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Saturday Dec 1, 2018 #
Event: QOC Little Bennett
12 PM
Orienteering 2:33:47 [3] *** 5.9 mi (26:04 / mi) +970ft 22:33 / mi
14c shoes: PVM17
Little Bennett North
Green course (14 controls, 6.2 km, 125 m)
Actual distance traveled: 9.4 km
Actual climb: 296 m
Note: the course description for green (including the one that is on the QOC web site) did not match the map. The course description listed the green as being 12 controls, 6.1 km, 185 m.
I volunteered to help out with beginner instruction from 12 - 1:30. The turnout was low so the meet director/course designer let me go early. Originally I was going to do the brown course but because I had an hour more than I originally planned for I decided to do green.
It was a longish slog along a twisty, muddy trail to the first control. The only consolation was that the control itself was easy to find. The second and third controls weren't easy to find but I had some help finding them. I was nearing the fourth control, but I had not spotted it yet when someone else passed me, and ran straight to it.
I found the next three controls (5,6,7) on my own but I had a little bit of help finding the three (8,9,10) after that. The eleventh control was right on the trail but I wasn't paying close enough attention to the map and did some unnecessary climbing off trail before I climbed back down to the trail and spotted it.
I ran into someone else who was a little lost on my way to 12. I stopped to show her where we were on the map. She was ready to give up, time was running out. I showed her the shortest way back to the finish. It was the same direction in which I was headed so we walked together for a little ways until I broke off to go looking for 12. We forded the stream at a point where it was up to a couple feet deep and maybe 20 feet across. It was the most direct route across the stream and the water was extremely cold. If I had it to do over again or if I had more time I might have gone downstream to the bridge and then worked my way back to the trail.
I got to the spot where the 12 had been in roughly the amount of time that I was credited with finding it, 12:45, but it wasn't there. I was sure I was in the right place but it didn't occur to me that the control might have been pulled already. As I look back on my GPS track now I can see that it was about 3 PM at that point. I spent the next 21 minutes circling around looking for the control. I covered 7/10 of a mile while I was circling, according to the GPS data.
Eventually I gave up and headed for 13 which I had located while I was searching for 12. I found 14 without too much trouble and then headed for the finish. I didn't find out that the 12th control had been pulled before I got to it until I downloaded. I was given credit for finding 12. This happened to me once before at Little Bennett 4 or 5 years ago.
I was wet and cold. It was about 40 degrees and rained most of the time I was out in the woods. It took me a while to warm up.
I think it is safe to say that I probably would have finished 15-20 minutes earlier if the 12th control had still been in place. Even a slowpoke like me could have traveled from 12 to 13 in no more than a few minutes. I uploaded by GPS track to RouteGadget. Take a look if you want to see how much I circled around before I gave up finding 12.
Green course (14 controls, 6.2 km, 125 m)
Actual distance traveled: 9.4 km
Actual climb: 296 m
Note: the course description for green (including the one that is on the QOC web site) did not match the map. The course description listed the green as being 12 controls, 6.1 km, 185 m.
I volunteered to help out with beginner instruction from 12 - 1:30. The turnout was low so the meet director/course designer let me go early. Originally I was going to do the brown course but because I had an hour more than I originally planned for I decided to do green.
It was a longish slog along a twisty, muddy trail to the first control. The only consolation was that the control itself was easy to find. The second and third controls weren't easy to find but I had some help finding them. I was nearing the fourth control, but I had not spotted it yet when someone else passed me, and ran straight to it.
I found the next three controls (5,6,7) on my own but I had a little bit of help finding the three (8,9,10) after that. The eleventh control was right on the trail but I wasn't paying close enough attention to the map and did some unnecessary climbing off trail before I climbed back down to the trail and spotted it.
I ran into someone else who was a little lost on my way to 12. I stopped to show her where we were on the map. She was ready to give up, time was running out. I showed her the shortest way back to the finish. It was the same direction in which I was headed so we walked together for a little ways until I broke off to go looking for 12. We forded the stream at a point where it was up to a couple feet deep and maybe 20 feet across. It was the most direct route across the stream and the water was extremely cold. If I had it to do over again or if I had more time I might have gone downstream to the bridge and then worked my way back to the trail.
I got to the spot where the 12 had been in roughly the amount of time that I was credited with finding it, 12:45, but it wasn't there. I was sure I was in the right place but it didn't occur to me that the control might have been pulled already. As I look back on my GPS track now I can see that it was about 3 PM at that point. I spent the next 21 minutes circling around looking for the control. I covered 7/10 of a mile while I was circling, according to the GPS data.
Eventually I gave up and headed for 13 which I had located while I was searching for 12. I found 14 without too much trouble and then headed for the finish. I didn't find out that the 12th control had been pulled before I got to it until I downloaded. I was given credit for finding 12. This happened to me once before at Little Bennett 4 or 5 years ago.
I was wet and cold. It was about 40 degrees and rained most of the time I was out in the woods. It took me a while to warm up.
I think it is safe to say that I probably would have finished 15-20 minutes earlier if the 12th control had still been in place. Even a slowpoke like me could have traveled from 12 to 13 in no more than a few minutes. I uploaded by GPS track to RouteGadget. Take a look if you want to see how much I circled around before I gave up finding 12.