21 June 2020
Following torrential rain overnight, I was relieved when the day dawned cold, but dry. Following the trail from Hahndorf back toward Bridgewater I was unsurprised that the trail was easy to follow and the turn off sign at the point where I went astray, perfectly obvious. Must have been day dreaming yesterday – most likely about the impending cafe stop.
Disconcertingly, when I reached Bridgewater, the creek going through the train line underpass that I had run through the day before had burst its banks and there was a torrent of water rushing through the underpass making it completely impassable. Not that I didn’t have a go. Foolishly. I looked at the embankment up to the train line to see if I felt I could get over that way, before deciding it was too risky and headed back toward the Bridgewater Mill where I met a group of guys walking the trail and asked if they knew another way around the underpass. They were made of sterner stuff than me and although confirming that the underpass was a no go, thought that going over the embankment was entirely feasible. With their encouragement I started the ascent. Three quarters the way up in the slippery conditions I completely froze in panic and had to be unceremoniously dragged up to the top. Forming the view that I was clearly deranged and a danger to myself, they kindly formed a human chain to help me down the other side, and were gracious enough to pose for a photo. I am sure they thought I was completely mad.
Fortunately the rest of the days run was relatively uneventful, although there were some serious climbing over Mt Lofty (Adelaide’s highest hill) and it was consistently up and down. However the weather was kind, the views lovely and I encountered and unusually I encountered a Highland cow in a suburban area.
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