Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Looking back, it looks like both on Sunday and yesterday we set new record highs, at 57F and 59F, respectively. Yesterday was surprising because it was overcast just about all day. But then both the old records were soft, and with many dates showing record highs in the low 60s around this time of year.

With snow on the way, it looked like it was now or (almost) never to get out for the season O' run debut. Not that there's anything wrong with running in the snow. But even at Remarkable Flats there was plenty of snow to run through if one chose, and my choice was to run in snow only about 3% of the time, and stick to bare ground and granite for the rest.

I drew up a course of 9.6 kms and 30 controls, which I figured I could manage in about 4 hours or so, given that I was feeling energetic. Plus there was no sun, so I would need to be energetic to stay warm.

It actually only ended taking a little over 90 minutes, and that was with warmup and cooldown. Even on a slow day Remarkable Flats runs fast.

The orienteering was fun, and I did see a moose (thought I saw a stray far ant, too, which developed to be only a bit of debris on the ground), but the real highlight was finding an absolutely massive mule deer shed! How shed hunters missed this one I will never know, because it was right out in the middle of a wide expanse of prairie. It was so good that at first I almost wondered if it could be some sort of fake decoy, but it wasn't, as you will see.

First, to prep you and give you some context of the utter size of the monster shed, here is a picture of a perfectly ordinarily sized hand:

(click for full image)

Actually that's not just any old ordinary hand. It's my hand. But never mind that. Just take a look at this:









According to sizing reference manuals, the deer that shed this had to be the size of at least a largish dachshund.

It will be a long time before anyone finds a shed anywhere in the Laramie Range that beats this.

C • shed 1