Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Sometimes, Quitting Can Be So Sweet

February, 2011

The ending to my winter camping experience was an Orienteering event at Manassas. I looked forward to it, and planned to try an Intermediate course. How lost can you get on a battlefield? Hmmm ....



As I assembled my gear for the event, I remembered that I hadn't done any mental warm-up, unless you can count making a wrong turn and then finding my way to the event. Tearing down my campsite from the night before counts as a physical warm-up. Packing my compass, I thought maybe I should spend a few minutes with the book, as a refresher.  Unfortunately, I nixed that idea; figured I could rember how to use it.

The course was laid out over the Manassas Battlefiled. so you had fields of mowed grass, areas of unmowed grass batted down by the winter, and groves of treees and brush.

The event folks suggested I try an intermediate course; because you couldn't really get lost in the battlefield area.

This time, I easily found the "start". Haha, as it was right at the registration area. But true-to-form, it took me a bit to find the first checkpoint. That's when I realized I should have refreshed my compass skills as it was apparent I was doing something wrong.

Instead of taking the time to go back and ask for help, I decided to rely on the natural landscape / geographic features and my awesome [sarcasm here] powers of observation. So, I muddled through (quite an approprite term as the fields were pretty muddy) checkpoints 2 and 3. 

Feeling good, I followed a trail to get me close to #4, which was ... where??? I couldn't find it. Went to a landmark and tried again. Still couldn't find it. Encountered another person in the same spot I started and headed with him. We both still couldn't find it. He continued bushwhacking further into an area of forest; I turned back.

On the trail, I met some folks who appeared to be experienced. They headed cross-field. That's when I decided it wasn't a whole lot of fun bushwhacking throuogh knee-deep grasses and muddy fields without really being certain of where I was going.

So, I had major compass fail. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Apparently, there were others doing the same "wrong" thing as me, because I kept meeting up with the same people. Jeez, I even had Boy Scouts help me and my brain would just blank out.

Eventually, I realized I wasn't having a whole lot of fun. Decided to call it quits, got on a main trail, and headed back to the start area. The day immediately got better.



Post-event assessment of why the day didn't turn out as I had hoped:
  • I was mentally and physically drained from Saturday's hike.
  • Likely, also a bit drained from my first winter camping experience.
  • I should've reviewed my "how to use a compass" notes
  • And likely should've found a way to settle my brain and "warm-up"







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