Souhegan 8 Hour Rogaine

Route Choices and Splits

            17        14:51
            42        32:15
            43        27:29
            32        15:24
            33        30:13    Never the saw the road option to the south.
            41        29:46
            35        44:23    Had planned to get 15 & 14 on the way from 41 to 48; team ahead of us at the sign-in had 35 and we decided it was a better choice!
            48        46:39    Considered going up and grabbing 50 but decided at 4 hours it was time to head back in.
            46        40:11    Got stuck in some junk - we just missed north of the road heading due east - and lost some time.
            37        26:52    Non-obvious choice but we had to dogleg something in this area and decided this involved very little extra climb.
            26        20:27
            36        21:56
            44        33:31
            24        17:23
            16        30:57    Got confused by the logging trails and misread the trail - ended up in junk
                        37:52    Had planned to pick up 23 on the way in but got confused by the logging trails again and didn't think we had time.
Total:  450     7:50:08

Control      Split
42            0:31:10.3
43            0:27:55.7
32            0:14:36.4
33            0:30:27.4
41            0:28:54.6
34            1:00:37.8    We had a good munch on the way here, and debated if we had time for 49 and 47
35            0:32:35.9    Avoided the lowland muck and took a long zigzag
25            0:23:41.5
48            0:42:26.2    Had to run way past on the road because of all the $#&*#@% houses
46            0:38:30.5    Beautiful hilltop estate just east of 48 on the way
26                -             (Forgot to record), debated but dismissed 36
37            0:30:57.9    The trails on the way were "wispy"
44            0:31:33.4    To save climb, attacked from almost due magnetic west, and endured a good 1/4 mile of mtn laurel, dismissed 24 and 16
17            0:43:25.6    Thought about 23
440 pts, Total Time (on my clock):  7:32:11.7

Since this was our first attempt we started out conservatively and planned to adjust our plan as we progressed.

    17
    43       in retrospect we should have gone for 42, but we were being conservative
    32
    33
    41
    15
    14       maybe we should have gone for 36, others did
    26
    46       we had a tough time finding 46 we over shot it, we still have a tough time judging time and distance
    37
    44       we tried to get 24 but spent 45 minutes trudging through logging with no luck.  In the future we will try to avoid logging areas
    23       on the way to 23 we lost the trail.  It was difficult to distinguish between the trail and the logging trails.  Once again we will avoid logging
    Finish

We had a great time, and are looking forward to future events.  We were impressed with the camaraderie of everyone.  Thanks for a wonderful day.

Short version:
42    36 minutes
43    23
32    16
33    34
41    41
15    17
36    34
26    33
46    12
37    29
44    41
24    24
16    24
17    30
23    13
410 points        7:18 total time

Long version:
Order: Base to 42 Trail or road the whole way, got us out to a high pointer fast, as we figured we could only manage about 24k in 8 hrs, and I didn't want to leave this one high and dry. Too valuable. If we got caught short, could always ditch lower pointers closer in. 36 minutes, mostly at a moderate walk.

42 to 43. Back up trail to pipeline and trailed most of way to hilltop. Simpler navigation, fewer contours, no laurel to deal with. Just mud and torn up trail from four wheel drive truckers. Lousy way to treat a trail! 23 minutes

43 to 32. drop to southern trail south to marsh/stream junction. Piece of cake. But whose idea was it to hang the flag out over the water? Yikes! Sit on the down tree and stretttccchhhh... Hey, some of us 'uns is short, y'know? 16 minutes.

32 to 33. Went up the "island" to the stream. Dumb route choice. Lots of  laurel, and slow. Should have taken trail N of control and cut in at bend. Hindsight 20/20. Followed stream to control. Easier said than done. Trashy, and the beavers have rearranged the landscape, making marshes. Blah. 34 minutes

33 to 41. Another brain fart. Went south to trail instead of north to trail. North was better. Dithered about a bit due to gravel bank having changed the landscape a bit. Decided to go northern trail after all, as attack point off trail to spur much better than off the southern trail which was down to stream then up, no strong attack point. Take north trail around powerline, as powerline trail is AWFUL from off roaders. 41 minutes. Wretched! This is where you realize you should have eaten something half an hour before: your brain is malfunctioning!

