Training Log Archive: JanetT

Event: DVOA Governor Dick
 

Green course at DVOA's Governor Dick map in Mt Gretna, 5.1 km / 165m climb nominal. Temp about 50 (45 when we arrived, 55 when we left around 3pm).

AP counts almost 11 minutes of error, I count closer to 10. 87 minutes would have been a good time for me (90 minutes on a well-set green course is a good run for me).

I turned the wrong way out of start but caught myself quickly. Realized going to two I would have to use bearing / pace counting and did well except at the very end (went the right distance and turned the wrong way for a few steps but checked behind me as well and saw the flag).

AP thinks I had an error to 3 but I was just really slow over the rocky ground. Good traverse to 4, down the trail and reentrant to 5, then missed 6 off to the right but figured out which way to correct.

More bearing / pace counting needed to 7 but I had a bit of help at the end when I saw Vadim close by who was headed to the control too.

Up to the trail to 8, then angled through the med. green to the boulder. Contoured to the bare rock for 9.

Next problem was the second control on the 1:2500 blowup map, where I left the trail too early and climbed up a boulder I shouldn't have been near. Lost 3:30 on what should have been a simple leg. Fine on 14 and 15, then I overran 16 and had to backtrack, falling on the trail in the process. Confused by all the mapped rock at 17 and did a bit of circling. Then an easy run in from there.

Great weather day for orienteering and I'm glad we went.

Stopped by Middle Creek on the way back home and saw at least 1000 snow geese (plus some Canada geese and a few swans of some type). Nowhere near the number there a month ago (which we missed) but it was great to see that many.

Also discovered Black Forest brewpub in Ephrata, right off Main Street next door to (and owned by) Americana bed and breakfast. Decent beer and food.

Green - Splits

To get the kinks out. Not pushing anything today, just wanted to get the joints moving.

Yesterday was a travel day, spent mostly in airports or on the plane (yes, a nonstop). We didn't need the moving sidewalk at SFO because we had plenty of time to get to the gate (never found Starbucks in terminal 3).

This morning I read a short article about maps (old style navigation), that has the most info about the very first civilian O event I personally have seen.

Saw a display on local National Parks at the Maritime Museum at Fishermans Wharf in SanFran, so we altered our last day plans to swing down to Pinnacles, about two hours south of SF. Possible interesting things were a trail through caves made from giant jumbled rocks piled together (rather than underground), and the condor gulch trail.

This track is for our hike from the Peaks View Trailhead (where we parked when closer lots filled up earlier in the morning), up through Bear Creek Gulch and through said caves, using my phone's flashlight app as a light source when needed (while I had my camera along, it doesn't take very good photos so I used my phone's camera instead). Once we finally figured the not-very-well-signed trails, we made it to the reservoir at the top.

Took the more open trail back down to the Nature Center, past the Monolith, on switchbacking trails near the end. Saw multiple red headed woodpeckers (including acorn woodpeckers), Black Eyed Juncoes, and Swainson's thrushes near the picnic tables.

We decided we had time to hike the 1-mile-each-way Condor Gulch trail to the Overlook, and made it there in about a half hour (Glen could have gotten there sooner, but I'm not a fast climber).

Once there we ran into others from whom we learned the critical info that condor wing undersides have whitish areas toward the forward part of their wings, vs. the multitudinous turkey vultures who have whitish feather underparts but black forewings. And we saw two California condors circling the highest peaks now and then, among the many vultures! Made the hike that much more worthwhile.

Because it had been such a busy day despite not being a weekend, they were running a shuttle back to the visitors center, which stopped to drop us off at the parking lot where we ended up, saving us another mile or so hike. I can't imagine where everyone would park on a weekend, or how quickly the lots would fill.

AOWN: Taking an extra day before heading home, we drove down towards Hollister and Gilroy, planning to visit Pinnacles NP tomorrow. On the way we stopped near Pacheco Pass (overlooking the San Luis reservoir) and were rewarded with the sight of at least three dozen elk (on the far hills, but we had binoculars), and western kingbirds flitting around the budding trees below us.

On the drive down we saw burgeoning fields of CA poppies but mostly widespread poppies, not complete hillsides of them (yet).

Jogging about just a bit before today's run (AP thought this was walking....)

Stage 7 Brown middle at Deer Creek Hills. Only mistake was route to 12.

Temps were a bit cooler than yesterday, but not much. More sun and no rain, too, made for happy campers after the run. :-)

Nominal stats: 3.6 km, 90m climb, middle format, using the SE portion of the mapped area, where we didn't go yesterday, though we used the same start control (shared run to a trail jct over the hill from start) and finish control as yesterday.

Good navigation and good visibility, plus I was more used to the mapping. More live trees (green circle) used as control points, fewer distinctions to be made between green X and brown X (both denoting dead trees of variable decay).

Only thing was that after 11 I got sloppy and didn't check direction leaving and heading to 12 so went to the wrong side of a spur (that 9 had been near the end of) and looped way out of the way. Once near 9 though I realized what I'd done and corrected. 2-2:30 lost in this stupidity, leaving me in 6th place F65 for the day (Hilary Andersen, Christin Lundgren, Marg Ellis, Penny DeMoss, and Johanna Meriss were ahead today, though Johanna only by a minute or so; I still would have been in 5th with no error).

Due to distribution of runners/courses and the point grading system (best 5 of 7 scores), though, I won F65 overall for the week. Top three in each class received nice gear bags with the event logo, and a carabiner clip (colors determined by place: 1-blue, 2-red, or 3-black).

Nice to be there for the announcement of the JWOC team; I got a few photos on my phone but don't know if they'll be good enough for the website.

Middle - Brown - Splits