Training Log Archive: CleverSky

So, a day later, I'm somewhat banged up. My right ankle is sore from having gone over a couple of times yesterday, I've got a black toenail from the EMPO meet two weeks ago, and the big toe on my right foot has substantial bruising at the joint, presumably from having kicked a rock pretty hard somewhere out at Rockhouse. I also have some tenderness on the upper outside of my left thigh, pretty sure that's from the fall I took in the marsh on the way to #20. It was swollen quite a bit last night, and I iced it, but there's no discoloration, so I think whatever damage there is must be pretty deep. Should be all fine in a couple of days.

"Harriman Orienteering Festival" Fall Goat. Nominally 11.6 km, 445 m, but there was a skip, 31st. Spent the previous night at Ratlum Mountain, and drove down with Charlie and Jeff. A little bit of excitement when, slightly behind schedule, we got to Annsville Circle and found Rte. 202 closed. We headed north on Rte. 9, with me thinking that we might have to go all the way to Cold Spring, but some quick work with the phone on Charlie's part found us the excellent South Mountain Pass Road, which added only a couple of minutes to the trip and which might be preferred in some traffic conditions. Realized as I was getting ready that I had failed to grab the bag with my compass and epunch, so I borrowed a baseplate compass from Bernie and an SI-5 from Jeff. (I did have my glasses, which are not something I could borrow from anyone else.)

A bit congested and chaotic at the start, with maps and map cases being handed out separately (fortunately the rain had stopped) on a narrow trail. Not sure why the start wasn't on the other side of the tunnel, since we had to go through it anyway, and there's a lot more room on the other side. Some folks headed more or less straight through the white woods while others took the rough open by the road to get to a trail, and I split the difference and went for the green marsh in the middle (and corrected to the road/trail route). A big pileup at the control, with just one epunch box.

Pretty much just following the crowd to #2 and #3, trying to scope out good skip options and to make a choice for the forked control #19. I decided on skipping #18 and taking the right fork to #19b, and discussed that with a few people. On the way to #4, some people stopped early at a control on one of the other courses, but it was pretty obvious that we hadn't dropped nearly enough, as the control was almost all the way down at the marsh. I was in a pretty good-sized crowd that included Peggy, Bernie, Nadim, Jeff, Pavlina, and others. Still following to #5, but I took my own route to #6 and seemed to gain a little on the others.

#7 was a fairly long leg across trackless terrain, and I was doing pretty well for the first half, then most of the crowd was down in a very rocky broad reentrant that didn't appeal to me, so I was further up on the right side, which was better, but I was headed for a bunch of green. Daniel was right behind me, and we had a loose agreement as to how to approach the control. I was doing a terrible job of reading the map, and we went through a lot of laurel, sometimes me in front, sometimes Daniel, with others behind us. Eventually I heard running water, and we got down to a stream that we had to follow up to the control. Plenty of green there, the going was slow, and I was figuring that we had made a pretty bad route choice. That was probably true, but Nadim was arriving as we got to the control (I suspect Pafi and Jeff were ahead, Peggy and Bernie behind).

Pretty much a trail run to #8, and #9 was maybe the most pleasant leg, gently downhill through nice open woods. Nadim stopped briefly to chat with Max, and Daniel and I got slightly ahead, but not for long. #10 went fine until the very end, when I crossed a faint trail and knew I was almost there, but I was looking at a marsh that I couldn't find on the map (it was there, but hard to see because of the stony ground on top of it). I faded to the right to try and figure out what was going on, and Daniel caught up with a better sense that we were too low. At that point I was able to look up and see the cliff with the control (and several people) just uphill a bit. Nadim got there just ahead of us.

#11 and #12 were straightforward, with a number of folks about (including a bunch of cadets, I think). Likewise for #13 and #14. At some point in here Karl joined us as well. Leaving #14, I was kind of turned off by all the stony ground around #15, and decided that I didn't want to go to it. I'd already had a couple of ankle rolls, and I preferred the better looking footing on the way from #14 to #16, and I mentioned this to Daniel. Two things complicated the navigation. The first was that Nadim and somebody else were heading for #15, but not dropping enough, making us think we were too low. The second was that #18 was on the straight line between #14 and #16, and my weary brain was trying to navigate from #18 to #16, and I was confused as to why it was taking so long to get to the features I was looking for. In particular, there was a terrace with a laurel patch that was like a beacon, but when I saw it, it felt like we should already be past that. I did stumble onto a faint trail that went almost exactly to the control, so that was good. I had to hop over a fallen tree at one point, and used a small boulder, maybe twice the size of a milk crate, as a step up. I was quite surprised when it yielded under my weight and rolled down the hill a bit! Also somewhat pleasantly surprised when I saw Patrick as I was approaching the control.

With Daniel and Karl going up the hill to #17, and since I felt like I was getting stupid, I sucked down a gel on the trail run to #18. I hadn't previously noticed the water stop that I must have gone by as I left #14, but it was welcome now, and Daniel and I stopped at it, while Karl cruised on by. We were behind him down to the trail junction, where I think he turned left to go to #19b. I turned right, and Daniel followed. It was tough to find the nearly invisible trail that took us back past #12, and after that it faded out completely. No problem, I took a more direct route across the valley than the trail would have afforded, and picked it up again where it entered the laurel and was more distinct. That provided an easy route to #19a.

As we left, I noted to Daniel that the marsh generally provided good running (local knowledge from 25 years ago), and he agreed. I knew that the wet conditions might make it a little less appealing, but took that route, and it was mostly okay. I took one fall in there, coming down hard and not getting up right away. At the end of the marsh, the map showed white woods, but in the intervening quarter century, it's turned into a thick marsh, so we had to go up the hill and through a little bit of laurel to get past that. At the control, I could hear people coming, who I think were a group of cadets.

Didn't feel like I had any kick left, at least not enough to outrun youngsters. Daniel and I got up to the dunp, and he pulled ahead on the dirt road. He hesitated after going through the tunnel, while I immediately dived left through a little bit of vegetation to get to the rough open on the edge of the road that led to a trail leading to the control. One cadet got there just ahead of me, don't know if he was a member of the group who overtook us (nope, he was ahead at #20, and I nearly caught him). The finish chute was a field, so I opened it up right away to try and dissuade anyone from trying to get past me, and it worked (on Daniel, anyway).

Pleasant drive home, with Anne as an added passenger, and after enjoying the delight cuisine of Rhonda, I dropped Anne off at her mother's place, headed home, and made it to Nancy's in time to watch the entire last game of the World Series.