This was my first 24h Rogaine ever. One of the hilliest US venues for
any Rogaine. Last year I did the 12h version and loved it, but felt I had something left in the tank, so I decided to up the ante this year. A shoutout to Mark Lattanzi, who put together a superb event, again.
JMU commencement took place simultaneously at Harrisonburg,
and the few leftover hotel rooms were listed at $300 (Motel 6, sheeesh) or $499
(Residence Inn). So I opted to camp out. I found my old REI tent that has not
been used since ~1999. Still had some Anza-Borrego sand in it. Bought a nifty Hyke
and Byke sleeping bag on Amazon (my old one smells bad…), and was there early for
the 7am map distribution. Minor caveat: I had no sleep at night; mattress was too
rough on my back and the wind hit the tent too noisily; getting spoiled as I grow
older = “Spoilder”.
The map can be divided into several mountain blocks defined
by distinct streams/rivers. One dent, added courtesy of recent rains, was that
North River was flooded and raging, limiting crossing points to 4 bridges,
therefore somewhat restricting the flow options between blocks. My overall
approach was to design the most optimal route for picking up all of the
controls, and when the shit hits the fan midrace, regroup and make a return
plan from that location. Lookout Mountain, on whose slopes the campground is
situated, had the highest control density to accommodate the shorter 6 and 12h
races. I was not leaving these for later, knowing that I will be too exhausted at
the end. So the plan was to sweep the Lookout Mountain block and move
systematically block by block west and north and back. My idea was to collect
first all the controls at the lower elevations, then ascend to the higher ones,
before finally descending on the west side to exit the mountain.
Start time was racer’s choice between 8 and 10am. I
preferred to get out early, realizing that I am not likely to last to the next
morning, and therefore better off getting as many hours of light on the front
end. So, cursory route planning, and off I went at 8:09.
31 – an easy access from the start. Only problem, the punch
was gone, an orphan string hanging from the flag. Looking around at first I
could not find it anywhere. So, I reached for my cell phone to call Mark and
let him know, only to discover that it somehow ran out of juice overnight. So,
not only can’t I call Mark now, but in case of an emergency, I do not have the
option of dialing for help. Great start! As I was going to leave punchless, I
spotted the red punch in a bed of tall grass a good 3ft away. Sigh of relief. I
punched and then double-knotted it to the string for the benefit of those who follow.
A good 5 minutes lost.
63 – Should have gone straight from the pond’s corner, but wastefully
circled back and took an aim from the stream pond junction. The aim put me on
the wrong spur, which I realized based on the absence of a stream on my right,
so I crossed the stream on my left to the correct spur, and followed it upwards
about 10-20m left of the crest. Bingo!
52 – Up the remainder of the spur to the trail, then left to
the bend, and down south to the control in the reentrant. Surprise! Pirate Gold
attached (=$20). A perk of being the second person to get out on the course and
choosing to visit this control early enough.
36 – Back to the trail, north to the bend, shortcut NE
across the spur, back on the trail, north to the bend, and taking a bearing to
the control.
74 – #36 was a master control, and this one was the “slave”.
It was described as top of reentrant 308m away on a 226° bearing, which meant across
a peak. I marked wrongly on the map, but the gps track shows the correct spot
(dogleg and back). Should have gone completely around the peak to save climb,
but out of concern of drifting too far, just went slightly off the peak. Found
the control. Punch # was 73, but this could not be, as the real 73 is at the NE
part of the map. So, punched and continued.
41 – Off trail on the spur to the trail bend, then down to
the reentrant until its bend and the control. A box of candy to partake.
CP41 – Stream bend
44 – Already 2hrs in. A slight confusion with the labyrinth
of trails around the main lawn area, but quickly reoriented and found the trail
leading to the control. A few shortcut trails while keeping the general
direction and I arrived at the relevant switchback. Control was just down from
it.
