Rosaryville - Apr 28, 2012

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In one sense this was probably my least productive orienteering experience ever. I arrived on time. I registered for the blue course and within 10 minutes was on my way. The first two controls were fairly easy to find. They were more or less out in the open and people led me directly to them.
The third control was in a wooded area. To avoid following the person who led me to the first two controls I took a more interesting but less optimal route than I otherwise might have tried. In the process of finding the third control I had to cross a couple deep re-entrants. When I got to the third control I realized that my e-punch had slipped off my finger. I felt like I was just getting started. I was just starting to work up a sweat. My boots were still fairly clean. If I was in a NASCAR race the equivalent would have been wiping out in the first few laps. That's how I felt. I could have finished the course without my e-punch but at the time it felt like that would be a pointless exercise. I tried retracing my path from 2 to 3, unsuccessfully; I did not find my missing e-punch. After searching for about 20 minutes I gave up and headed back to the start. I checked in and let Valerie know I was done and that I had lost my e-punch. I changed my shoes, got in my car, and drove home. That night I got an e-mail from Valerie telling me that someone had found my e-punch.


The weird part is the calm way in which I took it all. I was disappointed but I didn't beat myself up over it. Course: Blue [19 controls; 8.6 km; 220 m] Time: DNF - WinSplits - RouteGadget

Mason Neck - Apr 22, 2012

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I was warned that this was a difficult place to orienteer and that was what I experienced today. What made it difficult is that there were fewer pronounced terrain features than at any other park that I can think of. The fact that it was cold and raining didn't help.

I found all the controls but two of them (6/113 and 14/111) really tested my patience. The first few controls were relatively easy to find. Starting with 6 the level of difficulty increased as the distances between controls became longer and the terrain less distinct.

I misjudged how far I had gone when I was looking for 6 and started circling sooner than I should have. I eventually found a good attack point, a line of telephone poles. Even with the help of the telephone poles I might have walked right past it if it weren't for another orienteer who ran right up to it just when I was about to walk past it. At the time the control was no more than 20 feet from me.

I almost gave up on 14 after circling around a few times. I must have passed very close to it two or more times before I finally found it. I think I got lucky with most of the other controls between 6 and 14. In other words I got into the general vicinity of where they were and then spotted them fairly quickly.

The weather was crappy. It was cold (enough) and it rained the whole time I was out there. I got completely soaked. My fingers were numb and didn't want to function properly when I noticed one of boots had come undone. It took me a few minutes to retie it. I was very happy that I brought a full change of clothes. The floor in the rest room where I changed was very cold but I felt so much better after I did.

I am very happy that I found all the controls. The only thing worse than getting soaked would have been getting soaked and not completing the course.

Course: Red [16 controls; 6.9 km; 50 m]
Time: 2:53:14 - WinSplits - RouteGadget