May 17 in South Umstead

The day which started with heavy rain turned into the perfect weather for a run by the time I started. What a pleasant surprise for the middle of May event! Unfortunately, the morning rain seemed to scare away some orienteers, but those who came didn't regret it at all. Not only the weather was good, but also the advanced courses Charles and Nadya designed were a real treat.

Tanya went on Orange (which was on a yellowish side today) and I ran the Green (as usual). I ended up with result I am very happy about: made just two small/moderate mistakes and finished with 1:05 time (which I think is a good one).

Here is how I ran:

#1: cut to the trail using the re-entrant as a handrail, then used the trails to get to the control

#2: went east to avoid a small re-entrant, then cut across the big one to the control

#3: avoided the green area by getting up to the trail, used the trail and cut down to the control

#4: up to the trail, used it to get to the road and went down avoiding the green area, saw "our usual control dry ditches" on the left and turned right to the control

#5: went around the big re-entrant and green area, reaches the ridge, ran north east, passed re-entrant on the right, went down the slope a little bit and ran along the slope to the control.

#6: It was very well hidden, wasn't it? :-) Anyway, I went down to the creek, crossed it and started to look for a gully. It wasn't there. I wandered around a little bit and then realized that the gully should be on the slope facing the river. Went there and noticed the control, which was indeed very well hidden.

#7: went down, hoping to use a route on the river bank, but it simply wasn't there. The cliff was going straight to the water and there was no place to walk underneath the cliff. So I had to climb the steep slope up. From the top I went south-east, crossed the re-entrant above the green part and went down the hill to the control.

#8: went south to the road and south south west from there trying to avoid loosing too much elevation in re-entrants. Miscalculated and ended up further west than I thought, went up looking for gullies, but they weren't there. Stopped and realized the mistake, turned left and ran to the control.

#9: simply went over the hill and across the creek, then turned left to the gully.

#10: went down to the shore, thus avoiding elevation gain and used road to get to the control area. Ran a bit over, climbed up and had to return back a bit to the gully with the control.

#11: made a stupid mistake. Instead of going south to the road I went north to the same road... When I reached the road I realized what happened, but wasn't in a mood to climb back up right there. So I ran north east on the road and cut across in the less steep and green part. Crossed the opening and very carefully found one rock and then used it as an attack point to get to the rocks with the control.

#12: simply ran along the river and then used the trail to get close to the control. From the hill went north west noticing re-entrant on the right, crossed the creek and found the control.

#13: went north east to the trail, used the trail a bit until I saw the re-entrant forming on the right and went down into it to the control

#14: returned back to the trail a bit north from the point where I left it. Went down toward the re-entrant, but didn't go all the way down. Instead ran on its right slope until I saw the gully which I used as a catching feature and an attack point.

finish: just ran north, spending the energy I still had left.

Thanks to Charles and Nadya for the great course!

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge. Blue - mostly running, yellow-brown - mostly walking.