Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene, just me and dog. I had not been on this hike since literally high school. It was very wet and stuff was well socked-in, though we could still see something of the majestic mountains around and above us. Dog can now be trusted to hike off-leash at most times, which improves my hiking experience considerably.

C • Dog 4

Time to get in top shape for Nationals eh

Return of the Vampire-O! Map. I started well, hitting 112, 110, 109, and 108 before clearing the six controls in the forest to the north. However, I then got ambushed and vampired by Zariah and Jackson, who had been lying in wait on the RR grade trail just south of 105. Ethan came along soon afterward, having done mostly the same route as I, so I vampired him and continued on. I then hit 113, but doubled back to 107 and 108 (again) to avoid Zariah and Jackson, who I had seen in the distance get caught and vampired in turn by Ethan (poetic justice).

After that I meant to hit 111, but I heard/saw some suspicious things in there, so instead I got scared, jumped out to the road, and ran all the way over to 115, followed by 114 and 116 without incident. I then found and collected an Immunity Pumpkin at 117, figuring that if I could just reach 118 and 111 unscathed I'd be done with the whole northern area and could get to the safety zone and the southern part of the map. This turned out to be a great tactical decision, as sure enough I was attacked near 118 but successfully warded off the attack with my trusty pumpkin. I made the heartrending decision to leave my pumpkin, which by this time was growing quite heavy, at 111 rather than lug the thing all the way down to 119, my next objective.

As I ran down and grabbed 119, which was happily just outside the safety zone, all seemed quiet ahead; no sign of anyone at all. My hopes soared; I allowed myself to believe everyone was still to the north. Then, disaster - as soon as I reached 122, with only four quick controls left, I was ambushed by the twins. They could not vampire me within the halo of the circle, but they had both my escape directions covered, so after a short standoff I dejectedly surrendered. This was around the half-hour mark of the 1h time limit.

Still seeing no one around, I headed back north past the start to find a victim, and soon ran into Zariah and Jackson again - but also almost simultaneously another group that were vampires, such that we got into a confusing endless mutually-assured-destruction cycle, which circled around a couple times before I eventually broke it by letting Zariah and Jackson go free. Shortly thereafter I tried to vampire Bruce, only to discover he was already a vampire, and then succeeded in vampiring Rebecca and Kate.

I then collected 117, 115, 114, 116, 108, 109, and 112, dodging some vampirey looking people along the way, which once again finished the northern 18 controls on my punchcard. Leaving 112 and having relaxed my guard only meters from the safety zone, I got ambushed and vampired by Shannon. Devastating. This time I headed to the southern section and quickly vampired someone, collected 121, 124, (my new punch card already had 120 and 123) and got chased by a dark figure to 122. I tried to get to the bridge leading to 119, having lost sight of the dark figure, but Bruce had cut the corner and vampired me as I tried to get to the safety zone. By this time there was <5min remaining, so I accepted defeat and trudged back to the finish as a vampire.

My route, as best I can reconstruct: 112 - 110 - 109 - 108 - 106 - 104 - 101 - 103 - 105 - 113 - 107 - 108 - 115 - 114 - 116 - 117 - 118 - 111 - 119 - 122 - 117 - 115 - 114 - 116 - 108 - 109 - 112 - 121 - 124 - 122

C • I was hoping for some Vampire-O commentary. 2