41 to 15. Ok, the sandwich has helped. Up the spur to control, dead on. 17 minutes, all climb.

15 to 36. Compass bearing , ticking off the stream the hilltop on spur, the reentrant, the stream... hey! wait a minute. Stream's too far, ok, backtrack west to hilltop. Dumb, de dumb, dumb, dumb! But at least we know what we did. 34 minutes, including a 10 minute rest on a comfortable looking boulder, eating an orange.

36 to 26. North thru beaver expanded marsh edge. Blick! Hit trail after fussing over extra trails in the area that don't look right, and head west. North from trail junction up reentrant to control, description "valley" ok, where in the valley? Just go until you find it... extra trails, ignore them. 33 minutes.

26 to 46. up spur to hilltop on spur. Easy. 12 minutes. That's better!

46 to 37. Hey we have time to get extras... nose in map, plotting added controls. OOPS what happened to our nice trail? It's done a disappearing act! Wow are we in trouble now, haven't been paying sufficient attention, always a bad idea... follow the pretty pink ribbons, because they are going the right direction anyway. Oh lookee here, nice BIG trail. And here are some other nice folks all thinking this is the right way to go into the control... yup here it is. How convenient! 29 minutes. Phew, that was a close call!

37 to 44. Crash thru the laurel to trail, trail to road, road to whoops, wrong road, backtrack to right road. Keep your nose OUT of the map, Annie! Catch up two other teams making same mistake. I feel better now! Sneak through someone's backyard. Sorry folks! You're not on the map! Cross lots to base of hill, up hill through knee high laurel half of the way (yuk!) to 44. 41 minutes. Oog.

44 to 24. Down the hill planning to hit stream and follow into control. Some fussing, as stream goofy due to beaver work. Darn varmints! Another team just ahead. We see control, they don't, they keep going, we punch in. Hmmm. 24 minutes.

24 to 16. out to nearest trail, hit it right where it ends, and walk out. Lots of logging, nothing looks right through here, but we play it safe, and trail it all the way to... a pond? Thought it was supposed to be a trail junction. Ok, Barb, we really should read the control descriptions more! 24 minutes. Slow but careful. Maybe straight east would have been faster, but we meet the team that was ahead of us going to 24 as we come into the control, (yup, they'd missed 24 entirely) so maybe not.

16 to 17. Trail and road to road end, then up to large spur to in sight of hilltop, and then back to control. Hadn't intended to do that, but I am veering a little to the right all day, so not a surprise. Find Ramana, Barb's daughter, and her partner Marilee Ball, and lead them into the control. They'd missed it earlier in the day. 30 minutes.

17 to 23 North to trail and trail to bend and in to spur. Further than I'd thought it'd be, but then, it's the last control. They always feel that way. 21 minutes. Trail all the way back. Jogging, as we are with the Bundshuhs (father and son) now, and no kid is gonna kick my butt! Well, ok, maybe he will, but hey! He's younger! =) 13 minutes.

Total points 410, total time 7 hrs, 18 minutes. Total distance, 25.5 k 2nd in women's division. Lovely way to spend a day! Thanks, Barb.

Route:
11 - The first-timer & the rusty old man decided on a "can't miss" first control. Ten quick points to boost our confidence.

31 - Our first taste of how tricky the trails were going to be.  Fortunately, there were enough features to get us to the power lines,  which were easy to follow. Paced the trail down to the control & hit it dead on, but then missed my pocket with the punch card...

22 - Followed the SW edge of the swamp to the control. 20/20 hindsight revealed this as the wet choice... Discovered punch card was missing. Just began traditional wailing & gnashing of teeth, when a team of good Samaritans arrived with our lost card - they were heading the same way & had found it at the last control. (This is why I love Orienteers!)

12 - Had a little trouble working out the trails in the sand pit - along with 3 other teams. Found the trail & paced down to the control - another dead hit. (This has never happened twice in one meet.)

45 - Followed the trail S from #12 to Whitten Road, then cut up the power lines. We figured the bushwhacking would be easier from there than going hand-over-hand via the more direct route.

21 - This was our first big mistake - though we couldn't know it then. Followed power lines back to Savage Rd., then followed trail S to 21. From the top of the hill N of the control, used a compass bearing to walk down into the "valley" - just a little NE of the control, and then over.

13 - We headed for water, which was the plan from 45. Discovered that the trail system was much more extensive here than we expected. Wasted too much time trying to figure out the trails... Ended up bailing out to newly-mapped road E of control & hoofing up Mason Rd. to the control.

From here, we decided to give ourselves a break by walking Mason Rd. to the access road 1/2-way to Judd Hall Rd. From there, we felt we could shoot for 46, then decide how we felt. Upon arrival, we found a "No Trespassing" sign blocking access. From there to Judd Hall Rd. (Now Mile Spit Rd.?), a succession of houses blocked access.

At this point, we decided to just shoot for 23, and leave it at that. We planned to take the newly mapped (purple) road from Mason Rd., since it lay directly N of the hill. A relatively easy hike took us to the circle from which the last leg extended - only to find access again blocked by "No Trespassing" signs.

We then decided that the Higher Powers were speaking loudly enough, and meandered back through the fields & woods (from Mason Rd.) back to the finish.

11    Took the road to ease into O-ing.
31    My water belt broke, I ended up carrying it in my hand for the next 3 hours.
22    After crossing Birch brook I started going to 11 instead of 22!
12    Really screwed this up, ran the dirt road along 101.  Thought I ran off the map so I backed up. Ended up coming out in the housing developement SE of 12.  Ran the road.
45    Straight up the powerline.  Ran right by the start from an O-meet, I think it was from the first time that the Tucker Brook map was used?
27    Continued over the hill to the big antenna then took the road down to the big field near 27.  Went too high and had to run DOWN to 27.  Ran full speed into a barbed wire fence.  Got a cool looking cut!
13    Road run to 13.  Glad to have some water.  Had planned on going to 46-26-37.  Realized I wouldn't have time.  Decided on 37.
37    The trail around Boynton hill was posted, so I stayed on the road. Stood staring at the road sign, it wasn't for Judd Hall road.  After a couple of minutes decided it must be right.  Cut into the woods at a new house up/down to 37.
44    Tried the trail NE of 37 but it was posted.  Tried 2 other small trails both dead ends.  Finally thought I was on the right trail.  Ended up in the clearing due west of 23.  Only 40 minutes left so I bagged 44 and went up.
23    straight up the hill.

Amazed at how tough the hills were.  Thought I could cover about 20km in 4 hours, got 14km in 3.5 hours......

23   11:22
17   11:26
42   32:37   due E to Osgood Rd., then SE on roads/trails
43   28:49   S on RR bed, then W straight up hill
32   18:28
33   36:08   NW on trails til it got steep, then along stream
41   39:07   northern route (trail NW then SW)
15   17:34
36   19:26   due N angling down until past stream, then NE
44   33:06
37   26:55   WSW off hill and skirt huge reentrant to save climb
26   29:17   logging trail went wrong, so compass NNW to other trail
46   10:46
48   35:28
50   29:41
13 1:08:12   E then NE by sandpits to McGettigan Rd near edge of map
F    38:20   Mason Rd. E, then S on purple road and up hill
----------
   8:06:40
480 points minus a major overtime penalty

Right after finishing, we were kicking ourselves for having decided at #46 to go for #48 and #50 rather than the safer choice of going for some controls in the N and NE part of the map (#27 to #31 area). But after reflection, I don't regret that we headed to #48.  Rather, I regret only that we continued on to #50 after getting to #48 with a little over two hours remaining.  Indeed, we had three great chances to bail out beginning with #48 and failed to take any of them:

1) Should have directly left #48 to the NNE to the trail NE.
2) When we started out to #50, we got confused just getting to the raod and ended up on the hand-drawn road to the south rather than Abbot Hill Rd.--this really should have set off the alarm and we should have headed in via road.  Could have easily gotten #13 and #21 (only 30 points less #50 + #13) and perhaps even #27, #45, and #12 (10 points more than #50 + #13).
3) Even having made the mistake of going to #50, we might well have just made it back in time had we taken roads (Frye Hwy, Mason Rd.). But we foolishly thought we had a shot at #27 and #45 and so took a difficult route E and NE from #50 to McGettigan Rd. at the very northern edge of the map.  Finally, we realized we were in trouble, but it was too late.