51 – First trouble of the day, and on practically 100m crow-flight
distance. Control was located in the reentrant down below 44, and I was banking
on a direct descent. Only problem: too steep and cliffy for safety, eventually
hitting an end cliff over the swelling river, forcing futile parallel zigzags
through steep slopes. So this took an unjustifiable 18 minutes. In hindsight,
circling around from the top of the reentrant seems like the optimal way to go.
62 – Trouble continues…. On steroids…. Granted, there was no
easy way to get from 51, but my choice to follow the riverbank was probably the
worst. That’s because I should have already known from the previous leg that
the water edge is rife with unscalable cliffs. This led to vertical climbs
around multiple such cliffs, including ankle crunching slips and one 360°
tumble that bruised my arm and thigh and landed me near the edge of a cliff just
above raging waters. Eventually, I reached the relative plateau and the control
to boot, but again, this leg took an atrocious 36 minutes for a little over 1Km
and also primed my ankle injury. Perhaps a faster, safer way would have been to
contour higher on that steep slope, somewhat away from the water edge.
CP62 – Shallow reentrant, closer
85 – This was a major strategic decision. In my route plan, #85
was an orphan, without an elegant way to integrate it into a smooth flow.
However, because of the high point value, but even more because of my OCD, I
considered it a shame to skip it so early. So for me, this was the stage to
pick it up, before starting to ascend the main mountain. That meant a long,
circuitous route, followed by a 320ft climb to the control, and then down and back
more than half the way to #77. First, I had to clear from 62 to the trail. That
landed me in an unmapped archery range, coming from the direction of the
targets, and nearly getting shot by a perplexed group of girl scouts and
scolded by the scoutmaster. I muttered: “I am out of your crosshairs in a
minute”, and swiftly crossed their unmapped camp to arrive at the trail. From
there, I hurried up to the reentrant below 85 and started to climb, first on
the reentrant bank and then up the side of the spur, running into the descending
Erik and Glen at about the halfway point. Although this was not the toughest
climb of the day, it was not a stroll in the park either. This leg took almost
1hr point-to-point. Hitting the 4hr mark.
CP85 – Saddle
77 – Back to the riverbank trail, then starting up the
mountain by taking the Lookout trail to the control.
CP77 – Lookout
72 – Continuing up the mount. Circumventing the long trail
loop by cutting up the reentrant at the bend, reaching the switchback. Control
20m out.
95 – Initially walking the ridgeline, then a brutal uphill to the summit. Originally missed the ascending trail (blurred intersection), then went back 200m and used topography to identify it after a few m in. At the last ~600m had to stop to catch my breath every 50-70m. Took a while to reach. It was now 6hrs in.
45 – Originally thought of going around on the trails, but
then changed my mind and decided to climb down the spur west of the control.
Overshot by a little and saw the control behind me when I looked to the left,
finishing this leg in ~18min. On the way out saw a racer who passed me easily
on the ascent to 95, and by my estimate beat me there by a good 10-15 minutes,
but then took the trail to 45. This fully vindicated my shortcut.
65 – An interesting control location: a flat terrace in the
middle of a steep slope over the North River. From 45, I headed to the trail
network and back to the ridgeline trail. At the bend on the topmost saddle I
took a north bearing and descended the slope until reaching the west side of
the flat area. Looking around, I spotted the control on the east. Bam!
CP65 – Spur (Actually, more of a terrace on an otherwise steep slope)
76 – A disastrous leg. My original plan was to contour west
to the 4th spur, as the slope on my current contour was a bit tamer
and therefore should easier to manage. However, I kept at it exactly to the
first reentrant, and lost my discipline when at that point I faced the need to
go up a bit to stay at the tamer grade. So, I foolishly descended down the
reentrant, just to face the same predicament I had in controls 51 and 62:
cliff-laden riverbank. From there, it was as slow a progress to the control as
in one’s nightmares. 50 min total for a freaking 1.4Km. Live and learn; or
don’t.
