Patapsco/CCBC - Mar 30, 2014

I did not use a Garmin. Mine was acting up so I left it at home. The Garmins that the club possesses had not arrived on site when I got was ready to begin so I orienteered without one. My stated actual distance is approximate since I used a ruler and the map to guess the actual distance that I traveled.

I won the time derby for the umpteenth time. In other words, I spent more time orienteering than anyone else. The combination of windy, wet weather and low attendance at this event probably are in large part responsible for my win.

Control pickup was no picnic. It was raining when I started and switched over to sleet and then snow before I finished. Most of the controls I had to pickup were in wooded areas which offered some protection from the elements.

More: Attackpoint Training Log

Google Maps: Dave Goes Orienteering 2013-14

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

Patapsco/Rockburn Branch - Apr 28, 2013

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Under normal circumstances I would have done the blue course. My right hip was bothering me a little bit so I opted to do red instead. My hip is now feeling better than it was before orienteering but not all better.

The most notable thing about this orienteering excursion is the regularity with which I kept encountering the same JROTC student. He was also doing the red course. He caught up to me between the 4th and 5th controls. He was with me, either just behind or just ahead of me while I searched for 5, 6, and 7. I took a different route and got to the 8 before he did.

He passed me on the way to 9 but overshot the control. I saw him when I was on my way to 10 and pointed him in the correct direction. He caught up and passed me on the way to 11. We both fumbled around on the way to 12 but found it around the same time. I caught up to him at 13, where he was drinking some water. He was with me for 14 and 15. After 15 he took off in the right direction while I decided to take a less direct route to 16. I didn't see him again until after I finished the course.

Course: Red [19 controls; 7.0 km; 250 m]
Time: 2:15:12 - AttackPoint - Winsplits
Actual Distance: 9.48 km / 5.89 miles

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

Patapsco/Granite - Mar 9, 2013

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My first time orienteering since mid-December. On the whole it was a very successful experience. I found most of the controls unassisted on the first attempt. There were some that I had to circle around to find but I didn't overshoot any controls by a wide margin or make any big navigational errors.

The weather was very warm for early March. I didn't wear a jacket, just two t-shirts: one long sleeve, one short sleeve.

Course: Red [18 controls; 7.2 km; 335 m]
Time: 2:13:51 - AttackPoint - WinSplits
Actual Distance: 8.81 km / 5.47 miles

Oregon Ridge - Dec 16, 2012

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Course: Red [11 controls; 7.2 km; 220m]
Time: 2:04:06 - AttackPoint - WinSplits - RouteGadget
Actual Distance: 8.64 km / 5.37 miles

Happyland - Dec 9, 2012

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Overall, I did not have a happy time at Happyland. It took me considerably longer than usual to get there due to the fact that one of the tires on my car went flat on the 50-mile drive to the park. It took me a while to get the flat tire off the car, put the spare tire on the car, and then find a gas station with an air pump that included a tire pressure gauge so that I could make sure that the spare was properly inflated.

I originally planned to do the Blue course. I changed to the Red course because I arrived a good hour-and-a-half later than planned. I probably should have done the Green course instead. I made enough mistakes on the Red course that I ran out of time before I was able to find all the controls. I found the first 13 and was on my way to 14 when I saw someone picking up controls. I didn't stop and ask him if he had picked up 14. I took my inability to find it as an indication that he had picked it up. I didn't bother looking for 15, the final control on the course.

The biggest mistake I made was when I mistook one road for another when I was looking for control 11. If I had just consulted my compass I would have realized my mistake, 10 minutes earlier.

This makes my third DNF at Happyland. That's 3 in 4 times that I have orienteered in this part of Prince William Forest. What's crazy is that the one time I did finish a course it was a blue one; two of the three DNFs were on red courses.

Course: Red [Controls: 15; 7.4 km; 220 m]
Time: 3:10:29 - AttackPoint - WinSplits - RouteGadget
Actual Distance: 10.84 km / 6.73 miles

Patuxent - Nov 4, 2012

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The weather was very nice for the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Orienteering Championship. It was a little too breezy to just stand around without a jacket or hat but it wasn't bitterly cold either.

I ended up volunteering after orienteering even though I had not planned to do so. I teamed up with Dan to pick up controls. I picked up 3, she picked up 7. Mine were a little more spread out than hers were. I also had to lug a couple unopened gallons of water back from the first control I picked up.

Instead of blue I "ran" the red course because it was my age appropriate course. I don't think I was fast enough to have an impact in the scoring. I finished 17th out of the 17 that finished the course.

For the most part I didn't have any trouble with the course. There was lots of up and down, especially in the southern section of the map. For a while, after crossing the road while on my way to 2/115 and until I crossed the road after finding 5/125 I didn't see anyone. It was kind of nice. That wasn't the case in the southern portion of the map. I ran into considerably more people there and often they were looking for the same controls as me, even though most of them were not running the same course as me.

There weren't many SVO participants but SVO is a fairly small club. The DVOA contingent seemed a little on the small side. That probably had something to do with the effects of Hurricane Sandy.


Course: Red [Controls 12; 7.2 km; 270 m]
Time: 2:11:13 - WinSplits - RouteGadget - AttackPoint
Actual Distance: 8.8 km

Balls Bluff - May 12, 2012

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It was hot. There were bugs everywhere. I brought a tick home with me.

