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

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

Fountainhead - Mar 31, 2012

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I had a fun orienteering at Fountainhead today.

The weather was great, damn near perfect. It was supposed to rain but thankfully it didn't. If it had rained it would have been a very muddy day.

Partly because I showed up late and partly because it was my first time orienteering since I had my gall bladder removed I decided to walk the green course. It wasn't too difficult but it was physically challenging. There were lots of hills and lots of trails. The trails seemed to wind all over the place. I didn't use them very much. I navigated using contour lines and streams, for the most part.

I made a couple big mistakes. The first occurred when I was heading toward the 7th control. I mistook one re-entrant for another and wound up further west than I should have been. It took me a few minutes to figure out what I did wrong and where I was exactly. Once I did I was able to correct myself and found the control without too much trouble.

My other big mistake was on the next control. In this case I think I got a bit distracted by some of the other orienteers. I went down the wrong side of a hill and wound up no where near the 8th control. Once again it took me a few minutes to figure out where I was and how to get back on course. Those two errors combined probably cost me 10-15 minutes.

After the 8th control I didn't have any problems with the remaining controls.

Course: Green [11 controls; 4.9 km; 270m]
Time: 1:39:46 - WinSplits - RouteGadget

Patuxent - Mar 3, 2012

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Course: Brown [9 controls; 3.6 km; 95 m]
Time: 1:14:33 - WinSplits - RouteGadget

Pohick Bay - Feb 26, 2012

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Course: Blue [18 controls; 8.5 km; 405 m]
Time: 3:00:16 - WinSplits - RouteGadget

Greenbelt - Feb 12, 2012

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It was cold, cold, cold today at Greenbelt. Winter finally arrived with a vengeance. I spent my first 90 minutes helping out with registration. Due to park regulations we are unable to accept payments in the park. Most people pre-registered. Those that didn’t were directed across the street from the park to the parking lot of Capitol Cadillac. That’s where I and a few other volunteers were stationed. People drove up in their cars and we registered them. It is unclear to me why we couldn’t run this operation from a vehicle. We had to stand out in the cold, and it was bitterly cold.

When I was finally relieved I headed back over to the park. I first used the bathroom where I discovered just how cold my hands were. I didn’t have any gloves. I had been keeping them in my pockets but they were still a bit numb. After using the facilities I got the zipper on my pants up and fastened the buckle but I couldn’t get my pants to snap back up.

Jon offered to loan me a pair of gloves but I turned down his offer. I felt that I could manage without and for the most part I was right. For a while my hands didn’t feel cold at all, but looking back now I have to wonder if they were just numb at the time.

The course itself wasn’t terribly difficult. None of the controls gave me any trouble. I got lucky in a couple cases but for the most part my familiarty with the park, the lack of foliage and the placement of some of the controls meant that I didn’t experience much in the way of frustration.

I think I broke my compass today. Just after finding the 13th control I noticed that there was an air bubble in my compass. I hadn’t noticed it before. I think the casing must have cracked and let that it. I fell a couple times today but didn’t think I landed hard enough to break it. I’ve had that compass for about 6 years, so I feel like I got my money’s worth out of it.

I used a garmin today. I remembered to start it at the right time but I forgot to stop it after I finished. I was about to drive off when I realized that I was still wearing it and that it was still running. It had been about 30 minutes since I finished the course at that point.

On the way home I stopped at REI. I bought a pair of gloves. Maybe I should have bought a second pair: one pair for orienteering and another pair for day-to-day use. I wanted to buy a thumb compass but they didn’t have any. I guess I will need to shop online for one of those. I wore the gloves home even though it was warm enough in my car that I really didn’t need them.

Course: Blue [15 controls; 8.1 km; 230 m]
Time: 2:34:08 - WinSplits - RouteGadget