Wednesday 17 October 2012

Another forest day

At 1h30 this morning I awoke to the sound of a storm in full fury. I've been known to sleep through most highveld thunderstorms so this one was a humdinger to wake me up. Geez - crazy driving rain, whooshing wind - it was quite something. I slept on and off but guess that it must have been raging for at least an hour.

With another day of scouting ahead I thought the day could be a gloomy one. Although it got off to a slow start, the morning developed into its most gloriousness yet. Spectacular! A little cool with lots of sun, blue skies and flowing streams.

Approaching one crossing I thought I could hear a jet up in the sky but as I got closer it turned out to be water rushing from one vlei through cement pipes under the track and out into the next. It made a decent mini wave train coming out.

I did my scouting on foot today. As much as my bike and I loved each other yesterday, riding over kilometres of grassy tussocks has left my bottom somewhat saddle shy. Yes, it serves me right for not riding very often and this was certainly amplified by the 'better-for-running-than-biking' terrain and a new saddle. It was good to be on foot because surface perspective is different - I'll probably do the last chunk tomorrow on foot too.

I saw some lovely, lovely spots today. A patch of bluegum trees within the pine forest was a lovely scented surprise.

Bluegums on the left and pine on the right.
I also saw many little buck that bounded away as they heard me coming past. And forest roads covered in pine needles - a true trail delight!

And then, my favourite-favourite, a large patch of small YELLOW FLOWERS hovering over their emerald-green grassy bed. Fire is indeed wondrous in that it burns stuff, turns it black and then a delicious green emerges from the ashes in spring. The grassy areas that didn't burn in winter are still a dry brown.


All in all today was a wonderful sight and scent experience.

Perfectly still and lovely.
After a chunk of time under the forest canopy I emerged out in the open. Big, wide, blue-skied open.

No comments: