Discussion: I got lost after all
in: Orienteering; General
Mar 11, 2010 11:19 PM
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My daughters and I went down to the meet at Hawn State Park last weekend. It was well organized and we had a great time. Thanks to Eric and Bill.
We didn't run any courses, we had a training opportunity and went down for that. Rick turned us over to Kevin. Kevin led us on a map hike, focusing on reading contour lines. A big point he made that I had not considered before was learning to recognize the size in real life of what you see on the map. Look on the map and have an expectation of how big that spur is or how far across that reentrant is. He spent most of an hour with us, it was great. Thanks Kevin!
We also ran the first three controls on the Orange course. The first two were straight forward. Then from control 2, we decided to avoid the trails and try to get straight to control 3.
I immediately ignored all the advice given on AP just a week earlier. I also ignored what Kevin had been preaching for an hour. I took a bearing. Over 10 or 15 minutes of being lost and guessing at where we were we worked our way back to control 2. We actually started reading the contour lines. We also took a bearing but this time we could clearly see where the contours were leading. It was a very steep climb but we went straight to the control. And it was down low, and behind some boulders. It was a great feeling to find it because we could not have found that by accident. We really were using our new skills.
It's not often you get to back up and try something like that again.
It was a pretty cool day.
-- Steve
We didn't run any courses, we had a training opportunity and went down for that. Rick turned us over to Kevin. Kevin led us on a map hike, focusing on reading contour lines. A big point he made that I had not considered before was learning to recognize the size in real life of what you see on the map. Look on the map and have an expectation of how big that spur is or how far across that reentrant is. He spent most of an hour with us, it was great. Thanks Kevin!
We also ran the first three controls on the Orange course. The first two were straight forward. Then from control 2, we decided to avoid the trails and try to get straight to control 3.
I immediately ignored all the advice given on AP just a week earlier. I also ignored what Kevin had been preaching for an hour. I took a bearing. Over 10 or 15 minutes of being lost and guessing at where we were we worked our way back to control 2. We actually started reading the contour lines. We also took a bearing but this time we could clearly see where the contours were leading. It was a very steep climb but we went straight to the control. And it was down low, and behind some boulders. It was a great feeling to find it because we could not have found that by accident. We really were using our new skills.
It's not often you get to back up and try something like that again.
It was a pretty cool day.
-- Steve
Mar 12, 2010 1:14 PM
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...10 or 15 minutes of being lost and guessing at where we were we worked our way back to control 2....It's not often you get to back up and try something like that again...
Well just having the smarts to retrace your steps, back to your last known point, puts you ahead of most other beginners. Congratulations. You appear to be tackling this sport very sensibly. Next time you might wish to begin with the White course tho; Orange is designed for intermediate orienteers.
But just one question: will you daughters ever go orienteering with you again?
Well just having the smarts to retrace your steps, back to your last known point, puts you ahead of most other beginners. Congratulations. You appear to be tackling this sport very sensibly. Next time you might wish to begin with the White course tho; Orange is designed for intermediate orienteers.
But just one question: will you daughters ever go orienteering with you again?
Mar 12, 2010 6:58 PM
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Knowing Steve, Orange is the correct course. From previous thread, Steve's challenge is the step up from the trails for White/Yellow to the off-trail sites of Orange which require better map-reading and better strategies. Sure glad that Kevin spontaneously volunteered to take you guys out! (I orienteered well at Hawn Middle. From 4-5-6, Kevin zipped right past me - smoother and faster.)
At all levels, we make the same mistake you did. No matter what training and brain tells us, at times we revert back to "same old mistakes we used to make" and 'follow a bearing blindly' is a typical fall-back. It's simple and it's plausible. Incorporating new skills/strategies in the field is one of the great challenges and thus lures of orienteering.
With different experiences, teen-agers and adults tend to see O-maps differently. Have you noticed that with the girls?
At all levels, we make the same mistake you did. No matter what training and brain tells us, at times we revert back to "same old mistakes we used to make" and 'follow a bearing blindly' is a typical fall-back. It's simple and it's plausible. Incorporating new skills/strategies in the field is one of the great challenges and thus lures of orienteering.
With different experiences, teen-agers and adults tend to see O-maps differently. Have you noticed that with the girls?
Mar 12, 2010 7:46 PM
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Incorporating new skills/strategies in the field consistently is one of the great challenges
It can take some time to master all the skills, but the ability to apply them consistently separates the best from the rest. :-)
It can take some time to master all the skills, but the ability to apply them consistently separates the best from the rest. :-)
Mar 14, 2010 9:45 PM
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Rick, I'll have to think about I might look at maps differently than my girls. I can say that it was one of the girls and not me who sounded the alarm that the terrain around us didn't look like where we thought we were on the map.
On doing the right thing consistently ... I've noticed this myself and heard from others that running and being tierd makes it hard to do your best thinking. That's another piece of the puzzle.
On doing the right thing consistently ... I've noticed this myself and heard from others that running and being tierd makes it hard to do your best thinking. That's another piece of the puzzle.
Mar 15, 2010 6:43 PM
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Steve, Methinks you might have a daughter with a natural talent for orienteering. Recognizing the terrain doesn't fit the map - that's good for any level and very good for beginners.
This discussion thread is closed.