This was a more ambitious version of a Score Orienteering meet, where controls are scattered about the map with varying point levels and one's route is entirely self determined. I had a half hour to think about the optimal route choice before starting the race on a bright, hot Idaho Saturday in May. Everyone started at the same time in a mass start format, and we had four hours to get as many as we could before the points started getting deducted at a rapid rate. Judging from the feel of the hot sun on my neck, and having learned a lesson staggering in on this map several minutes late two years ago, I did not intend to push it too far again...what follows is my memory of route choice from point to point.

My rough plan starting out was to punch the close controls north and west of the start in a short loop, and then diverge up and around the larger map counter clockwise while knocking off the logical controls along the way. I left my brain to formulate the particulars while on the run, but I figured I would move in and out of the close map a few times to reach the closest corners without having to get too far back in and backtracking. It was an interesting brain exercise flipping between the two maps: different scales, different level of detail, and even different contours on the 1:15000! (1km per square on that map!) I suspected it would be unlikely for me to reach them all, as they were really far out there as compared to two years ago and some were perhaps more technical, but I wasn't quite sure where I would drop controls yet either. This was by no means an exact plan, but I had a feeling the distances would end up making a fairly logical sequence once I got started running.

Start to JJ: Ran up the driveway away from the house behind the pack, planning to knock off the closest control first as a warm up and confidence booster. I realized while running it was on the flag pole, so I started up the small hill to hit the control. The pack almost missed it at first but quickly clambered up after me; luckily I was able to punch first.

JJ to GG: Down the hill, across the road, and pretty much straight up to the cluster of boulders at the top. The clue revealed little about details, so I concluded I would just have to look around when I got up there. Somewhat to my surprise, no other competitors came with me except Michael Tobin. He got to the top first and was looking around. I came up shortly after him and did spot it; he punched shortly after I did.

GG to KK: Michael and I diverged routes - he went up and over the hill, while I contoured around, determined to add no more climb than necessary for the long day. I hopped the fence, and saw he was already some ways ahead of me, scouting up the reentrant looking for the gully. Eventually he stopped and studied the map. I followed the road briefly but veered off to find the gully that crossed it, which was successful. Given Michael's position, I was momentarily skeptical, but looked back at the gully and saw it did intersect and got deeper...I followed it and saw the control down below. Punched it quickly and scooted out of there to the northeast and clambered upward.

KK to BB: Contoured again, did some downhill and briefly wandered amidst the boulder piles looking for another gully. I went a bit too far north at first and came back down but eventually found it.

BB to AL: I aimed for the large boulder clusters, trying to stay above the other gullies. My wife and I crossed paths here (she was on intermediate), so we exchanged greetings briefly and I took the hill down directly to the boulder. Michael caught up to me and we reached the control at about the same time. In this transition I concluded I should definitely tag CR now despite the climb, especially when I saw how many points it was worth.

AL to CR: Michael and I ran briefly together through the saddle area but uphill to reach the fence. He hopped it far faster than me, and proceeded rapidly ahead. As I crested the hill I could see him heading downward, and then I also saw Sergey and Masha standing at about where I expected to find the control. Remembering painful lessons from this creek crossing two years ago (I wasted much time finding a place, so much brush), I confirmed the open space crossing on the map and went straight to it, noting with some satisfaction that Michael was now looking for a crossing. Amazingly, however, he still got through some brushy area ahead of me and proceeded straight up the hill to the boulder. I followed shortly after on the other side of the boulder and punched after him.

CR to P-10: I was sure on the larger map Michael would only get stronger, so I made no attempt to keep up. Far too much time ahead. He hopped the fence and gained ground steadily. The next control was a straightforward run along the top contour and out on top of the cliff above the valley. No difficulty.

