Training Log Archive: BashIn the 7 days ending Nov 5, 2006:
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Sunday Nov 5, 2006 #
Note
Two additional comments on the rogaine:
1) Control descriptions were provided in English, which is usually helpful - except that these descriptions were written in Kiwi English! We were OK for most, but there were a couple of controls like "Macrocarpas" (a tree, apparently) and "Bivy (how many poles?)" (a skeleton of a tent with poles made of branches) that weren't entirely clear to us.
2) One fellow told us that rogaining came to NZ by way of Canada! It started in Australia, but didn't come over here. Then a few Kiwis went to Alberta in 1990 to the Most Awesome Rogaine (?). They liked it so much that they came back and got it started in NZ. There have been 160 rogaines here since, many of them only 3 hours long. They have them on Wednesday nights occasionally.
1) Control descriptions were provided in English, which is usually helpful - except that these descriptions were written in Kiwi English! We were OK for most, but there were a couple of controls like "Macrocarpas" (a tree, apparently) and "Bivy (how many poles?)" (a skeleton of a tent with poles made of branches) that weren't entirely clear to us.
2) One fellow told us that rogaining came to NZ by way of Canada! It started in Australia, but didn't come over here. Then a few Kiwis went to Alberta in 1990 to the Most Awesome Rogaine (?). They liked it so much that they came back and got it started in NZ. There have been 160 rogaines here since, many of them only 3 hours long. They have them on Wednesday nights occasionally.
Saturday Nov 4, 2006 #
Note
Guy Fawkes 12-Hr Rogaine - Reikorangi, New Zealand
Orienteering race (Rogaine) 11:48:00 [4] ** +2700m
Wow... we are both *so* wiped out after this. This was an interesting rogaine - 3, 6 and 12 hr events, 80 controls (compared to 50-60 at most 24-hr events), huge area, 1000 m of elevation difference between the highest and lowest controls. Choosing a route was interesting, because it was obvious that even the top teams would be lucky to get to half the controls, and the terrain appeared to be very different across the map.
'Bent and I decided that we were tourists, so we should definitely plan to hit the highest point - a trig station on top of a mountain. We were surprised that most of the controls were close to trails - or on them, and we planned a moderately ambitious route that followed high ridges for 2/3 of the time, then dropped to the valley to grab some high-pointers near the end. Boy, did we overestimate what we would be able to do!! The map was a 1:50,000 topo blown up to 1:30,000, with no enhancements for rogaining purposes, other than the addition of a couple of tracks. The so-called "tracks", which looked like big ATV trails on the map, would not even qualify as wildlife trails in Ontario, and they would *never* be marked on a map! Luckily, some of the ridges were very narrow, so we would often stumble across the track after losing it (which happened all the time), but it was very easy to blunder down the wrong spur a short distance, and I needed to watch my compass all the time. You might ask... why depend on the trails at all, in that case? Well, this wasn't a place where you would do a lot of bushwhacking. The forest was often thick and littered, and there were spaghetti masses of twig-like vines called supplejack draped everywhere, just waiting to tangle us up. We could understand why there weren't a lot of controls off-trail. It was more than enough of a challenge to stay anywhere near the track. The forest was beautiful - big moss-draped trees, tall fern trees and knee-high plants that looked like something you would grow as an ornamental plant at home.
The philosophy regarding controls was different from other rogaines we've done. It wasn't just a matter of finding the place where the control should be. The feature was seldom on the map, and sometimes it was quite a challenge to locate it, e.g. "dead tree" on a large foggy spur covered with dead trees.
About halfway through the day, we realized that our progress along the ridges was much slower than expected, so we needed to head down to the valley and get some last controls before the 7 p.m. deadline. We had some bad luck down there - trails that weren't as good as they appeared on the map and a long, steep climb up a marked route (not a trail) where we looked in vain for a "grassy knoll" that was apparently found by a few teams, but caused trouble for other teams as well.
Because of that, we ended up in a rush to get to the finish on time - something I'd promised would never happen again after the mad dash that Sherpa and I had to make in the 2005 North Am Rogaine Champs. The Kiwis weren't familiar with towing, so they burst out laughing as 'Bent and I ran by. With less than half an hour to go, we found ourselves clinging by our fingernails as we climbed a steep embankment by a creek. At that point, we abandoned our ethics about avoiding private property and followed another team through someone's back yard to get to the final stretch of forest, farmland and road. Phew - finished with 12 minutes to spare.
