Purple Thistle 2010
Posted on 15 Aug, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • Orienteering
The Purple Thistle (PT) is a ‘barebones’ event. This means that there is quality orienteering on a technical area, but there are few extras. For example, pre-enter (no entries on the day), turn up and stand in a queue at the start with each competitor deciding when to go, no water at the finish. There is often an event campsite closeby. This year there was a large entry from EckO, spanning quite an age range as well.
This year the PT was based at Balmacara Square, close to Kyle of Lochalsh. The former forestry campsite was to be opened for the weekend but we decided to head for a B&B as we were unsure of our vehicle situation and I thought I would be quite tired having just tutored a UKCC L1 course at Glenmore Lodge. It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the prospect of rain and midges – honestly! The pancakes & fruit & bacon for breakfast went down very well as did a fast Internet connection.
The event information mentioned
“The terrain is predominantly open moorland, with a mix of short grass and heather, with areas of birch woodland and some managed forest. The area contains a mixture of interesting contour detail and rock features, while if you look up from your map you’ll enjoy views across to Skye. Expect a testing physical and technical challenge.”
I was a little sceptical but thought I would give it a go; I am still waiting to find the short grass & heather areas. To me it was more like knee high heather and thigh high bog myrtle. The problem is that the shortest TD5 course is long for me and this year was over 6km each day. I was told that I would just have to accept being out for a long time!
The club juniors did very well to cope with the hard conditions. I must admit that parents who were shadowing had more than their fair share of exercise through the tough terrain.
Yes, I was out for a long time. The navigation on Day 1 was reasonably OK until I met up with John Coon and we blethered away and walked straight past our control. At times I was close to giving up especially when I had a ‘low’ from needing some food. The course took me over two hours.
Day 2 had a higher start so this meant a long walk up the road but at least there was less climb on the course. Standing in the queue for the start of the Medium Thistle course I had the worst ‘midging’ of the summer. Once more the views out to Skye were spectacular and kept your mind off a little of the trudging over the moorland. I had a food bar in my back pocket but did not need it. The route from the last control to the finish was through an interesting area of gorse. I was more fortunate than Paul who took about 9 minutes to disentangle himself, compared to my three minutes. On this day I did manage the course in just less than two hours. It was great to see Robert (Kincaid) float past as he lightly ran over the soft ground.
We finished the weekend off at Sheila’s Café before heading home. The journey was relatively easy with quite light traffic. The new van/car had completed the first (we hope of many) tours around Scotland. It had been a good weekend, helped by the fantastic weather and the catching up with EckO members.
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.