Training Log Archive: JanetT

Event: West Point 44th NRE
 

Parking to start of West Point day 1 at Camp Shea with Glen and Kathy M. Mid 40s and off and on showers all day, mostly off when it counted.

Brown Y classic course on West Point's Camp Shea, starting from NW of Weyant's Pond (after a hike on roads to start). 3.3km, 105m climb stated, 1:7500 scale. Courses by Cdt Shawn Mather.

I navigated well to 2, 3, 4 (though I didn't read the rocky spur as bare rock; saw someone punch when I got close), 5, 8, 9, and 10.

To 1 my plan was to take the intermittent trails but they weren't obvious in the terrain, and I got off enough I climbed too far up the hill before realizing people were contours below me (doh!).

5-6 was good crossing the int. trail, to the right of the hilltop I thought, but then when I saw a giant boulder I thought it was the one farther north (*check your compass*). Wandered S a bit before heading back to the big one to try again. Even then the flag placement was awkward to get to...good thing I only had to get within a foot of it w/SI Air.

Leaving 6 I was just too far north, in too much blueberry, and came to the road at the water stop from which I attacked 5. Then I ran too far down the road (*pace count*) partly because I wasn't reading things correctly. Found a hill with rocks but it was too close to the road so climbed and hit the cliff line, but S of the giant cliff. Saw many orienteers heading S to 8 while I slogged through the blueberry again.

Stayed high to 8 and came down the nose the control was on. A mostly direct route to the #9, the pit, getting into some barberry but not too much damage. Then out to the road.

Saw Patty Lyons at a number of the controls including 7, but she may have had trouble at 8 and beyond as she finished well behind me.

3rd behind Janet F (68 minutes) and Linda K (~80). Two MP, one DNS among the 8 registered for F70.

Sharon showed her skill again by beating everyone on BrY, at 61 minutes!

Livelox seems to indicate that the flag for #5 was hung wrong. I don't know if that was what caused me to go too far to the right to 6 or not. Misread features, anyway.

#1 and #7 are my own mistakes, though.

Brown-Y - Splits

Deanna's class

Neighborhoods near home, before the showers/rain return. About 70, overcast, and a breeze (which felt nice!).

At Cedar Creek Park near Smithton (between the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers in southwestern PA, and up the gorge trail.

The parking lot near the gorge looked like it had been under several feet of flood waters and mud a few days ago (a lot of rain fell last week), but the mud had been plowed off (and was still drying). There was a class of youngsters there and a teacher had them looking at wildflowers including trout lilies so we looked for them too... they also pointed out a sleeping watersnake near a tree.

Heard, but couldn't spot to photograph, various birds, identified by the Merlin bird ID app as Carolina wren--along the gorge trail near one of the bigger water cascades--and song sparrow, yellow-throated warbler, and titmouse near the bridge across the Cedar Creek and the parking lot. I would have liked to see the warbler. We did see a downy or hairy woodpecker and heard a woodpecker too.

We walked as far as the official trail goes and a bit farther to check out old mill sites. Fun outing and a good way to break up the 6+ hour trip home from Cambridge OH where we had spent the night.

Dinner was decent, at a restaurant called Tower Ridge Inn Bar & Grill near McConnellsville (we were avoiding the Pa Turnpike because of heavy traffic and accidents, and took Rt 30/Lincoln Highway for quite a ways, driving past the Flight 93 Memorial too.

On the way to the eclipse site in IN we stopped in again at Hueston Woods N to see if we could locate the ephemerals I had seen on the course on Saturday (hill climbing...I was looking at my feet)...we did. We took my course map, so I guess I'll leave this as orienteering-related. Temp was near 70 so we changed into short sleeved shirts.

We saw springbeauties, cutleaf toothwort, mayapples, trilliums (toadshade, possibly), trout lily leaves, violets (both purple and yellow), and an as yet unidentified plant, possibly a ragwort or butterweed.

C • We must have just missed you.... 3

Then we continued on to 4206 E Kitchel Rd when we gathered with other orienteers to view the total solar eclipse. I've posted my pics from phone and camera in a SmugMug gallery.

The weekend's Brown A maps (F65+, M75+):

Friday Middle at Camp Friedlander


Saturday Classic day 1 at Hueston Woods North


Sunday Classic day 2 at Hueston Woods East

Flying Pig XXVI and Masters Champs day 2, Hueston Woods East. Brown A was listed at 2.7 km, 120m climb but the climb was miscalculated, I think. Forgot to start my watch until almost at #1, so added 2:30 and about 180m of distance. (Livelox shows me going straight, but I actually went the way Sharon did.)

Livelox for BrownA Sunday Classic day 2

Nicer temps today so went with a lighter shirt. Close to 50 when we went out, mid 60s now.

A better run today, on fun terrain, with vegetation mapped very well and lots of disc golf areas in the first part vs yesterday's bike trails. The second half was in the ridge/reentrant systems near the lake, but with reasonable options to cross gullies in gentler areas.

My F70 competition mp'ed today. First US by default anyway. Sorry that Janet and others didn't make it this year.*

Sharon had errors so I was actually ahead of her today (in 6th for today!), and 9th overall for the two-day total vs 11th yesterday, so I'm happy about that too.

*Coincidentally, the first time I won my age group at masters, the meet T shirt was light blue. This weekend had two choices, but I got the light blue option. ;-)

OCIN_FP2024_Sunday_Classic_4 Brown A - Splits