Orienteering 3:00:00 [2]
Went to the UVM Research Forest in Jericho w/ Jen V and KH to do some field training for Jen who is in the Canine Search and Rescue program. In February, we had an indoor session with a few other women who were interested in learning map and compass, and then had to wait for the snow to melt so that I could handle the steep hills and reentrants without worrying about slipping or needing my arms.
It was a great day. Sunny, crisp, early spring conditions with very few spring ephemerals peeking out of the ground. I used Carl's 1:10,000 contour (LIDAR) and water map and I taught her how to relate map to terrain and vice versa. We did a map walk for about 500 meters along a road, then did an 8-control course using big features likely to appear on the USGS maps she'll have to rely on later. Used rough compass, precision compass, rough and fine map reading, aiming off, attack point, terrain feature recognition, and distance estimation. Lots of fun. KH makes any occasion better.
Jen continues to ask questions and seems enthused about the prospect of orienteering. Hopefully, she'll get to try it some time. She's already a strong runner. I think she'll like it.
Great day in the woods. I managed to walk all of it, but it was probably too much because my whole shoulder girdle, from bicep to my ear is very painful now. I didn't run, but the repeated leaping over streams probably wrenched it too much. I used my sling while out there whenever it bothered me, but it wasn't enough I fear. I sure hope I haven't set myself back yet again.