Discussion: Not split 17

Don't you mean split 21 is the rest time at the end of the Short Stumble?

and the closing parenthesis above is redundant.

In retrospect, I think the best non-trivial window choices were HFGI and QPRS. Nobody figured the first one out. You want to end the window with I, because it's a long trek into the woods to #14 from the "coast". You also want to utilize the trail to the max, so H-I is out. Thus the window should end with GI or FI. But G is such a short ways from the trail, picking it up on the F-I run is only an extra 30 sec or so. Thus FGI => HFGI.
On P..S, 24-P and 24-Q are approximately the same (Q is shorter but more climb), and R-29 and S-29 are about the same, too (R is closer to 29 but there is a bit of a trail run on S-29). Thus the shorter P-R leg wins over the Q-S leg, hence QPRS. Doesn't look like there is much difference between QSR and QRS.

Actually, Francis Hogle did HFGI.

DECBA 30
ADECB 8
DABCE 2
DCEBA 2
ABCED 2
ABECB 1
ADBCE 1

GFHI 17
IGFH 13
IHFG 8
IGHF 4
GHFI 2
IFHG 1
HFGI 1

JKL 44 (assuming the blanks are all the same, and are for this combination)
LKJ 1
KJL 1

MNO 16
ONM 8
NMO 1

PQSR 13
PQRS 7
QPRS 5

TVWU 23 (assuming the blanks are all the same, and are for this combination)
VTUW 1
WVTU 1

I found Dan's map as I was leaving E on the way to C. It was just 2 or 3 steps out of E. I yelled and yelled but no one claimed it, so I dropped it at C. It was still there when I picked up that control at the end of the day. Interesting that Ted says Dan noticed his map was missing as he was leaving B...two controls later.