Training Log Archive: bl

Faraway series, #98
Beth’s 71st birthday card!




added “of a rare vintage!”

Choice of humor or serious card. Had latter in hand but then this card as I had taken an appropriate photo (unbeknowst) earlier. Unfortunate to lose Beth’s b-day gift for her surprise party Sunday eve...how, where, when are a mystery but concluded it was lost at model parking (a sterling silver necklace with stone inlay made by a NH Crafts league person bought at the Concord shop, $275 - ouch!). Time to forget.*

Today's SW air flt stopped at BWI, did not have to get off. Can’t recall when that last was true. Moved forward in the empty cabin, feeling VIPish. SW gave Beth a free ‘glass’ (eg, plastic cup) of wine as B-day girl....

* will leave above for personal future reality check: arrived home, the little brown bag w/ lost necklace was on a kitchen chair...time to push me over the cliff. Have a few emails to send...

C • Happy 3

Sunday, Clssic champs. Give it a B+. Not always going to cp with certainty inside circle but missed only one, #4 - circled for maybe 75” being mislead by yellow open area just before (not sure if I spotted it), finally looked at contours & went in correct direction & voila. #10 was a possible miss w/ another runner distracting but did ID boulders just before. #11: crossed stream in the ideal place by luck, I suppose. #12: potential for confusion but did not allow that to happen w/ compass diligence.

Alot of compass consulting & considerable deliberation/near constant map contact. Maybe too much but if it avoided a 3’ error or so, so be it. It worked. First M65.

Gorgeous weather. Still not announcing times before calling up names. Mismatch between rock features in terrain & symbols chosen to describe. Rock pillar not a good symbol choice for this terrain. Could be from fact that mappers were from Central Europe?

Fun weekend, nice to visit w/ various O friends but never enough time. Sat dinner with BP, Dean S, Charlie B & Chun, Beth & Shirley from Waterloo OC. Off to Wilmington to visit sister & family.

Sunday finish, Thornburg farm, c. 1855


The road not travelled (an IS 40 exit we passed by)

Brown Day 2 - Splits

Event: Birkhead Wilderness Classic (US Classic Champs)
 

Saturday brown, good run in that no mistakes, a lot of compass consulting, some short walking, constant map contact, just plain pedantic which works when concentration allows.... Perfect temp, no wet feet. Some confusion re rock pillar symbol & seeing, on #2, some big rocks mapped as little black slashes. Near 4, feared not seeing marsh but it was conspicuous. 5: what distinct tree? 6: mostly straight, was some 50m to left, failed to note that large downed tree obstructing view was mapped. 9: pretty much straight, green was indeed green & had to skirt around hi earth bank I did not see on map. 10: took more care than most fm my point of view - open woods but higher up than I might have thought. 12: w/o anyone in front, it might have cost some time. First M65 for day.

QR

Done!

C • Congrats 7

Brown Day 1 - Splits

Uwharrie NF, west of Asheboro. Model map hike with Beth, 305 in the car.

WiFi in downtown Troy came as a surprise. Another surprise of sorts - Beth & I are on same course, first time ever.

"Inchworm"


Advertising at the fingertips


"Available"



Flight to Raleigh thru BWI. Saw what I thought was a familiar face at BWI, then was sure of it when he sat aisle, opposite side, one row ahead. Maybe even noticed a map thru computer screen glare. Departed before I could inquire but arrived at the model map in the same minute we did, 75mi away. Was Sam Listwak (QOC) - had walked with him to at least one start over the years. Asked some ?s re Little Bennett map cs and chatted w/ him in the woods a few times on the model map hike Beth & I did together. Open hardwoods, very small rock features, usual spurs, reentrants, nothing too steep, no wait-a-minutes. Staying at Arrowhead CG - wasn't quite sure where it was. Mike Minium loaned us a NC atlas for a few minutes & we got there, accurately but shooting from the hip. Forgot which site, may have had an old email but tents were only 46-50 - got there, saw our name for a reservation, so Yay. Have Keith & Martina Hulsey & son (BOK fm SC) as neighbors. Very nice & reasonably far off the beaten path. Dinner in Troy, NC at a "family restaurant", no beer but lots of kids. Lots of "honeys" & "dears" here as well.

C • camping 3

Bear Brook training. Left work at 3p, mid-60s today. Messy Podunk pkng lot. Fought off need for nap - woke right up once I got going. Had a camera & cell in fanny pack. Had to repair FP belt so it wouldn't fall off. Decided to turn it around, pack in front so if it did, I'd notice. No mag north lines on map print out. Ok to first cp but was really confused on second. Crazy info until I realized it was the magnet in the cell phone case & 90deg MN oversight? Cell mag not new info, just something I forgot. More care & then better. A lot of bare ground. Good practice, needed it. Went thru 'all the moves', maybe even QR practice later.

Got the Birkhead model map to print out to scale. Thought it would be straight forward but some 10 pcs of paper later, 1/10 finally, mysteriously came out of the printer. Pleased to again be able to print from the web & just as good, a useable map copy. Some credit due to CPU Dude for that. And laptop seems to function as though it never got doused with white wine.

- Splits

To slough & back. Started on packed SMT but became crunchy, icy distortion.
Had to persist to make it happen. No support from crust this winter that I can recall.

South St - Iron Works, mid-50s. For much of it, 50 on, 50 off.

Looked at the snow in the woods around the house & decided I had to try it out on waxless skis. A bit thin in places but fun perspective. Then went over to the PL thinking there might be a breath-taking moonrise but clouds to the east.

Luti 5, bright, blue. Seemed a long way today.

DP not to be denied, later than usual; treated with a flood of moonlight and coyotes for background music. Some hide & seek was in order.

Had a young man, "CPU Dude", come by with a mostly resuscitated laptop. Straightened out some other issues w/ the desktop. Here an hour, amazing to watch his behind-the-scenes IT competence. Pursuit of such mastery seems a bottomless pit.