there's a good use for the pulaski...
finally got around to doing some track work. maybe an hour or so of clearing culverts and cutouts... by about 430p i was almost back to the hut... but i had seen a pinus contorta the other day (non-native, invasive species of pine tree so we remove them if found) and carried the saw to remove it. it was only about 10 min off-track so i found my way back to it. and began what developed into an epic battle. it looked small, but turned out to be a very worthy opponent for my little handsaw. 40 minutes later, it was finally felled. and i had a pair of shiny new blisters on my hand. whew.
finally made it back, have eaten everything in sight, and am ready to just crash.
heading out in the morning... can't decide if i'm ready or not.
posted by bethany @ 12:48 PM
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