23     11:10     0:11:10
17     12:24     0:23:34
44     22:18     0:45:52
24     21:58     1:07:50
16     21:46     1:29:39  Pretty cruddy going through all the logged-out stuff
43     28:26     1:58:02
42     41:56     2:39:58  Started on the straight line, but ran into a lot of mountain laurel and had to go north to the power line ride instead.
32     46:26     3:26:25
33     37:46     4:04:11  Planned to take Mason Road, but couldn't find a good way across the river, so we just picked our way upstream through the green, and
eventually wound up on an island in an unmapped beaver swamp.  When we finally got to the control, we wound up fording the knee-deep stream, and
Nancy almost slipped in.  So much for dry feet.
41     37:22     4:41:33  Had enough of the woods at this point, so rather than head into more steep, potentially green, partially logged stuff, we decided to go for
more distance on generally flat roads, with wide-spaced, higher-point controls.
34     49:36     5:31:12  Went just off the map under the "MA" in "MASON"
35     33:00     6:04:12
48     45:24     6:49:35
13     26:52     7:16:27  Time was looking tight, so we started jogging quite a bit after leaving 48.  I was concerned that we might go way overtime.
F      34:03     7:50:30 I wanted to allow 25 minutes if we were going to try to get #11, which we didn't quite have, and Nancy was concerned about the final climb and didn't want to even think about it.  Turns out the extra 10 points wouldn't have mattered anyway.

390 points

This was a Dad plus children team: we had all done a couple of rogaines before, although not in this team grouping.  Our basic route was decided by guessing how far we could expect to go in 8 hours.  Although Lucy (14) and Daven (12) are in reasonable shape, I was the only one who had done any pre-event training!  We guessed 20 to 25 km. It turned out pretty close to what we actually  did. We were intending to walk steadily, no running. I would classify us as  about 7 out of ten on the keener scale...we're not out to win or die in the attempt, but we like to try and be as good as our fitness allows.

Given our relatively limited total distance, the controls north of the start location were too far apart for us: there were more roads too, but we weren't very interested in road bashing. So we planned a southern loop, attempting to maximise points as we went.

23 was first.  Some confusion over multiple trails, but went to the hilltop and rough compass to the spur...no problem.  We soon noted the stone walls and the fact that they were NOT apparently shown on the map!!

17: Lost the trail when we came upon the logged area,  but the topography was visible enough to get us there, although a little slowly.  Came in too low and had to climb the side of the spur.

42.  Relatively long leg, but lots of trails to get there by.  Compass to a road linked to Osgood road then south, picked up the "jeep trail", a nice old laneway  between big maples.  No problem finding 42.  Topped up our water.

43 decided on this next:  the old railway looked possible but seemed to involve too much climb to the control. Although we didn't like backtracking, we did, back to the power line, then SW to the trail leading in to the hilltop. Very clear and easy feature.

32 Would we try this one?  Lucy pointed out how close it was to the edge of the map, which I thought was a good observation.  I was a bit wary of the
marsh symbol, which can spell horror in a rogaine, but we thought we should go and see, to get a feel for the map and what it meant.   Trails all the way.  The final one leading to the control seemed to be further down the main trail than the map suggested.  We were making good progress.   A few folks at the control eating lunch and arguing about GPS coordinates.

33 was the only logical next choice.  As we were unfamiliar with the area we had no idea what the going would be like along the stream.  In previous experience it can be very unpredictable, varying from delight to purgatory. In this case it was mostly fine, a beautiful creek in fact. We stopped  for a lunch break. Lucy and Daven spied others coming by and urged me to get going.    Approaching 33 the stream was split by beaver dams and the main channel became indistinct. We had to wade a few times.  The sand quarry appeared to our left and confirmed our position. Then there was no doubt of finding the control.  Round the bend and there it was.  Water top-up again.  We had overtaken a couple of teams.  A new one came in while we were filling our bottles.

41: Time reality check..we seemed to be more or less on track, so going  for this one appeared to be OK.  Lucy suggested a short cut long the hydro cut but it went though a blackwater swamp, so we stuck to the trail. It was hot here, more logging (not marked on the map), but the trails seemed  reliable. Careful map reading on approach to 41 brought us in with no problems.  Now we had to make some major decisions.  Computed remaining distance and time:  15 was relatively close, but not worth much.  Out came the string. 36 was logically "on the way back", but I was wary of it due to the adjacent swamp and lack of good attack points. We wanted to get 44 (which we knew should be easy due to size of feature, although there was some climb) and hopefully 37.    We opted to go to 15.

