Training Log Archive: syd

Mr. W was kind enough to leave up the flags for the red course so we could run it a day late. Poured for the first half - I think MI was welcoming me back. The rain let up by the time we finished.

I struggled to find the "trail" through the field to the first control, but after fumbling through found 1 no problem. 1-2 was a great leg. I went through the campground and got pushed around by the green. Ended up a little too far S and overshot slightly, but realized my mistake quickly. Things went smoothly for a while after that. Maybe should have taken the trail around from 3-4?

Saw BF as I was headed toward 9. Punched and then I forgot how to orienteer... As I was headed to 10 I didn't bother reading the terrain since I just had to follow my bearing to the lake. Dashed off into the woods and apparently decided I didn't need to bother looking at my compass either. Ended up at a small swamp, was super confused for a while and finally realized I was at the W most swamp S of 8...what?? No idea how that happened. Once I realized where I was found 10 no problem.

10-11 was soooo far. Took the trails across, which turned into kind of a mess. Had to slow down at each intersection to make sure I knew where I was, which wasn't very efficient. Followed the nice hill/reentrant right to the control. Finish route wasn't great either. Ended up in the campground, which was fast, but then I had to go through that field again. Probably would've been faster to just take the trail around to the E.

Fun course! Overall, I was happy with how well I read the terrain. Now I just need to go faster while keeping in good contact with the map. And work on route choice...one step at a time.

C • various 1

1,13

Didn't Jens say there was a game cam somewhere? What control was it at - 5 maybe? Oh, 13....ugh.

C • Thank you for picking up! 2

Parked off the S road to grab the rest.
7, 10, 9, 8, 6

Waimano Falls/Pools

Only time we hiked in the rain, more of a sprinkle really. The reason why you never see anyone with a rain jacket in HI: it's always warm, even when it's raining.

First part of the trail was along an old road, so it was wide and fairly flat. Then we decended off the ridge down to the falls. It was so muddy, and very steep. We took our time going down, trying to stay clean since we didn't have access to a shower before our flight home. We were mostly successful.

The falls were pretty underwhelming. Someone had set up a rope swing into one of the deeper pools farther downstream, so I could see the attraction in hiking out to swim, but we hadn't brought any swim stuff and the fresh water in HI has some bacteria or something in it anyway.

Going up was actually faster than going down.

Diamond Head Crater

Still had some time to kill before our flight, so we decided to hike Diamond head (BF hadn't done this one yet). Nice views, you can see all of Honolulu from the top.

Manoa Falls

This was one of my favorite hikes. It felt like we were in the jungle. The plants were huge, and at one point there was a whole forest of bamboo. It was windy and they were all clacking together, kind of a cool sound. The falls were tall, but really more of a trickle.

Ka'iwa Ridge Trail

There was a trail right near where we were staying, so we decided to go for a run to see the sunset. It was a little steeper than I was expecting, so we ended up hiking the steeper sections. Got to the top of the ridge and saw an amazing sunset behind the ridges off to the west. It looked like there was quite an extensive trail system along the small ridges near the ocean, but it was getting dark so we didn't really have time to explore. Finished up with a loop of the road. I wish I had a trail like this in my backyard!

Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail

This was the first day that the tops of the ridges weren't in the clouds, so we switched our plans around to do the ridge hike while it was clear. And it was a good thing we did! Turned out to be the only day that the ridges were cloud free.

Hiked up out of a valley, following a ridge all the way up (side note: at what point does a spur become a ridge? or a re-entrant a valley?). Views were great. The definition of the features was awesome, everything is just so sharp. Quite windy at the top.

Got some of the car ride in the track again - removed from time/distance.

C • New favorite 3

Makapu'u Point/Lighthouse

Paved trail up to a lighthouse (which you're not actually allowed to get near) and a decent view, mostly of the ocean. We could faintly see a couple of the other islands off in the distance. Not the most exciting hike. I guess it's a good place to watch for whales? But it wasn't whale season. Lots of people.

Short run from camp site #2. Along a paved trail and around town.