I think we finished around midpack. Several teams were disqualified for finishing more than 30 minutes late, including the search and rescue team, who were also competing! At the time we went to bed, three of the organizers had headed up the mountain in search of a team who had called from their cell phone saying that they were going to try to start a fire, but then their cell phone batteries ran out, so no one was 100% sure where they were. We didn't hear how that turned out, but I can certainly see how people could get stuck out there and be uncertain about how to get off a mountain safely.
We were thinking that New Zealanders must be exceptionally tough - and they are! But we heard a number of people saying that this was one of the toughest, trickiest rogaines that they've done - largely because of the unforgiving terrain (steep slopes and cliffs forcing you to commit to ridges for long periods of time, difficult bushwhacking) and the inability to make good plans with the limited information on the map. Anyway, that made for a great challenge, and it was fun to sit at the BBQ afterward with a bunch of like-minded locals, rather than hanging out with other tourists. For 'Bent and me, it was quite an adventure, even though we had some frustrating moments out there. Well organized event by the Wellington orienteering club, with lots of hard work to set such a large and challenging course.
'Bent and I decided that we were tourists, so we should definitely plan to hit the highest point - a trig station on top of a mountain. We were surprised that most of the controls were close to trails - or on them, and we planned a moderately ambitious route that followed high ridges for 2/3 of the time, then dropped to the valley to grab some high-pointers near the end. Boy, did we overestimate what we would be able to do!! The map was a 1:50,000 topo blown up to 1:30,000, with no enhancements for rogaining purposes, other than the addition of a couple of tracks. The so-called "tracks", which looked like big ATV trails on the map, would not even qualify as wildlife trails in Ontario, and they would *never* be marked on a map! Luckily, some of the ridges were very narrow, so we would often stumble across the track after losing it (which happened all the time), but it was very easy to blunder down the wrong spur a short distance, and I needed to watch my compass all the time. You might ask... why depend on the trails at all, in that case? Well, this wasn't a place where you would do a lot of bushwhacking. The forest was often thick and littered, and there were spaghetti masses of twig-like vines called supplejack draped everywhere, just waiting to tangle us up. We could understand why there weren't a lot of controls off-trail. It was more than enough of a challenge to stay anywhere near the track. The forest was beautiful - big moss-draped trees, tall fern trees and knee-high plants that looked like something you would grow as an ornamental plant at home.
The philosophy regarding controls was different from other rogaines we've done. It wasn't just a matter of finding the place where the control should be. The feature was seldom on the map, and sometimes it was quite a challenge to locate it, e.g. "dead tree" on a large foggy spur covered with dead trees.
About halfway through the day, we realized that our progress along the ridges was much slower than expected, so we needed to head down to the valley and get some last controls before the 7 p.m. deadline. We had some bad luck down there - trails that weren't as good as they appeared on the map and a long, steep climb up a marked route (not a trail) where we looked in vain for a "grassy knoll" that was apparently found by a few teams, but caused trouble for other teams as well.
Because of that, we ended up in a rush to get to the finish on time - something I'd promised would never happen again after the mad dash that Sherpa and I had to make in the 2005 North Am Rogaine Champs. The Kiwis weren't familiar with towing, so they burst out laughing as 'Bent and I ran by. With less than half an hour to go, we found ourselves clinging by our fingernails as we climbed a steep embankment by a creek. At that point, we abandoned our ethics about avoiding private property and followed another team through someone's back yard to get to the final stretch of forest, farmland and road. Phew - finished with 12 minutes to spare.
I think we finished around midpack. Several teams were disqualified for finishing more than 30 minutes late, including the search and rescue team, who were also competing! At the time we went to bed, three of the organizers had headed up the mountain in search of a team who had called from their cell phone saying that they were going to try to start a fire, but then their cell phone batteries ran out, so no one was 100% sure where they were. We didn't hear how that turned out, but I can certainly see how people could get stuck out there and be uncertain about how to get off a mountain safely.