15.   No problem, up the re-entrant and along the broad spur straight to the control.

36. Although I did not like the look of 36, there was not much point in NOT trying to get it from 15. A climb to 37/44 was unavoidable: we could either try 36 or skip it...we decided to try it. We went on a compass bearing NE down the first stream gully and towards the broad spur.  At first it looked OK, but as we tried rounding the spur , the topography began to diverge from the map, which was a blow to our confidence.  We picked our  way along to the second stream and started to go northwards. Lucy saw  something big and dark loping up the hill which she is sure was a bear!  I said perhaps another rogainer, some of them are pretty big.  I was unsure exactly where we were at this point and so with time ticking on we decided to abort mission and push north to the E-W "jeep trail".   We crossed to the west side of the stream. But soon we saw a substantial hill on the other side, it surely had to be the one with the control on  it?  Worth a look.  So
over and up ...we were looking for a blazed property marker to correspond with the line on the map going through the control.  Earlier we'd seen a red blazed marker line crossing the stream between 32 and 33.  But, nothing definite near 36.  Some trees had blue spots on, but that seemed too indistinct.   Later reports suggested the line was a stone wall....if so, a mighty long and straight one!  We weren't finding the goldarn' control, so we carried on back over the stream.  Analysing the map later I am sure we were on a minor peak to the SSE of the control location, and actually very close to it.  10,000 curses!  Sober reflection also suggests that a bit  more focus and we would have bagged it.

37. Crossed a field, then on to the road north towards 37.  We each had a handful of Skittles for an energy boost.  Easy walking again, trying to speed up a bit so we did not get caught short at the end.  Went past the road in to the control, it looked too short, but it was soon apparent we were going too far downhill....there was the control peak, but houses in the way.  Back up and in alongside logging equipment, easy control.

44.  Up a nice track and skirted woods around a mansion house...took the trail north on the west side of the hill, then cut uphill to the other trail which led towards the peak. Steady climb but easy navigation.  The clouds had darkened and it was spotting rain and very hot.  Considered cutting downslope on a bearing towards the finish, but decided to go back out the way we came in, not wanting to take any chances this late in the game. Other accounts of murderous laurel (which we had seen along the approach trails) suggest this was a good move.  On the way out Lucy declared emphatically we were going the wrong way.  Daven seemed to agree. I was initially sure they were wrong, but then had a niggling doubt.  We could not afford an error now!  So I hauled them back to the peak again to relocate and be 100% sure.  We  were right all along, but it was a good lesson.  Back down....the view did not appear to make sense near the bottom, all sorts of new development, sand exposures, roads...the trail was hard to  pick up, a few moments of uncertainty, but we soon got going on the NW-SE trail,following the map carefully.  No problem, then the logging zone started and the trail was impossible to follow.  We took a NE bearing and bashed on. Time passed, still no trail...the whereabouts of the hilltop were also not easy to see.  Hmm.  We were close to the finish ..but where exactly were  we? We had a bit over half an hour left...a bit nerve-racking.  We decided to swing east and hit the road.  This we did after a relatively short time. Saw several orange salamanders. After a few minutes relocating we knew we would be back on time. We saw another team ahead of us going the same way.  We got back with about 10 minutes to spare.  No blisters, everyone in good shape.

We felt we did pretty well overall.  No serious errors and we kept moving steadily.  Not getting 36 was annoying (we'd have got 2nd place in our
category if we had!), but we didn't waste much time on it.  We had a really nice time and enjoyed the event.
Rob Hughes

Susanne Klockare Rune Klockare

Control    Time
11            ?
31            10:40
22            10?56
12            11:23
45            11:52
27            12:21
13            12:41
48            13:23
25            14:16
47            14:45
49            15:20
34            15:53
41            16:14(?)
Finish        17:47
-------------------
350 points

11            ?
12            10:45
45            11:10
50            12:21
48            12:57
25            13:38
47            14:24
35            14:57
41            15:46
36            16:14
26            16:32
46            16:45
37            ?
44            ?
-----------------
440 points