French Creek East - Jul 14, 2013

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I drove up the day before the meet and camped in French Creek State Park. My camping gear consisted of a 2-person tent and a bed roll that I bought from REI in early June. It took me a half hour to get the tent set up. The instructions on the bag were clear enough, but it took me a little while to figure out what was what. It took me almost as long to break the tent down on Sunday morning.

I had originally intended to stop in Lancaster for dinner on Saturday night but it was only 4:30 when I reached Lancaster and I wasn't very hungry so I kept driving. I ended up dining on a kashi bar and a mix of almonds and raisins on Saturday night. For breakfast the next morning I had some fresh fruit (that I bought at Whole Foods on Saturday), some more almonds and raisins, and a blueberry flavored pro bar.

Early Arrival, Late Start

I arrived early (9:20) and expected to be one of the first people to start. Unfortunately the meet director was a little overwhelmed and short on help so everything was not ready to go at 10 when the meet was supposed to begin. I helped carry some gear from the parking area up to the registration area, a couple hundred yards away. After that I stood around and waited for a while.

More and more people started to show up and things weren't ready to go. The e-punch set up was still in the process of getting set up when the meet director asked if someone would carry 3 gallons of water up to the start, which was a good kilometer or more uphill from the registration area. Nobody responded to his request so I picked up the box and lugged it up to the start.

Slow Start, Small Map

I expected that after I got to the start I would have to turn around, go back to the registration area, and register my e-punch. Instead they told me I could go ahead and start. I was a bit out of breath and sweating profusely but I accepted the challenge. My eyes almost popped out of my head when they handed me the map. It was tiny, considering the area it covered. the contour lines were printed in yellow and hard to read.

It took me a minute to get my bearings and figure out in which direction I need to head in order to find the first control. It took me about 15 minutes to find it, even though it wasn't very far from the start.

It took me over 30 minutes to find the second control. My search for it began with much bushwhacking. Once I got though all the under growth and out on a trail I thought I was in good shape. I would have been if I hadn't mistaken one trail junction for another and turned off onto a trail that didn't lead me where I needed to go. Once i figured out what I had done wrong, which took a while, I was able to find the control 2/77 without too much trouble.

The next 9 controls (3 through 11) didn't give me any trouble at all. I used my compass quite a bit while searching for them. I was most concerned when looking for 3/xx because other than having a bearing I wasn't sure what terrain features to look for. I followed the bearing and nailed the control. I didn't nail all the other controls I found but once I got close enough and was in the area of them by looking around me I was able to spot them once I got close enough.

I was sold on the compass approach after finding the first 11 controls. I tried using that approach for the 12th one and wound up in a sea of thorns. I kept pressing through the thorns until it got so bad that I had to turn back and find the nearest trail. I spent a long time amid the thorns. I didn't think they would be that thick or last for that long. Even after I turned back and started heading for a trail it took me a long time to get free of the thorns.

I did not emerge from the thorns unscathed. I came home with with many scrapes and cuts on my legs and arms. In some places there are so many marks from the thorns that it looks like I have lots of new freckles. I spent a little bit of time looking for 12, unsuccessfully. I was starting to run short on time and eventually I gave up.

I had a long walk back to the finish. It gave me plenty of time to contemplate my decision to attempt the red course. I was torn between the green and red courses. I had my doubts about my ability to finish the red. I definitely overreached. Under better circumstances I might have finished the red course successfully.

Course: Red [18 controls; 7.1 km; 205m]
Time: 3:24:49
DNF (gave up after finding the first 11 controls)
Actual Distance: 10.3 km / 6.4 miles

Hickory Hop 6 Hr Rogaine - May 26, 2013

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Pre-Rogaine

I drove down with Dan and Jon the night before. We stopped at a Thai restaurant (Bangkok 56) in Harrisburg for dinner. We arrived at Camp Shehaqua after dark. We stayed the night in a small cabin. It was much colder that night than I thought it was going to be. The cabin was not heated and the "mattresses" were just plywood boards. I didn't bring anything with me other than a twin-size comforter and and a pillow.

The temperature dropped down into the low-40s, I'm guessing. I slept fully dressed under the comforter. I did my best to stay under the comforter but I woke up on a number of occasions to find that my nose was cold because it was sticking out into the cold night air. I have no idea how long I slept. I know that I was awake for long periods of time. I must have slept some because I was not dead-on-my-feet the next day and I have a vague memory of at least one dream.


6-hour Rogaine

I got off to a decent start (by my standards) but lost a lot of time (1:37:03 by my estimate) looking for two controls that I never found. Best case scenario I might have scored a couple hundred more points than I actually did. I am satisfied with my performance considering that it was my first 6-hour rogaine.

Map A

My initial strategy was to get all the controls in one section of the map. I started with the eastern section of the map. First I swept south and then east. It took me 21 minutes to find the first three controls (63, 75, 65) as I swept south. It took me 29 minutes to find the eastern-most control on the map (35). In retrospect, considering how few points it was worth and the amount of time I spent looking for it I probably should have skipped it and headed west instead after finding 65.

