Brown long course. Found all the points w/o difficulty. The first was down and then up, maybe around would have been as good, maybe better. The second was contouring. I found a bovine trail which just about led me there. A bit high, I did not see the point at first, headed down and saw it (maybe 15” lost). Three was up and up - about all I could do to to get to it.
The big problem was my compass coming apart on the way to #4. The dial came off the housing. I had it, as well as a bronze lock ring in one hand, baseplate and housing in the other. It wasn’t due to a fall. I considered my operative attitude like a well-tuned guitar and a string just broke! My psychological adjustment was not the best it could have been because I learned this lesson before, in Scotland in 2011 when I fell near the finish and my new Silve ty5 baseplate broke in half. No need to travel thousands of miles to run in Europe or CA w/o a contingency plan. But my spare was in the trunk of the car, not on my person today. Distracted, I progressed along - a mix of map reading and trying to rotate the housing which was still in the baseplate. I figured that out, made #4 ok. The 5th was perhaps the most compass-dependent leg. I was shifting to trying the compass in thumb compass style - all the while the housing becoming looser. I missed a junction on the way to #6, figured that out (maybe 30”). 6 & 7 were ok, 7 a bit slow w/o compass.
Off to #8: the large map was folded, so I did not actually take the time to see #8. I set off contouring, all the while distracted by the compass issue (and yet, doing w/o the compass efficiently on this leg was doable I think). About 150m along, I unfolded the map, saw where the point actually was and that the nearby path would take me almost all the way there. My concentration had been altered. I did not really consider possible disadvantages of the path route enough, wanting to save seconds…. So a bit SE of 7, I headed NE to the nearby path. First it went N and then SE forever and down and down, to Purgatory, I eventually decided. After an eternity, I came to the bend, just off the edge of the map. And now, the trail started up with a vengeance. It went up and up and around this and that - painful. I’d have given anything for the sanity of contouring. Finally, a last curve as attack point and #8 was reached - after 32’. 8 to 9 was fun, being open and using contours. Didn’t need a compass much after the midway point to 6. On the way to 8, I’d separated the housing from the baseplate.
Pennywise, pound foolish re fretting seconds and forgotten lesson relearned. I don't care for a spare compass in the zip pocket small of one's back - seems too hard to get it out.
More than 250m climb by quite a bit. 4.15 mi per 310XT seems too much wasted effort.
Initial points
The long route in the green area.
End of the road