Hamsterley Trailquest

A lot of interest had been shown prior to this event but unfortunately quite a few had to cancel (or some just didn't turn up). I had six entries on the day. Everyone chose the two hour option. The object of Trailquests being that, with the aid of a map, you search out Control Points within the forest. At each control there's an orienteering stamp to stamp your card. You receive points for every one visited but you lose points for each minute you are late beyond the two hours. If you are extremely late it is possible to end up with a minus score, isn't it Bill? To try and keep cheating down to a bare minimum, everyone one was set off at time intervals. After eventually seeing the last one off I had a bit of a cycle round myself. I bumped into Kev at the ford. Although he was obviously doing well, Kev was complaining bitterly that a lot of the control posts were missing Post No. 8 for example. No. 8 was in fact in place but on the other side of the ford!

Having cycled a little further I heard the cry, "where am I?" This sent a bit of a shiver down my spine as the last time I was asked this question in Hamsterley it was from someone who had unexpectedly parted company with his bike and landed on his head. This time it was no more serious than a completely lost Trailquester. To the amusement of a group of walkers, Will had been cycling around in circles for the last ten minutes trying to re-gain his bearings. I pointed him in the direction of the next control before returning to the cars for the first of the finishers.

Arriving back a sensible six minutes early was Kev clutching a control card that had more perforations than a Tetley tea bag. Eventually everyone returned and I was able to calculate the results.

The award for best performance with the aid of one of those G.P.S. thingies went to Bill and Liz. I hope you kept your receipt Bill, to claim your refund.

Best excuse of the day went to Will "I thought we were finishing at the cafe" Barker.

In second place with a very good score of 575 were the father and son team of Nimmo and Andrew Clarke. A particularly good performance when you consider Andrew is only eleven years of age and he had to keep waiting while his dad caught up!

Winner with a very impressive score of 825 was Kev. You're obviously better at Trailquests than you are at Treasure Hunts!

I think it was good to try something a little different and everyone seemed to very much enjoy it. Thanks to those who entered and for joining into the spirit of this fun event, well done to Kev.

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

Hamsterley Trailquest

Dave Neesam