P-10 to P-11: I stayed on the top for a little while but gradually descended as the creek reentrant opened up and eventually crossed to the other side where I remembered it being easier travel with an erratic trail. I reached the road and noted Mike up ahead studying the map around the control area. I ducked in under some trees and ended up climbing up and out of the creek bed, concluding by the circle it must be a bit further up but there were multiple small reentrants. Michael had come down and back; we bantered about which reentrant it might be and I walked up the first likely candidate. I stopped, looked the map, and then looked down. The control was right there on my left behind some sagebrush. Michael saw it about the same time.

P-11 to P-12: On the road I hoped I might feel stronger but the sun was definitely noticeable and there was a nice modest grade. I used the opportunity to drink some water and eat a few dried apples, while studying the next few controls. P-12 was the logical choice, but after that it really was starting to make more sense to get both LL and BO together, and before P-3. Getting BO later looked like a hassle, too far to backtrack. For P-12, I took the dry riverbed up the reentrant while seeing another competitor move away from us down the road. Eventually Michael returned near the top from a spot that made sense given the nearby hills, and I soon reached the control right before the riverbed split up.

P-12 to LL: Back down the road, watching the hill pass on the right, waiting for the road junction. Once it appeared, I diverted off up the reentrant and saw the likely boulder ahead, further confirmed by seeing Michael snag the control underneath. He returned and made a comment about choices when passing...I agreed since I suspected we would diverge here. I clambered up the short steep slope to the control and punched it.

LL to BO: Back down the little slope and then contouring around to BO. I saw Ole passing in the opposite direction higher up. I remembered the BO area well from last year, and also spotted the control from some ways off.

BO to P-3: Scooted back down to the road on a northwest angle. Saw and remembered the earth bank cliffs and made a spot decision to scoot above them and stay high. Had a couple annoying gullies in the way but contoured upward and then took a slope of least resistance over the top. Once there, I was dismayed to see the amount of slope down and up to the hill where the control probably was...so I just contoured back down and followed a cow trail upward in back and forth fashion. Ole was also coming up the hill on the other side. I reached the top first and spotted the control with him still out of sight.

P-3 to P-1: A straightfoward run to the road and along it, then diverge up to the hill, which was definitely bigger than I expected from the map. More climb than I imagined; still not quite on par mentally with the large contour scale expectation. Russ Pilcher was some ways ahead of me upward and we reached it about the same time.

P-1 to P-2: Back to the road and then up, up. Walked the steepest sections to keep from overheating and sapping my energy. I half expected to turn off by the water tank, but I eyeballed the right side closely and it paid off as I spotted it a ways up there but annoying travel across many rocks. I clambered up the reentrant and noted my footing was not so sure as it was when I started. Took it carefully and reached the control without incident.

P-2 to P-13: Worked higher and came out above the water pond by the tank. Back down the road. Took some time to eat more apples and a Gu, especially since I was not feeling so fresh. Reached the bend in the road and went up the reentrant. Made a mistake in staying on the north side - too rocky for good footing - and soon crossed over. Saw Bill Leahy up ahead. The control was way, way up there, but it seemed proportionate to the earlier one. I mixed up the clue for 13 and P-13 in my head and was expecting a tree, but Bill corrected me - it was just the reentrant. Punched control and ran briefly back down with Bill.

P-13 to P-4: Down for a while then contoured around the hill to the road. Started up the dry riverbed, seeing a pair of adventure racers also cruising a ways upward. It was confusing, with several possible riverbeds of sorts in this spot, and it was further up again than I anticipated, but eventually I found it without lingering back too long.

P-4 to P-5: Kept going up the riverbed for a long time, since it seemed the path of least resistance and my feet were starting to get annoyed at all the contour work. Eventually I did branch off at what seemed like the right hill, but it was a bit early and I chased down the adventure racer pair ahead of me. They punched first by a 100 yards or so and continued. Control was right on top.

P-5 to P-14: Stayed on the saddle area and then back up, walking fast. I went higher earlier this time, above the same couple on my right, and just continued past some boulder piles to the next likely hill top and beat them to that control.