The next three controls (45, 77, 67) challenged me but I found them all. I was unable to find the 8th control (47) I looked for. I circled around in the general vicinity of it, probably passed close to it, but never found it. In retrospect I am torn as to whether I should have skipped it altogether or just approached it from a different angle. I spent almost 55 minutes looking for it.

Having found (or at least looked) for all the controls in the eastern section of the map. I didn't have a plan of attack for this portion other than to wrap it up by getting the controls closest to the finish. I found the first control (73) I searched for in the western portion of the map without too much trouble.

At that point I probably should have reversed course and headed back to the trail I left when I was approaching 73. Instead I did much fruitless bushwhacking in an attempt to find 61. I finally gave up on finding it after 43 minutes. At that point I was getting frustrated. In a little over two hours since finding 67 I had only found one more control, 73.

Having a little less than an hour and 45 minutes to go I decided to play it safe and look for the low hanging fruit. I found 31 without too much trouble. I probably played it a little safer than I otherwise might have due to my experiences with 61 and 47.

I made a colossal mistake when it came to finding the next control (53): I headed south when I should have headed north. Not only did I head in the wrong direction but I ignored two clear indications that I was headed the wrong way: I crossed a creek that shouldn't have been there and I didn't cross a string telephone poles. It wasn't until I got back to a control I been to before I that I realized I was headed in the wrong direction. I probably lost 20 minutes thanks to his mistake.

I found the last two controls (53, 51) that I looked for without too much trouble. I got back to the finish with a little over 15 minutes to spare.

Map B

The only control I found on this map (80) was 50 feet from the finish.

Post-Rogaine

We hung around for almost two hours after the rogaine. There was food and an awards ceremony. Jon finished in first place. No one found all of the controls, Jon came closest (47/50). All participants received a commemorative towel.

We stopped on the way back for dinner at an Indian restaurant (Taste of India) in Harrisburg.

I was determined to make it as far as I could on the drive back without refueling. I almost made it to the gas station I intended to stop at when my car ran out of gas. Lucky for me I was able to coast downhill to the gas station.

Course

The distance is the straight line distance of the route I walked, jogged, and crawled. I included the controls in the measurement. I only searched for 14 of 50 controls.

Course: 6 Hr Rogaine [14 controls; 8.1 km]
Score: 715 points (Map A: 635; Map B: 80)
Time: 5:43:29 - Results
Actuals: 14.81 (distance); 415 (climb)

Warwick - Apr 7, 2013

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This was my first time at this park and my first solo jaunt into another orienteering club's territory in almost 5 years. There was lots of mud and thorns, especially in the section between French Creek and Ridge Road (Route 23). Both slowed me down and both left their mark on me. After crossing back over French Creek it was fairly hilly, which was a welcome relief. I was sick to death of dealing with the thorny vegetation and waterlogged terrain.

Some controls gave me a little more trouble than others. I passed very close to the 8 on my first attempt to find it. I had a similar experience with 16, although I don't think I wasted quite as much time in that case.

My time wasn't great but I am very happy that I finished. I had to circle around to find a few of the controls. I had help finding a number, probably less than half, of the controls. While the terrain is challenging, due to the size of this piece of land it seems like a less than ideal spot for long advanced courses.

Course: Red [25 controls; 9.5 km; 260 m]
Time: 3:06:25 - Results - Splits
Actual Distance Traveled: 12.76 km

Governor Dick Hill - Nov 20, 2011

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I didn't have the easiest time at GD Hill but I finished. The first part of the red course was the most difficult, for me at least. The 6 controls in that section of the course were in an area that was relatively flat and had a number of thorny spots.

1/62 This wasn't a difficult control to find but I took a round-about route to get to it.

4/65 & 5/61 These two controls were fairly close to another. I managed to walk right between them and not see either of them. I eventually realized that I must have passed them and turned around. On my second pass through I found 5/61 And then 4/65

6/79 I wasn't careful enough when looking for this control. I veered off in the wrong direction. Eventually I realized my mistake and headed back towards where I assumed the control must be. I found a control but it wasn't the one I was looking for. I circled around some more, got a better idea of where I was, and eventually found 6/79 It was visible from the other control I found. I dunno why I didn't see it when I found the control that wasn't on the red course.

I had some help finding controls 8-12. They were all fairly close together but I still appreciated the help. After finding 8/69 there was a fair amount of climbing to do to find the rest, first up and then down.

The remaining controls were not difficult to find although I managed to make a number of silly mistakes when looking for the last control and then heading to the finish.

The ride up and back was okay. Nothing too eventful happened. There was a birthday party on the bus, which began while we were still at the park. I missed most of the fun because I was changing clothes. I didn't want to endure a 2.5 - 3 hour bus ride in wet clothes.

The weather was nice and unseasonably mild for mid November in Central PA. There wasn't as much climbing on the red course as I thought there would be. The course was definitely challenging enough.

Time: 3:34:12 - winsplits - routegadget