Saturday 19 May 2012

Corridors and Controls

May 17,2012...
While travelling around the northern part of the map, you'll most likely come  across two straight  fence lines running parallel with each other for miles, about 20metres apart. These are cattle corridors.

 It's how the musterers funnel and lead their cattle to holding paddocks, and the dip yards prior to loading them onto trucks.

 If you walk between them ,you'll eventually come to a  round yard with 5 or 6 sets of steel gates opening in all directions.Remember, always leave the gates as you find them. Don't leave them open for another team coming up behind.
We visited another "high" control today( control 130). Unfortunately, we made a bad route choice and went up the wrong spur. By the time we clambered half way up,the spur we wanted was a very steep watercourse away! We had to make up our minds then whether to clamber across like mountain goats, or finish climbing to the top of the ridge and come across to the right spur. We chose the latter, and enjoyed some spectacular views while recovering.
Tip to entrants- double check your route choice.Pay attention to how close those contour lines are on the map! We've found them to be quite accurate.
Oh, another tip on those hills .. if you have dodgy knees like us, the "going down" is more arduous than the "going up". Bruce and I found that "crabbing down" sideways is a slower process, but less of a strain on the old joints.Also,try bouncing from one tree to the next to help you slow down.
I might add that going down, we drifted across to the wrong spur, and ended up trapped by Lantana.We didn't pay attention to our compass bearing.So, not a good start to the day.
I've included a picture of that particular pesky control.Approach with caution!

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