Orienteering 1:38:30 [3] ***** 4.6 km (21:25 / km)
Green course at Ansonia Nature Center (Connecticut). Half a year ago (sometime in spring 2005), it took me three hours to do an orange course (about 4 Km) at Ansonia, so this time I took it easy and tried to keep careful track of where I was. I stopped a lot and walked a lot to control 1, then spent a considerable amount of time looking for control 2, which was on a rock in the middle of nowhere. The problem with control 2 was that there was an unmapped trail in the nearby area and also (according to Greg) the control was on the wrong rock. Regardless, it was difficult to find. The rest of the controls were also technically difficult for me, but at least they were better than number 2...except perhaps for number 10. I ran up and down a pair of hills several times each before I finally figured out where that control was.
Despite making sizable errors, I still felt quite happy with my orienteering overall. There was progress in that I no longer ran around in circles if I couldn't find the control once I was in the area. I looked at the map and tried to orient myself first. At times, this cost me several minutes because sometimes the control would be several meters away and I just wouldn't see it, but would stop to make sure I was in the right area. So sometimes, running in circles would lead me to the control faster than stopping to check the map. In general, however, I think it is better to hesitate than to miss the control.