Jake and I met at a Park-and-Ride in Kirkland and carpooled up to Mount Vernon for today's orienteering event at Fire Mountain Scout Camp. I've had some trouble at this venue in the past, and I was a little nervous when I read on the listserv that there were some newly-mapped areas on the northern section of the map.

Well, my fears proved unfounded; I actually did quite well. Except for one moment of confusion going from Control 1 to Control 2, I didn't really make any mistakes. The newly-mapped section proved to be the undoing of many of the more advanced orienteers. That is because they went off-trail to find Control 7, when following the trail was the best way to go. You see, the trail wasn't accurately represented on the map, and I think the feature, a large cliff, wasn't in the right place, either. So, anyone trying to go the short way got lost, while mediocre orienteers who stuck to the trail, like me, went right to it.

The only true trouble I had was with my conditioning. I was really sucking air getting through the last five controls. The leg from the final control to the finish was somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 meters, and I started out in a sprint. I almost decided to walk when I was halfway there. I sucked it up and finished at jog. The experience only furthers my conviction that I navigate better when I'm out of shape.

On the way home, Jake and I stopped at Skagit River Brewery for lunch and a beer. And we weren't the only ones—we saw six other orienteers who had the same idea.  ¶ 8:57 PM