Girl vs Wild

    The other day I decided to try running some new trails. It was supposed to be about an 8 mile loop but of course I managed to miss my turn. I love exploring and being out in the bush and was not concerned about this and decided just to keep going a little while longer. I hadn’t intended on being out so long and when I looked up and saw vultures circling over my head, I decided it was probably time to turn back. The ground was slick from all the rain we had been getting and the hilly trails were made for pretty intense motor bike riding. I don’t really have the appropriate running shoes for this terrain and after a few good slips and falls I decided to take it a bit slower. I was trying to find the turn off to get back on my loop and after trying a few I realized it was getting late and I was going to get lost. I decided to go back the way I came- I had already come about 9 miles and knew it would be past dark by the time I got back. As long as I could get back to my familiar trails I could find my way back in the dark easily enough. By this point I needed water desperately so I decided to go down one of the trails that I knew a creek ran through. Watching for snakes, I made my way into the creek and drank my fill. I took off again and a couple hours later it was past dark and I had made it back to familiar trails but I had no reception out there and no way to tell Em I was ok. Of course, back at the lodge she was freaking out by this point and had gone off looking for me. When she couldn’t find me she called Michael. It was almost 10 now. The two of them set out in the Rhino (kind of like a gator). It was pitch black and I had decided to stick to the longer trail that stayed out in the open so I had more star and moonlight to try and see by. It was a couple miles longer though and very steep downhill. Almost impossible to walk upright if you are taking it coming down. I knew by this time people would be out looking for me so I was listening intently and sure enough before long I heard Em and Michael calling me from way out in the distance. I called back as loud as I could and told them I was ok and was almost home. My yells were so loud and broke the dead silence of night so abrubtly that I think I gave a few kangaroos heart attacks. I heard them take off on my left. A few minues later, I met them at the bottom of the hill and we headed back to the lodge for a couple beers to calm poor Em’s nerves. Michael was highly amused, thank God, and not upset at all. When I told him about where my adventures took me for the day he told me I had probably covered almost 20 miles of some of the toughest terrain in the area. I had been gone eight hours. Sorry Em! Won’t do it again!