Discussion: Route to 1

Damn scary first leg. Took a bearing and counted paces and nothing I was seeing on the ground looked like what I was seeing on the map. I felt very lucky to find it on the first try.

You know, I don't think it was that hard, which is why I was kicking myself for messing it up so badly. My plan was to follow the large low area around to our depression. But I didn't plan exactly which features to track along the way and the large low area was so big and the veg so thick and hard to see in, I started worrying as I got close to our feature that I didn't know where I was. So I climbed out and hoped to relocate on surrounding hills/ridges but they were too vague. I finally went back into the large low area until I got to the deeper depression to the left of our depression. Then found it fairly easily.

It seemed pretty hard at first blush for me as course setter. I've done that leg more than once. Think of it as a great "faith" leg - faith in compass bearing, faith that contours noted are accurate (which they are), faith in pace counting, faith that the green will finally open to white at some point, faith that it will be there up, down or round the last "obstacle" - and it is!! - no need for faith:-). Imagine the difference w/o any pine - only deciduous after leaves have fallen.... Ernst called that part of the map "the crazy woods".