Discussion: channel Z

I too thought Z should have been off the reeentrant by at least 50 meters, possibly 100 meters. U said reentrant but was offset some meters. I think "I" was mapped too low. only one contour above J. D was odd. huge dirt knoll yet map shows it on a saddle. "A" clue was "side" yet it was in the middle of rocky spur.
I know it's AR, but it would be nice to actually know that the feature you are looking for is represented in the terrain as described.
or just pick a better feature.

I hear you on the questions. I don't think I have ever mapped a course (parts of it) where the map, plotting and features were as "confusing", off, or nonexistent as they were in those woods. I'm not going to necessarily say you are wrong, Joe, but I promise I looked at all of these pretty closely. The reality was that there were an immense amount of features that just didn't show. I believe there were large scale mining operations around D (found plenty of evidence of it).

A...The point wasn't in the middle of the spur/hill. A number of racers confirmed this by exploring the actual summit higher up. If it hadn't been cloudy/foggy, you might have been able to better see that you were not up on the actual top. There were numerous rocky fields on that spur. The one you visited was indeed above the reentrant on the northern side of that mass.

Also, N: so, I don't know that you will be able to determine this by just looking at maps and not being on the ground. I had the exact same questions when scouting. Here's what happened there: the actual stream course and bridge over it is in reality accurate to the plot of the point. It was much closer to the road junction with 77 than the stream on the map. I don't really know why the stream on the map is mapped as crossing the road further south than it does. Honestly, I was back and forth on whether to plot the point on the blue stream as verbal description would dictate or stick with the actual location in regards to distance (i.e., distance from the road, etc.). Open to feedback on that one!!

Either way, thanks to you both for coming, and great job out there! Don't say any of this out of defense as I actually really like hearing these questions to check plots. It's just that these (and a couple of other points) all had me losing some sleep while mapping and designing:)

I knew you would read this, so thanks for the explanation. I'm not saying I was right, just saying it frustrated me. I run into the same thing with O maps on occasion. sleep well.

I know:)

Seriously, I like hearing this. Gets me thinking. I'm confident in "the map", but as noted, the map was particularly weird in places. You said it early, and everywhere you commented on it, I said the same thing when scouting.

In hindsight, the one thing I wish I HAD done was plant the seed before the race that it was a particularly quirky one in places. In AR, I think we take that for granted and assume that, but in this case it was even more so than usual.

Anyway! Onto the Two Rivers. That will be quite a journey, I think.

When the map is questionable, you can a) pick another control spot, b) hand edit the map just a little around the control, or c) put the control on the map a little off, but clear with respect to the feature. For example, D should have been marked at the south end of the hilltop and not in the saddle. That way you would have known to look up to find it.

Thank you Brent, for all the hard work. Love these locations chosen for the Crooked Compass series. Never been in this area, and always wanted to. When I looked it up, and saw Camp David, and reading online that access to visitors may not be possible at times, a friend of mine told me: "ah don't worry, this President is a beach and palm trees kind a guy..."

Loves those falls. Very pleasant. And in a way, the rain of the day before gave us the natural spectacle we desired the next day. Good day to be exploring 'em hills.

Analyzing GPS track of the Crooked Compass Adventure Trek.

Reporting that circle drawn on map to denote locations for checkpoint A and C are accurate.

(btw, the rocky summit north of A, that one had vertical cliffs that in the fog seemed like being in Patagonia....) pic.twitter.com/sVXvf4obmE

— Raccoongaine (@Raccoongaine) April 7, 2019

Analyzing GPS track of the Crooked Compass Adventure Trek.

I stand corrected on my earlier statement about circle placement on map to denote location of checkpoint Z.

It is accurate. Too bad the USGS map doesn't show that rocky spur. Nice feature. pic.twitter.com/boTfKPK1uw

— Raccoongaine (@Raccoongaine) April 7, 2019

Analyzing GPS track of the Crooked Compass Adventure Trek.

Stand corrected concerning drawn circle position on map to denote location of checkpoint N. Circle drawn is accurate. It is the USGS map that doesn't have the blue line (creek) drawn correctly. pic.twitter.com/5dBjDPdaBs

— Raccoongaine (@Raccoongaine) April 7, 2019

If you used a flat pdf version of the map I might agree but the crinkled photo copy is suspect. You retrofitted your route how? By matching the gps track to the circles

Woha !! mystery solved on #CrookedCompass checkpoint Z. If you look closely at the 2016 USGS topo quad, precisely at the horizontal bar of letter "H" in the creek name "High Run", you will surmise that there is a spur there dividing two reentrants. That's it !! pic.twitter.com/c0sEm2Ht49

— Raccoongaine (@Raccoongaine) April 8, 2019

Interesting contrast between the 2016 USGS topo quad and the one used in Crooked Compass for the M5-spawn set of checkpoints. Some folks said they had a hard time finding W coming from the trail to its East. And many thought of finding V but not the CP. Maybe this explains why pic.twitter.com/1dmWJskuzB

— Raccoongaine (@Raccoongaine) April 8, 2019

Wow! The competition map really washed out the detail around W. Give me a decent topo any day.