Discussion: Thanks for the help

I felt like such a rookie in the first half hour. It was hard to put it behind me but I appreciate you pointing out my compass in the snow and getting me Abby's number to call.

I was the first to head down the hill to 'I'. There were a few standing at the road debating at the time. about 200m down I merged with a 2 person team that came in from my right and I followed them. It was a bit easier in a track.

I also tried getting to H through the 'clearing' which was 8' brush infested with occasional thorns. I backtracked and went further west, found a rootstock on the near edge of the stream and used it to jump to the other side.

The tunnel was fun to think about but in reality, it was a challenge. It was cold and I didnt have the energy to jog and make it shorter.

After F4 I stayed high not wanting to loose elevation. I got to the first outcrop and knew it was not the one but was surprised at how beaten down with prints it was. From that point to F5 did not look like what I pictured and I 2nd, 3rd, and 4th guessed turning back and rechecking the first rock outcrop. The Turnpike fence pushed me lower than I wanted to go and I ended up having to reclimb most of the hill.

I had also debated paralleling the Turnpike to get back but with what I just went through to get to F5 I figured I was better off more direct and finding trails.

No problem on the help. We were in it to have fun and have an adventure not go for time.

In hindsight, skipping H and G, and so getting to F5 with more time, would have made for a more enjoyable route for us. We would have then had the time to make it down the hill from F5 carefully and back up the other side slowly but we would have been in the woods and picked off several controls on the way back instead of the long slog along the roads. But H was actually worth 3 points I think and the B's all worth 1 so we may have come out ahead pointwise the way we did it. (Didn't realize different controls were worth different points at the time.)

I'm just happy that I'm feeling mostly recovered today. I don't know if I'll try another AR or not. I'd have to get myself in better shape and I just am not sure that's going to happen!

Yeah, I didn't notice the point values either (one of my lessons to learn) until I was heading to H. Then I was planning to get to K (another 3pt) but wasted too much time on A & B.

I haven't don't that many of these but the Crooked Compasses have a shorter mandatory route which is nice. At this point, I'm just enjoying the challenge of seeing how many I can get and how well I navigate and plan.