We were thinking that New Zealanders must be exceptionally tough - and they are! But we heard a number of people saying that this was one of the toughest, trickiest rogaines that they've done - largely because of the unforgiving terrain (steep slopes and cliffs forcing you to commit to ridges for long periods of time, difficult bushwhacking) and the inability to make good plans with the limited information on the map. Anyway, that made for a great challenge, and it was fun to sit at the BBQ afterward with a bunch of like-minded locals, rather than hanging out with other tourists. For 'Bent and me, it was quite an adventure, even though we had some frustrating moments out there. Well organized event by the Wellington orienteering club, with lots of hard work to set such a large and challenging course.
Friday Nov 3, 2006 #
Other (Caving/Tubing) 1:00:00 [1]
Caving and blackwater rafting (in an inner tube) through Ruakiri Cave in the Waitomo Caves area. Wow - amazing glow worms, cave formations and huge eels. Jumped off a waterfall, navigated without headlamps using only the light of glow worms, and did lots of wading in cold water! Finished by paddling our tubes 500 m through a river through a lush native forest. Awesome!
Thursday Nov 2, 2006 #
Trekking 7:00:00 [2] 20.0 km (21:00 / km)
Tongariro Crossing - This is a spectacular day hike that attracts a lot of people, so 'Bent and I caught the 6 a.m. shuttle to be among the first on the trail. We started with a steady climb up a valley filled with old lava flows and fragile vegetation, then we had a steep climb to the saddle between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngaaruhoe (the conical Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings). Then we crossed South Crater, then climbed the far side to the steaming vents of Red Crater. From there, we took a detour to climb Mt. Tongariro. Great views, and a nice slide down the snow when we came back down! Back at the main trail, we checked out the very deep Red Crater, then did a steep descent to the Emerald Lakes for lunch. It was cold, so we looked around until we found a nice steamy vent. It smelled like sulphur, but the rock was nice and warm for our lunch break.
There has been increased seismic activity in the area lately, and they're expecting another major event in the next year when Crater Lake is expected to break open and cause a mudslide. They have a siren warning system, and when the lake goes, they have a plan in place to close the section of major highway that will get the brunt of the avalanche of mud. Wow, that's living on the edge!
After lunch, we climbed up to Blue Lake, then it was a long descent to the Ketatahi road end. At first, it was an open mountainside with great views of Lake Taupo, then we spent the last 45 minutes in lush native forest beside a rushing stream - beautiful!
There has been increased seismic activity in the area lately, and they're expecting another major event in the next year when Crater Lake is expected to break open and cause a mudslide. They have a siren warning system, and when the lake goes, they have a plan in place to close the section of major highway that will get the brunt of the avalanche of mud. Wow, that's living on the edge!
After lunch, we climbed up to Blue Lake, then it was a long descent to the Ketatahi road end. At first, it was an open mountainside with great views of Lake Taupo, then we spent the last 45 minutes in lush native forest beside a rushing stream - beautiful!
Wednesday Nov 1, 2006 #
Trekking (1 hr 45 min) 30:00 [1]
Exploring Waiotapu Thermal Area - bee-yoo-ti-full!
Tuesday Oct 31, 2006 #
Mountain Biking 3:30:00 [2]
It turns out that Rotorua was the site of the World Mountain Bike Champs a couple of months ago - who knew? We rented (actually "hired") bikes and headed out to the amazing Whakarewarewa Forest. Every trail had a totally different character - huge redwoods or big lush ferns or open shrubby territory with big bushes covered in yellow flowers. For a long time, I just couldn't wipe the stupid smile off my face. What a great way to explore a different country! Unfortunately, the bike didn't fit me perfectly, and I'm accustomed to clipless pedals, so I had one fall, and it was a bad one. Let's just say that my injury caused pain in an area that will prevent me from wanting to go biking in the near future. :-( However, it was still an awesome day!!!
Monday Oct 30, 2006 #
Trekking (1 hr 30 min) 30:00 [1]
Explored the fumaroles, boiling springs and bubbling cauldrons of mud in the Te Puia thermal area in Rotorua, New Zealand. The Pohotu Geyser put on a great show for us - about 30 m high. It's a good thing it was all so interesting, since we hadn't been to bed since Canada, but we needed to stay up until evening to fight jet lag.