The course wasn't too difficult although I still managed to make a couple mistakes. I committed my biggest error when I was looking for the 3rd control. The map may be partly to blame; it ain't perfect. My mistake probably cost me 5 or more minutes.

I ran into what might be some unmapped re-entrants when I was looking for the 7th control. I think I ran into the same problem last time I was at Balls Bluff. If I had just stuck with the trail instead of trying to take a short cut I probably would have found that control faster.

Course: Red [16 controls; 7.2 km; 255 m]
Time: 2:19:42 - 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

Wheaton - Dec 17, 2011

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Course: Red [19 controls; 7.4 km; 135 m]
Time: 2:21:04 - WinSplits - RouteGadget

Manassas - Dec 4, 2011

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The red course at Manassas wasn't too difficult navigation-wise but it was one of the longest red courses I've ever done. Still, it wasn't terribly challenging because there are no steep hills to climb. There are a few water hazards and a few thick patches of woods but that's about as difficult as it gets at Manassas.

The weather was unseasonably warm for early December. There was a lot of people there but I didn't run into quite as many as I thought I would when I was in the woods. There were a few times when a whole pack of people seemed to converge on one control at the same time.

For the first time since the Spring I used a Garmin GPS watch to track my movements. In the past I haven't been too impressed with the results. This time the file that the Garmin produced and the digital map lined up quite well, by my estimation, and I didn't see the need to make any adjustments.

Red [19 controls; 9.4 km; 70 m]
Time: 2:39:40 - WinSplits - RouteGadget

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

Lake Needwood - Sep 18, 2011

Course: Red [7.3 km; 228m; 28 controls]
Time: 2:53:55 - winsplits - routegadget


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Balls Bluff - May 22, 2011

Course: Red [7.1 km; 390m; 17 controls]
Time: 2:47:23 - winsplits - routegadget


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Pohick Bay - Mar 13, 2011

Course: Red [6.0 km; 190m; 12 controls]
Time: 1:50:31 - winsplits - routegadget


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The weather was perfect, not too cool and not too warm. I worked up a bit of a sweat. I didn’t get my feet wet, although I did walk through plenty of mud and marshy ground.

None of the controls gave me very much trouble. There were a lot of people in the woods, which made finding most of the controls that much easier. Could I have done a better job with route selection? Probably but I think I did a decent job. Next time I orienteer at Pohick Bay I should attempt the blue course.

Manassas - Feb 13, 2011

Course: Red [8.1 km; 170m; 17 controls]
Time: 2:28:27 - winsplits - routegadget


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Wheaton - Jan 9, 2011

Course: Red [6.6 km; 170m; 18 controls]
Time: 2:14:45 - winsplits - routegadget


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It was very chilly in the DC area and Wheaton Regional Park was no exception. The temperature was right around the freezing mark and the wind was blowing at 20-30 mph.

I arrived a little early. I had my heart set on using a Garmin 205 gps watch to track my orienteering. After registering I waited for Jon to arrive. I didn't have long to wait but maybe I should have taken the fact that I arrived before him as a sign.

The first mistake I made with the 205 was forgetting to hit the start/stop button after punching the START control. It wasn't until after I punched the 1st control that I noticed. I hit the start/stop button and went on my merry way. At some point, 11 minutes and 47 seconds after I started the timer I hit the start/stop button again, by accident this time.

I didn't notice until I was between the 6th and 7th controls. I didn't bother starting the timer again. Because I was so close to the registration table I detoured and dropped off the 205, which probably added a couple minutes to my time.

The only control that gave me a lot of touble was the 5th one. I went right past it on my first attempt to find it. I thought it would be to my right but it was to my left. It took about three sweeps through the area and a little help from another person to find it.

The 15th control also gave me a little trouble. I knew it was just across a stream. When I crossed the stream and didn't see it I turned right and walked a ways without finding the control until I found a trail. That helped me to reorient myself and realize the I should have turned left after crossing the stream. I walked back along the stream, past the point where I crossed it and found the control without much trouble.

I wore long underwear for the first time this season, and I'm glad I did. It was certainly cold enough. I've gone without when the temperature was lower but the wind was the deciding factor for me. After I finished orienteering I could feel myself getting colder, probably due to lack of movement. It wasn't until after I got out of my sweaty t-shirts and socks and put on some dry, clean replacements that I started to feel warm again.

Meadowood West: Dec 19, 2010

Course: Red [7.7 km; 225m; 10 controls]
Time: 2:13:48 - winsplits - routegadget


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I didn't have much trouble orienteering at Meadowood. The only control that gave me any trouble was the first one. I took off from the start and winged it. Not a good idea. Never a good idea. I found it eventually but I took a very roundabout getting there.

After that it wasn't too difficult finding the rest of the controls. The snow helped. There were lots of footprints to follow. Footprints aside, most of the controls were more or less where I expected them to be. I didn't have any nasty surprises.

It was a fairly cool day. I considered wearing long underwear but decided that it wasn't cold enough or wet enough to warrant the extra layer of protection. In the end I think I made the right call. The only part of me that got wet was my feet.

For the first time I wore a Garmin 205 while I was orienteering. The GPS tracking device redorded my exact route. It was a little more work than I thought it would be uploading the file. I thought it would just be a matter of laying it over the map but there was much adjustment needed. Still, I'm glad I used it and will do so again.