CP76 – Reentrant Junction
The escape from Outlook Mountain – I guess live and forget…
Getting out of 76, I again repeated for the 4th time the mistakes
from 51, 62 and… 76. All I had to do was climb up ~2.5 contour lines (100ft±)
for a relatively flat exit west. One look at the slope to climb and I was back
to old habits faster than an alcoholic in a liquor store, trying to contour on
the steeper slope. Eventually, after two reentrant crossings and another
handful of wasted minutes, I saw the light and climbed up the next spur to get
to a flatter area and connect with the trail. I was ultimately at the bridge on
the main road after an embarrassing 52 min on the 1.9Km since departing 76.
Revised homecoming plan – It was now 8:45h since I started,
2:45h longer than I projected for the block (at least 1.5h of it because of
those four contouring fiascos paralleling the North River), and ~3.5h to
darkness. My feet were pretty much worn out. I think the unsteady, steep
hillside crawls were ultimately much more eroding that the few climbs that
would have avoided them. I was mentally and physically reluctant to do any
additional major climb or long off-trail routes for the remainder of the race.
So I sat down at a picnic table at the campsite near the trail-road
intersection, flayed open the map, and planned my return route. The idea was to
complete a large clockwise route while collecting primarily roadside controls
or at most ones that do not require more than one degree of separation from a
major trail or monumental climbs.
43 – On the road to first reentrant, up the spur. Climb
deceivingly longer than I imagined by looking at the map; but this is the
optical illusion of a 1:25,000 scale.
54 – Back to the road, reentrant not visible from the road,
obscured by large earth banks. Left where it should be, and it showed up while
passing the earth banks and crossing a burned forest section. Control right up
there.
Half of team Untamed New England descending from CP54 (Reentrant)
CP45 – Up close
96 – A 2.2Km detour from the home route to pick this
high-point control. To the road-stream junction, along the stream with a few
wet crossings each time one of the banks was unhikable, stream junction. Easy,
but long.
CP96 – Stream Junction
42 – Back to the homecoming loop. Teamed with Dan from NJ for
the next three controls, onto which both of us were headed. Misidentified the
curve on the road and went off road a bit too early. Other than that, a
straight up the left shoulder of the reentrant, and SE on the first incoming
tributary.
Dan leading the way to CP42 – Reentrant
64 – Back to road. Two route choices: A. get to the trail
early on the curve. B. Continue on road to the river and take the trail there.
Chose B, as it avoided the initial climb when getting on the trail in A, plus the
trail-trail intersection SW of the control provides a closer attack point,
minimizing chance for error. From trail-trail junction descended to the
streambed and crisscrossed to the control.
CP64 – Stream
81 – My plan to shortcut straight through the stream
junction was rained on by Dan, who remembered that the western stream was quite
raging last year. Counting on his judgment, which was confirmed shortly thereafter,
we circled through the main road to the road-stream junction. From there took a
bearing, which landed us on a nice grassy path, which went slightly
off-bearing, but led to a point where there was a break in the dense vegetation
to the south. Going off south and peeking to the distance, the control was
visible on the hillfoot. Marsh was quite indistinct.
CP81 – Edge of Marsh, at dusk
71 – Went back to the main road and parted ways with Dan.
Headed on the western main road north until the curve, crossed through a
primitive campsite where a family at their BBQ dinner ogled me with a WTF gaze,
and started up the slope to the saddle and from there to the hilltop, where I
again crossed paths with Glen and Erik.
82 – A reentrant junction. Took a bearing down the hill to
the creek. Darkness just set in. Reentrant openings were no longer visible,
even with the headlamp, unless you stepped on them. Was not accurate with the
bearing, and entered the first NE reentrant I saw. After the reentrant ended
before the pace count with no junction to speak off, I found myself on a NE
spur, deducing that I made a parallel error. So I headed NE down the spur
through thick laurel for what felt like ages all the way to the next reentrant.
