Orienteering (Sprint) 21:34 [3] 1.71 mi (12:36 / mi) +59ft 12:12 / mi
shoes: Montrail Mt Masochist Mar 2011
Sprint at Rotary meet. Made a really stupid mistake right off the bat, when I made a 180 degree error FROM THE START. I caught it in about 30 seconds or so, when I observed that my compass wasn't pointing in the right direction, then quickly figured out that the compass was fine, it was me who wasn't pointing in the right direction.
Orienteering (Brown) 56:10 [2] 2.71 mi (20:44 / mi) +98ft 20:02 / mi
shoes: Montrail Mt Masochist Mar 2011
Brown course at Rotary/DEC. I was about halfway through the course when the downpour hit.
I ran for about 15 seconds right after the start, then realized that my knee wasn't all that happy with the idea of running, so I walked from that point on.
#1 was easy, all trails then saw the flag from the trail.
#2: subtle contours, took careful bearing from a trail bend about 180 m away, came out right on it.
#3: worked my way to the open field SE of the control, then again careful bearing and pace count got me right to it.
#4: A light green swamp was on the straight line route. I started that way, but then kept going more and more left to try to avoid the thick vegetation and keep my feet somewhat dry (amusing as that sounds after the fact). Took a decidedly non-optimum route, but no trouble finding the control once I got in the area. AP says I definitely lost time on this one, no surprise.
#5: Again, careful compass bearing, paying some attention to map features but not taking too much time to read them carefully.
#6: Found my way to the indistinct trail that led almost straight to the control. By this time, the rain had started up, although not too hard yet.
#7: On my way out of 6, I caught up with Bob Bundy on the major NW-SE trail. It was raining a bit harder, and he remarked that he hadn't thought to bring a plastic map bag. Why he wouldn't have brought one given the forecast is a bit of a puzzle, but I did feel very badly for him, but not quite badly enough to offer to give him mine. By the time I got to 7, it was now a torrential downpour.
#8: Followed yet another compass bearing, as well as a low ridge that went just the right way.
#9: It's getting monotonous, but once again a careful bearing and pace count, because the contour features were very subtle and there wasn't much to re-locate on if I had missed. Trailsnail was near me at the time, and we spotted the reentrant and two people in the middle of it, then saw the flag. Trailsnail had a bit of an adventure with #9, see her log for details ...
#10: I bumbled the map reading here, probably not helped by the extremely heavy downpour, with made it almost impossible to see through my glasses. Anyway, I saw the circle right at the end of the connection line, so I navigated to it, missing by a little to the N, figuring out where I was, then making my way to the shallow hilltop were the control was. The only problem was that it was my control #2, which just happened to be right on the straight line between #9 and #10. Once I figured that out, I made my way to #10 with no trouble.
#11: No real problem, but a somewhat inefficient route.