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| Rabbit Creek Terrain by Kirsten Severud |
I had experienced an orienteering meet at Julia Davis Park sometime around 2005 and wasn't interested in trying another one. Then in 2010 I got a message about Rabbit Creek and decided to give it another
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| John Siebold on Rugged Terrain--Leslie Perez |
try. That was it. I was hooked on orienteering. The Seventh Annual Rabbit Creek did it and has had a special place in my heart ever since.
Baseball players are notorious for resorting to the extremes of superstitions to maintain a hitting or pitching streak, sometimes refusing to change socks or underwear as they are caution not to change a thing, lest ending the underwear streak will also end a hitting streak. For 19 years in a row there's been an orienteering meet at Bill Pilcher's Rabbit Creek Ranch. No other CTOC venue comes close to that streak.
As I thought about how this streak should be preserved and driven forward I was reminded of an R-rated conversation from one of my favorite movies.
In the movie Bull Durham, Tim Robbins' character, Nuke LaLoosh (loosely based on Steve Dalkowski), finds himself in a relationship with Susan Sarandon's character, Annie. However, when he goes on a long road trip, he begins pitching better and the team begins winning, and Nuke attributes this to his period of abstinence.
The setup: Annie storms into Crash’s apartment, furious about his interference with her relationship with Nuke. Crash feels he did nothing wrong.
Crash: “Nuke’s chastity was your idea.”
Annie: “I know!. I’m telling you to keep your hands out of this.”
Crash: “I never told him to stay out of your bed.”
Annie: “You most certainly did.”
Crash: “I never told him to stay out of your bed.”
Annie: “Yes, you did!”
Crash: “I told him a player on a streak has to respect the streak.”
Annie: “Fine.”
Crash: “You know why? Because they don’t happen very often.”
Annie: “Right.”
Crash: “If you believe you’re playing well because you’re getting laid or because you’re not getting laid or because you wear women’s underwear, then you are. And you should know that!”
As Crash (Kevin Costner) said, “...a player has to respect the streak”. So, we did. And we should as long as we have access to Bill's ranch. Start thinking about making it two decades of Rabbit Creek.
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| Unknown Specie |
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| Long-leaf Phlox |
The high desert goes unappreciated by folks who only find beauty in lakes, rivers, and tall trees. “Desolate” is the word I hear from them. The high desert is a place for people who can appreciate the small things. Thank you, Leslie, for your photos of a couple of the many species of flowers in blossom. You had a couple of good orienteering photos including both the orienteering and Rabbit Creek's excellent rock features.
Becky Ruths sent a photo of herself and some of her team at the first control on their first orienteering map. She reported that they all had a great time. We hope to see them at future meets. 
Kirsten continued her streak of Intermediate Course victories. I hope she changed her underwear since her last meet, but I know that in this competition you have to do what it takes. And speaking of doing what it takes, Jerry reserved a Sport Map instead of his usual Intermediate version after a momentous week of running Robie and having cataract surgery. Then at the last moment opted for the Intermediate Course. Although he didn't finish, just getting out there a doing it at 80 years-old is some kind of admirable triumph. Jerry, you are a hero.
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| Sergey's Route |
It would have been a very long day arriving back in Eagle long after dinner time without the kindness of the three people who helped with control pick up. Thank you David Bergset, Erik Bergset, and Kirsten Severud.
Kirsten Severud plans to host the next meet May 22 on the Gold Rush national championship terrain a couple of miles northwest of Idaho City.
Some orienteers requested digital copies of the maps. For proper scale print these maps on legal size paper. Advanced and Intermediate maps and results follow:
Meet Director
208 342-2165
1 comment:
Hello, Y'all.
My first contact with CTOC was in March at Ann Morrison Park. I chose the beginner course (I was a beginner), and John M. helped me with the basics of compass/map alignment, etc. The weather was beautiful and I successfully completed the course w/o too much difficulty.
5 weeks roll by and I'm all fired up for Rabbit Creek at Bill Pilcher's spread (thank you Bill). I chose the intermediate course here and it wasn't long before I realized that moving from "Beginner's Walk in the Park" (March) then to "Intermediate Rabbit Creek Course", was a pretty big step. I started at 11:46 and was almost overtaken by John as he was picking up the controls. In my mind during the last bits of this adventure was, "my ambitions are writing checks that my body cannot cash."
Regardless, even though I checked in late, without much opportunity to interact with other orienteers, I had a great time.
Thank you in massive quantities to John, M., Bill Pilcher, and other unknown (to me) volunteers who pitched in to make the 19th Rabbit Creek outing a success.
Hoping to see you all in Idaho City in late May. I'll try not to be late.
Pete -The Dude Paradis
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