Bogus Basin Results -- August 21, 2016

Control # 6

Control # 19

The temperature was mild. The sky was clear. The trails were open. You might think it was a lazy August day. Not so. It was orienteering at Bogus where the terrain makes all the difference. It's a ski area. It's also an orienteering venue without the benefits of chair lift service. Only strong legs and a willing mind move bodies up and down this mountain. How much mountain? Well, the Intermediate Course contained a hefty elevation loss and gain of 330 meters. And the Advanced Course -- pretty much a ridiculous 630 meters. Those numbers don't include individual jaunts around obstacles and futile erroneous tangents.

In Pursuit of Control # 4

Eloise & Belen Planning With David

The mountain took its toll. Michael Bading broke his thumb-compass and was forced to cut his efforts short to retrace his steps in search of a lost cell phone. We had almost as many DNFs as finishers. It wasn't all grim. Sergey's comment after pre-running the Advanced Course on Saturday belied the statistical gloom: "It was a blast". Sergey wasn't alone. Our youngest competitors, the Hoobing girls, were all smiles as they finished their first orienteering course. Grandfather James Cambron and grandson Gage were undaunted and plan to come back for another try.

Sometimes we get lucky. We recently acquired Mike Teller from Quantico Orienteering in our nation's capital. We didn't trade a heavy hitter or a draft choice. Sometimes a walk-on makes all the difference. Although Mike's an experienced orienteer, he struggled at Pine Creek when we picked up controls ahead of his course. What impressed me was that he went on to find the features without the benefit of controls and punches. On Sunday he was the only finisher of the Intermediate Course.

It was good to see Lee Scott back along with his family. We hope to see more of them and the other new orienteers.

Please join us for our next orienteering adventure at Upper Dry Creek on Saturday, October 7.

John Murray
Meet Director