Training Log Archive: Charlie

Older Dash at Gunstock Mountain

Brown X, Day 2

1 - along the trail, trying to find the start on the map. Thin purple lines don't work that well for me. Finally found #9 and back-tracked from there.

2. Well sure, the trail route was easy, but I tried to go straight and wandered off toward the right. A little spasm in the mid-back, probably because of the cold, but it went away after a while. Lost about 2 minutes wandering.

3. Headed straight through rocky stuff, until about 2/3 of the way I noticed there was a trail just a few steps to the right, so hustled out to it. Saw Francis Hogle coming the other way, tried to figure out where he was going since he was past the trail route to 4, but to no avail. Sure would have been better to take the trail the whole way. But easy from there, saw Tom Nolan just ahead of me at the control.

4. This was totally great, trails all the way to just past the intersection of the yellow trail and the stone wall, then up the reentrant on compass, hitting the bend in the trail part way there, and seeing it before I got there. Excellent.

5. Generally on compass, crossed the stone wall a little right of the line, saw a big cliff up ahead and went for it. Turned out it was not the one I was looking for and I was too high, confirmed by seeing the trail up behind it. So now what? I headed southwest to another big cliff, similarly not the right one, and now I'm a little panicky. So down to where I can see the big marsh, judge where the end would be, and up the reentrant to the control, where I ran into Francis again. Probably about 9 minutes lost or so. Really a bad piece of work.

6. Straight up to the trail, uphill as far as the gravel road and down the hill to the bend, across to the next ski run at the narrower part of the woods, and into the woods again, ending up a line or two to low, and running into Walter there. He was faster climbing up to it.

7. And he was a lot faster climbing down from there in the rocks. For some reason both of us went SE, instead of the much friendlier and shorter out to the west. I think he then crossed the line and plunged into the woods, as I didn't see him and I went down the ski run to the junction, angled down to the stream, and crossed it and popped out right across from the flag. Excellent.

8. Didn't want to climb out of the control (wrong!) and went back down to the ski run to the end, and then had to climb up anyway, Once I got up through the woods to the next trail, easy to see the ski runs and the strips of woods and hit it right on.

9. Easy, Stayed in the shorter grass, so ran a little more, but well worth it.

C • I missed you! 8

Brown X Sunday - Splits

Event: 2019 Orienteering USA Masters Nationals at the Older Dash
 

Older Dash, Gunstock Mt. Started well, but very slow crossing rocky woods. Then lost about 8 minuted scouring the hillside too far past #5, and got off to the right and uphill going to #6. No trouble finding it, but a lot of extra climb and distance.

Brown X, Day1

1. Trail to the bend, across the ski slope, hitting the gravel road near the bend, up the ski slope until I saw the reentrant on my left and up the reentrant to the control. Excellent. Saw George ahead of me. He had started 10 minutes earlier, so apparently had some trouble.
2. Another perfectly fine leg. On compass, a little right of the line until I picked up the stream and followed it in.
3. And fine again, a little behind Anna Campbell crossing the ski run, right on line to climb to the bag.
4. Just a long slow slog across, counting ski runs, drifting a bit high to pick up the gravel road well W of the control, follow it to the bend.
5. This would have been easy to just go dead straight, but instead I went W to the trail and took that up to what seemed about the right place and then cut in, finding lots of rocks, but no flag, and wandering further up the slope accompanied by Nellie. Too high the whole time and lost about 8 minutes searching, before finally going further and further back downhill.
6. Another long slog across the slopes and the rocky woods, drifting a bit high,and then higher and finally on the big trail! So followed that to the glade run and easy enough to find the control, although the mapped house was no longer there on the ground. Saw Leslie leaving the control.
7. For some reason I went to the western ski trail and attacked from there. Arrived just ahead of Leslie, but definitely faster to have just gone straight.
8. Across woods and ski trails, coming in a bit low, but knew I was low and easy enough.
9. Back out to the big road and down the slope, aiming for the light pole even with the patch of woods and just beyond to the flag, punching just ahead of Peggy.
10. Peggy, Patrick Shannon and John Campbell all went zooming by. Control was easy enough.
11. Down the trail and around right of the lift. Straighter might have been a few seconds better, but not to quibble.

Brown-X Saturday - Splits

Dog loop with Rhonda. Lots of sticks down on the trail, and some full-size (if compromised) large trees broken off and across the trail S of the clearing at the top of the smaller clear cut. Zack will be pleased at the chainsaw opportunities.

Arthur Sweeton loop, with Rhonda. A little more challenging than it used to be because the beavers have covered the path to and from the old dam, so down the trail a bit and cutting through the woods and over the stream to get up to the trail on the old Arthur Sweeton property, now property of the Barkhamsted Land Trust. We used to go here all the time, but have gotten out of the habit. A fine place for a walk.

Out in the gym with Rhonda. Brief outing, deadlifts, dumbbell presses, machine pull downs and backsquats. Not much weight, but better that way right now. Particularly the back squats are seeming salutary, but all good.

While listening to a continuing ed presentation. Good multi-tasking.

A very nice visit from our forester, Jim Gillespie, who came to walk around our 5 acres clearcut in 2016 to see the progress of the new forest and give us some advice on how to proceed with it, and to stay for lunch. He had a lot of nice things to say about the forest, now that the prickers are gone and it is opening up a bit. A lot of nice trees growing.

C • New forest 12

With Zack