Training Log Archive: SwampfoxIn the 1 days ending Jul 16, 2017: |
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Sunday Jul 16, 2017 #
Note
O' at Pelican Bay, 8.6 kms, 24 controls, more sage than you would guess from looking at where the course went, one very well hidden badger hole (but my foot found it anyway), and one bull moose with a large set of antlers still in velvet.
Starting out I was going carefully, partly because the course began with a string of very short legs in some sage, and partly because it didn't appear as if any cows were around. But soon after that I detected a good sized herd which were hunkered down in a well fortified line just inside the edge of a long aspen grove. After that, things went faster and faster. It felt warm in the sun (this was late morning) but not too warm, and there was a nice breeze that still had a cool touch to it.
I haven't done a complete count yet, but my preliminary estimate is that I bashed through at least 8045 sage plants. And I also bashed/cracked a fingernail when I fell after one foot disappeared into an aforementioned, well hidden badger hole.
I also saw one nighthawk fly up off the ground and then try to lure me away from the area by acting injured. I did a quick search for chicks but had no luck in spotting them; I did see one tiny fluff of down on the ground, and from that I knew I was close. Not close enough, though.
With three controls to go, it occurred to me I had had a pretty clean run, and that if I just got the next two controls, then it would be a nice run (the last control was simple)--and just at about that moment, I thought I could see where the next control feature was, so I picked it up, "punched" at the control (there wasn't really anything there) and then looked out at the exit direction...and what I saw made no sense at all. So I looked at the map more carefully, and came to realize that it was right when I was thinking about how I had had a clean run, I was passing the actual control location--ha! Orienteering never ceases to be humbling.
Starting out I was going carefully, partly because the course began with a string of very short legs in some sage, and partly because it didn't appear as if any cows were around. But soon after that I detected a good sized herd which were hunkered down in a well fortified line just inside the edge of a long aspen grove. After that, things went faster and faster. It felt warm in the sun (this was late morning) but not too warm, and there was a nice breeze that still had a cool touch to it.
I haven't done a complete count yet, but my preliminary estimate is that I bashed through at least 8045 sage plants. And I also bashed/cracked a fingernail when I fell after one foot disappeared into an aforementioned, well hidden badger hole.
I also saw one nighthawk fly up off the ground and then try to lure me away from the area by acting injured. I did a quick search for chicks but had no luck in spotting them; I did see one tiny fluff of down on the ground, and from that I knew I was close. Not close enough, though.
With three controls to go, it occurred to me I had had a pretty clean run, and that if I just got the next two controls, then it would be a nice run (the last control was simple)--and just at about that moment, I thought I could see where the next control feature was, so I picked it up, "punched" at the control (there wasn't really anything there) and then looked out at the exit direction...and what I saw made no sense at all. So I looked at the map more carefully, and came to realize that it was right when I was thinking about how I had had a clean run, I was passing the actual control location--ha! Orienteering never ceases to be humbling.