Higgs and me headed over Friday night to Taylorville, staying at Brunnerton Lodge before heading up thru Blackball to Smoke-Ho carpark. Only a week or so off 2 years since I's last here... Weather was clearing, indeed, clear down in the Grey valley, but seemed to be lingering on the hills ahead of us and around us, so as we set up at the carpark there was a rainbow and a light drizzle. Got rolling and on the first rocky descent a stone got caught in my mudguard. I thought the front roll bag had messed with my rear brake hose and that the brake was on, but once I straightened it up I realised it was a stone... removed, and on we headed. The grunt of the climb began and Hugo did really good, plodding away. He didn't walk much. Took us about 2hr45 to Ces Clarke. A little slower than last time but pretty good considering our lack of training.
After a feed, off we headed along the tops. More climbing, the odd walk. My dropper started to play up (again, I was blaming my front-roll) but then a minor tweak of the barrel adjuster and I was happy. One basin after another we trudged around. On some of the final descent I stopped to wait and Hugo didn't show, and I had images of his teeth through his lips for some reason... :( So I started heading back and he appeared around a corner carrying his bike. Derailleur well and truly stuck fast in his spokes... oh dear. Realisation occurred at my lack of 'safety' gear - no first aid kit (whoops), no duct tape (yikes). Undid derailleur, removed wheel, managed to wrench the derailleur clear and then found that, reattached, he still had gears! just didnt want to risk 1st or 2nd, so 3rd was his go to. Final blast to Moonlight was a joy.
Day two dawned, and we were the last to leave the hut. Tho the 3 girls were not far gone with Georgia's troubles, so we passed them and continued on. Nice descent, then up and down (quite a bit of up) in the goblin forest, then out onto the tops, views I never saw last time due to the weather. Awesome. This section is so good down to Pororari Hut. Magic. Still quite a long slog from Pororari, especially for Hugo, but man it was still good.
No comments:
Post a Comment