P-14 to P-6: Slipped down through the boulders on the opposite side and proceeded down the long downhill to the road. Crossed over to aim for the saddle area, but nonetheless feeling the climb again. I was momentarily confused and thought I was already too far north judging by the rock formations across the road. Spotted some wild horses watching me to the south. Studied the map again and concluded I wasn't on the big hill, so then back up some more. (My brain getting a little foggy in the heat.) Came up a bit east of the control and had to work my way to the very top again to see it. Probably one of my biggest time hits, a good five minutes or so.

P-6 to CC: Down the hill, past some very unhappy sounding cows, straight to the fence where I could see a huge orange thing. I got there after some painful running on the rocks, only to find water but no control. I did a double-take on the map and realized the control was below the small cliffs. I wasted a good minute just brute force checking cliffs, feeling too tired to interpret the clue. Eventually I found it, nicely hidden exactly where it should be. Went back for the water, and then Doug LaMott came up behind me and said "where's the control?" I confessed I made the same mistake and advised him to read the map carefully.

CC to DD: Down the road, across the dry creek, back up the road on the other side. Went up until it started leveling a little, then up over the hill to the boulders. Probably went around the long side, a minor goof. An adventure racer sat some feet away from the control, studying the map and dry desert scenery in a very relaxed manner. I found the control behind him. Asked if he was ok, planned to continue, and he said with a glum smile "Nope, I'm done. Out of salt. Walking back." He was in no hurry.

DD to P-7: It was hard getting started again, now passing the 3 hour mark. I ran for a little ways, slightly uphill but trying to contour around. Eventually I shifted to walking, ate some more apples, drank more water. I distinctly felt a blister pop on my left foot with even the modest contour angle. I switched to jogging slowly onward again and proceeded the interminably long way up the reentrant with an easy cow path. Control was there.

P-7 to P-8: Back down a bit, then more contouring. Aimed for a larger rock formation and crossing the dry stream, but as I approached it I was fairly sure it wouldn't be there. Checked the clue - a tower? - and looked around at the other huge rock towers. Then I saw the control waving cheerfully in the distance. Ran straight to it and scared off a huge raven lingering in the shade. At this point it was 3:30, and I pondered the merits of P-9. It was just too far out there. If I went for it I would almost surely repeat my mistake of two years ago, especially since my legs felt about done. Big marathon was in two weeks too. In the end it was an easy decision given the huge distance from P-8 to P-9. I knew I couldn't make the cutoff.

P-8 to EE: So, took a bearing - one of the few all day - to the fence and road line. Hit the road and traveled upward to the dry riverbed and spotted the control to the left.

EE to FF: My legs threatened to seize up and cramp on me if I pushed too hard down the road, so I took it very easy. Crossed the fence and diverted left to the deep reentrant, again found the control quickly, but it was in a steep sandy section that didn't assure my legs any.

FF to MR: Contouring plus downhill, but staying above the creek brushiness. Eventually spotted a likely tree, once I confirmed the side of the creek it should be on, and also Doug on the other side of the creek studying the map. Weaved my way in through the dense tree branches and vegetation, surrounded by chirping Kinglets, and punched the control. I quickly found a good place to cross the creek, but then was momentarily stymied by the fence. After a bit of trial and error, I hopped it, taking extra care to keep my leg muscles functional. Then it was an easy jog into the shady, welcoming porch at the finish with a comfortable 3:47 finish.

Retrospective: All but one control, and I avoided the same mistake of overdoing it two years ago. Michael did get them all, even more comfortably than me timewise (he makes a living at this sort of thing, after all), and we discussed the one major place we deviated in our routes: BO. He did the backtrack from CC. I think this offered the distinct advantage of coming up to P-3 almost entirely from the road, which was in hindsight was undoubtedly easier than my route choice over the hill. But then going to CC was pure backtracking. It's probably close but his route is probably easier on the legs. Ultimately in his case his endurance was simply much better and this bought him sufficient speed and time to get P-9.

A great meet, with major thanks to Bill Pilcher for the tremendous job in putting out all those controls (and then picking them up later!)