Barebones Middle. Have you ever seen the move Any Given Sunday? Well, I haven't. But I'm pretty sure the phrase has something to do with the idea that in football, you might win, and you might lose.
(The actual quote is: "On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you win or lose like a man?" - Generally I win like a man and lose like a child)
Anyway, this being a middle, I often assume on the side of lose, since its requires, of all things, real navigation. But, the Bow Valley in general reminds me of Whitehorse, which I had success in just by riding the ridges, so I pretty much knew what I had to do to do well here. However, I really wanted to work on going straighter, being riskier. So, I did. At least, for the first 6 or so.
Quickroute File
The navigation was generally successful for the first little while. I took it cautiously and was vigilant with my compass. 5 was not as straight as it could've been, but I was aiming well left to ensure I hit the first big clearing. 6 was the same, left the control poorly, but knew I was making 100% certain to hit the clearing. Unfortunately, the clearing wasn't quite as decisive as I would've liked, but I was able to re-locate on the fly in the rough open on the ridge. Saw my 2 minute man at 6, which hurried me a little, so we both botched 7. Fortunately, I got very lucky and stumbled on it after relocating with the rough open. I can't honestly say I was very certain on the relocation.
Running to 8 was a bit ziggy zaggy, but I decided to aim back for the rough open as it was a bit faster. I was also singularly focused on hitting the lake, there was really no other option as far as I was concerned. I could run recklessly until I was in sight of the lake. 9-10-11-12 were all ridge running, though I should've taken a direct-er route into 11. The next 6 were very scary, had 2 minute man around me, so I was hurrying, and I really couldn't make heads or tails of the contours very well. But, I tried to ensure I took a good bearing leaving the control, and I was able to fill in things along the way. Not ideal, but my bearing did actually help a bit. I found it quite difficult to make out what was up or down, which particularly lead to the mistake at 15. Apparently I also totally didn't see any bears around 16.
18 was a bit wobbly because I felt obligated to go close to the trail to see if they guy shouting was okay. He was just shouting to scare away the aforementioned bear.
All in all, not bad. Mr. Nipen probably could've done that in about 35.