14 June 2020
By now, I was getting closer to Adelaide, which made logistics a little easier to manage. However with a longer run planned, it was an early and chilly start with threatening clouds, so no surprise to find a deserted car park where the trail entered the park. The bonus of an early start was spotting lots of wildlife starting their day – wallabies and lots of parrots.
The trail through this section was generally flatter and soon opened out onto wider pathways through Kuitpo Forest. It was so peaceful running through this section, quiet and surrounded by tall pine trees and the trail was easy to follow.
It had rained a lot overnight which made for wet conditions underfoot in a lot of places. I did find my Hoka Speedgoats and Thorlo socks dried out fairly quickly , so I managed to avoid blisters. Although my feet did look disconcertingly white and wrinkly post run.
Amazingly while running through Kuitpo Forest, I bumped into a group of friends running the other way – what are the chances!
The trail profile through this area is pretty flat and I was making good time against my estimated schedule. One of the things I found difficult in early days was accurately estimating how long it would take me to cover a selected section of trail – leading to either under or over estimation of duration. I did get a bit better at this, helped by texting updates of ETA when phone coverage permitted.
On this run I was well and truly ahead of schedule, so when I reached to pick up point, I left the trail and headed toward the pick up crew on the roads towards the town of Echunga. This resulted in a bit of a slog up some steady climbs – all of which I couldn’t count toward the trail distance tally. However it did provide me with some amusement, as I encountered the little known Black Mud-Butted Sheep, endemic to the Adelaide Hills in winter :o)
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