Discussion: Maze-O maps

Some competitors were asked to give up their map at the Anza-Borrego A-meet for recycling. We have printed some additional maps, so if you left without one and would like to get one - please send me an email with your address and I will mail it to you.

Clare Durand
Meet Director

I have hiked Anza Borrego in the past, but couldn't make it out to what sounds like a great meet. Having seen some of the terrain, staring at the maze-o map has been a lot of fun, but it's been really frustrating too.
I really can't imagine reading this map on the run... or even while standing still! I used to think I was decent at reading a map, but this one really leaves me scratching my head. Does anyone have any advice on how to read this really complicated map (or maps like this with lots of detail and few large features)?

Actually, the features were quite large! I didn't do much running. There was quite a bit of steep climbing and descending, and the footing was sandy and slippery. I got pretty confused early, but worked after a while was following the drainages. Once I had slowed down, and realized the drainages were a useful key, it wasn't so bad. In the early going, I fell in with two other "runners" leaving #193. After a while, we found that I was heading to 192, and the others were headed to 195 and 194, respectively. After thrashing around lost for a while, we bumped into a control, which turned out to be 197! After that I settled down and picked them off, but it wasn't fast.

can we see copies of these maps online somewhere??
they sound interesting!

Yeah, Peter has posted his here.

Better yet, visit RouteGadget at
http://www.5z.com/urban/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi
to see the maps, courses, and routes. You can even replay the races.

how about a couple of photos/videos? i have no mental image of what is going on... looks mad!!!

Spike posted a video on his blog.