Training Log Archive: Stijn

Day 3 - Escape. There was no way we were getting back into that raging torrent so we had a look at the sides of the gorge and found a scramble out. Tha plan to was to follow the course of the river back to our starting point by contouring above the gorge. Rounding a corner with a good view of what we were in for was a bit of a downer though - bushy gullies, impassable slabs, etc. So, the easiest way out was to go up up up. We climbed 1200m up to the summit of Mitchell's Peak (it's very out-of-the-way) so we were probably the only summiteers in several years. There was a major ridge heading straight back to the road which allowed us to avoid all that heinous contouring. Plenty of bundubashing and night hiking later and we were back at the Mill & Oaks having pizza & beer... what a trip!

Day 2 - Weather dawned clear and we were in high spirits. Due to high water levels, we were having to swim a lot more than usual and spend most of the time wading in the river. Progress was slow. The rain came back at lunch and we were eventually forced to bivvi in a little shelter at about 5pm. The tarps came in handy again but space was limited and sleep did not come easily. Think communal roll overs and 6-way spooning ;-) We were now well behind schedule and the rain was falling heavily. At 3am, the river level was found to be 2m higher than when we had gone to bed - our shelter was much higher than this so we decided to assess our options in the morning...