Discussion: Any tips for orienteering on those Tucson maps?

First time for me in the area. Any insider tips on how to navigate in Catalina / Ironwood / Oak Tree? What to rely on and what is not clear on the ground? Is the white runnable? Are stream beds runnable? Anything goes...Thanks!

They are very different areas. In Catalina you can see the contours pretty well and rely heavily on terrain features. White is runnable, a little weaving around bushes. Parts are pretty rocky, the map (stony ground) gives a reasonable indication of where the footing is not so good. A few places are steep enough to be difficult / intimidating for the older and balance-challenged. Larger saguaros are mapped and visible from far away.

Most AZ maps: Vegetation tends to be denser near “water”, the mapped washes. Vegetation generally “bites”, don’t grab a tree branch for balance. The washes (stream beds) can be sandy and soft, running spurs between them is often (but not always) easier and faster.

Ironwood is mostly flattish with a dense network of washes of varying depth and, the vegetation density along them is largely proportional to the size of the wash. In between is open and fast. On this map, I rely heavily on compass bearing and pace count. Look ahead for vegetation features you can run toward, or even line up on distant hills far off the map. The upper (shallowest) parts of the washes are pretty subtle and it can be easy to miss one. The washes have many junctions - if you’re counting how many you cross, and your bearing is a bit off, you can easily cross one too many or too few. This is one of my favorite Tucson maps but a lot of people have trouble with it - it is subtle and if you get in the wrong system of washes, it all looks much the same.

At Catalina and Ironwood, which are at about 2600'-2700' elevation, white on the map indicates the normal vegetation for the Arizona Uplands region, which is a desert scrub. That means there's a mix of cactuses, generally bushy trees (lots of palo verde and mesquite), bushes, and sometimes grass. Sometimes the vegetation is sparse enough that you can go very straight very fast (especially at Ironwood). Other times it requires a bit more bobbing and weaving.

The Oak Tree Canyon terrain sits above 5000' and is primary grassland with patches of juniper-oak woodlands. In this area the base color is open (yellow) for the grasslands, where white or the open with scattered trees screen represent areas with trees. Note that this particular map is brand new and I haven't yet mapped any vegetation on the eastern half, which burned in a fire last summer--that half is very runnable right now. Visibility is good everywhere.

At Catalina and Oak Tree Canyon the contours are your best friends. At Ironwood it's important to be able to pick out the "fingerprints" of the washes. It may look like a map of (almost) parallel features over flat terrain, but each of those features/washes has a unique fingerprint of bends, junctions, and green patches that make it possible to distinguish it from each other nearby washes.

That all sounds pretty cool! Definitely have to drag my clan down there to enjoy this event sometime!

Looking forward to it! :)

Wil, Canadians are especially welcome to come on down to get an early spring dose of vitamin-D.

Thanks guys! Great info. A few follow-up questions: in the Catalina map I see a bunch of filled green circles - what do those represent? Are stream beds easy to run on and would be a better choice than cutting through the white/green? is light and mid green runnable? Should I bring a comb to take off the cactus spikes?

The green circles are mature saguaros--think a big cartoon cactus with several arms.

Stream beds (at Catalina) are not usually faster than white. If they are small then they usually have more vegetation and maybe rocks/boulders. If they are large then they may be clear for running but will be sandy and slow for that reason.

Light green runnability depends. If it is mesquite bosque (typically along floodplains) then it may be. If it's along smaller washes then green=grabby trees/bushes.

We provide complimentary combs to participants. I have also had a lot of success using my compass and map to pry cholla balls from my leg or foot.

A past participant in an Arizona O event advised me to bring pliers to get thorns out of my shoe. Does that happen often enough that I should be prepared? Or was she just unlucky?

I don't think I have ever had to use pliers to get anything out of any part of my body or piece of clothing. But it's possible. My advice is not to step on any cactus.

That is sound advice. I'll wait and buy pliers if the situation arises.

What, have you never taken a young child fishing?

I outsourced the fishing instruction to my father-in-law.

It is now time to stop shaving legs ---so long pants would provide defense from cholla

Yes, um, "now". (Says a woman living in Canada in February.)

Alternatively, shaved legs are better for when you need to use glue or duct tape to get off all those little glochids you got in your leg from running into a cactus, despite our suggestion not to do that.