Strongly believed it is now the correct one, especially as it went on and on climbing
NE, the only reentrant in the area that should be this long. Walk took longer
than I anticipated, stirring some doubts, but eventually spotted the control.
91 – Coming out of 82, the vegetation in the area approaching
the junction with the main stream kept pushing me away from the reentrant. When
I finally reconnected, I continued a short while downstream, only to realize
that I am going south, instead of SW, meaning this reentrant is the main stream
and I just cut the junction corner unaware. So, I turned around, started north
and shortly after found the streamside trail a few dozen steps to the west of
the stream, which made is easier. Then, ~2Km north to the T-junction, and a
quick azimuth to the control.
83 – Exactly as I reached 91, my Gps watch ran out of juice,
so I took some time to activate my backup one and continued. To 83, I followed
the trail to the junction and then dived south through the bushes to the
reentrant, locating the control ~50 to my left/east.
(missed) 32 – Back to the trail. Counted steps from the trail
bend to the point of the peak immediately north of the control. The count did
not coincide with the highest point of the trail. In fact, it was ~100m short
of it, so I was not 100% confident about my location relative to the control.
Anyhow, I ventured south, perpendicular to the trail, counted ~100m, looked
left and right, and saw nothing shiny. The map showed the control in a shallow
reentrant, but it was shallow enough that I had my doubts whether I can
actually identify it even if I stepped in it in the dark, especially with the
thick vegetation. Anyhow, I contoured a bit, first ~100m west, then ~200m back
east, saw nothing, decided that the low point-value does not justify losing
more time on this haystack needle, and went back up to the trail. The gps track
now shows that I was oh, so close, but no cigar… The gps track clearly shows
that I crossed the reentrant before the end of my eastward contouring, but I was
totally oblivious to that on the ground.
56 – East on the trail all the way to the paved road, right
at the intersection, step-counting and crossing south of the road and its
parallel stream to nab the control.
Late scratches: 34, 98 – The plan was to collect these two
on the way too, but both required crossing a wide, heavily flowing stream. With
the state of my fatigue, coldness, wetness and sore feet, as well as initially
running in circles for ~10 min in the dark looking for the trail leading to 34
and then the prospect of climbing ~200ft to 98, I abandoned both.
87 – Last control of the night. Off the road on the trail to
the junction, then a quick bearing up the reentrant. Navigationally, an easy
find, but at this point, my ankles and feet were shot, and it took everything I
got to take any step, ever so gingerly, on even a mildly uneven terrain.
Finish – All the way on the road. 17:59h total, 53Km
(33miles), 1,820m elevation gain (~6,000ft). 172pts out of 306 possible (two teams cleared the course!!!). Placed 13th out of 18 teams.
After the race – severely sore left foot, ankle and shin. A
massive ~4lb edema around all, and a little bit on the right foot as well, which
cleared only 4 days later (reflected in reduction of swelling, concomitant with
a day-long polyuria and a corresponding weight loss). Never had that before,
but also did not do a 24h prior. Still some front shin/metatarsus/ligament pain
when walking. I hope no stress or hairline fracture from overexertion. Keeping
an eye on that. Hypochondriac me searching online, I am also tabling the edema as
a potential symptom of “endurance-induced hyponatremia”, a condition afflicting
about 13% of endurance athletes, as I seem to retain fluids after every Rogaine
event, albeit not at this level.
Perhaps the new shoes I was checking out also had something
to do with the injury. I love my Salomon Speed Cross 3; they have awesome trail
grip and give my step an extra pep, but do not wick well, shrink when wet, and
the narrow tip gives me bilateral pinky and index toe blisters every time. So
this time I tried Inov-8 TrailTalon. They wicked extremely well and the wide
front eliminated small toe blisters (although I got a huge one at the bottom of
my big toe that popped towards the end of the course). However, they had poor
traction and did not feel comfortable off trail, especially on the top of the arch
and the ankles. Just bought high-end compression socks for next time and will
research and try another brand of orienteering shoes.
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