Training Log Archive: mikeminium

Event: Ellicottville Adventure Run & Hike
 

Event: OCIN - St Patrick's County Park & Madeline Bertrand County Park
 

Event: Nav-X High Sierra
 

Green course at St Patrick's park. Interesting route choices to the first control; I chose going east over the sledding hill and through the park gate. Probably the best choice, but as soon as I hit the woods it became apparent that the burrs were going to be unburrable. By the time I hit the second control, I was covered in what Orunner calls "Mother Nature's Velcro". A few more controls were in woods and overgrown fields, but after that it was mostly running trails and open areas. A fun course, but I could sure have done without the burrs and thorny briars on the first couple controls.

Control pickup at St Patricks. The first five were pretty easy, although the Mosquitos were annoyingly vicious. When I went back out for another four, the Mosquitos had organized into squadrons, staging an incessant bombardment. You could not pause long enough to untie a control flag without suffering a dozen or more bites. After getting one control, whilst fleeing this assault through dense thorny underbrush in the general direction of the second control, I realized that I no longer had a map! There was little hope of retracing my steps through the wall of green and the equally dense black cloud of bloodsuckers, so I continued on my way, found the second control, and through perseverance and luck (and maybe a little bit of halfway decent map memory), also managed to find the third and fourth. So, fortunately I did not suffer the embarrassment of having to drive back to the start and get another map! The suffering of additional mosquito bites and briar scratches, however, was an essential part of the experience.

C • Mosquitos 1

Looking for lost control units at St Patrick's. Skyler found one; the second remains in the forest.

OCIN_St_Patricks_Aug_2016_5 Green - Splits

Checking controls at Miami Natural Areas with Skyler.

yard and garden. hauled and spread another 55 wheelbarrow loads of mulch, moved a couple very heavy landscaping rocks, cut and hauled more branches and weeds.