I’m writing this nearly two months after I did it, so believe nothing.
Mt. Pinos is a mountain top area surrounded by steep slopes. The altitude is 8000 feet or so (about 2400m). The west side of the map is high, and the terrain drops as you move east. We guessed that the course would start high (to the west) and descend to the finish in the east, and that’s how it turned out to be.
Since Bob Frey and I started first on Day 1, we were last on Day 2. The start was delayed 90 minutes or so due to transmitter issues. Everyone seemed to spend at least some of the time looking at the practice map. Just like for Vasquez Rocks, I had spent so much time looking at the map that I was getting bored of it. (Unlike VR, however, I wasn’t surprised by the start and finish locations.) My view of the terrain was first, that the course would run West to East, and second, that points would be scattered on either side of two large reentrants that split the map north-to-south. Since the north side of the reentrants offered a gradual descent to the finish, my plan, formulated weeks before, was to proceed directly to the area south of the two big reentrants, which I’ll call the "Southern Terrace," clear that area, then minimize climb by picking a good place to cross the double reentrant. The idea was first that there must be at least one control there, and second that having bearings from the start circle area (taken in the first five minutes) plus the bearings from the southern terrace would give me enough information to navigate to the remaining controls.
As the start area became more and more deserted, the starters began to disassemble the start area, so when we started, all they had to do was carry the stuff downhill to the parking lot. We waited for the start, took a deep breath, and were off.
I ran out of the start corridor (to ensure that no one could see me take bearings, obviously), then stopped and drew a line toward 1. Since there can be no transmitters 750m from the start, I took the bearings as fast as I could and tried to keep running. At Point A, which I’ve drawn on my course, 4 came on. If I wanted to change my plan and instead get 4 first, I would have had to turn around and run back to the parking lot to catch a trail heading in the direction of 4. (The straightline from point A north didn’t look as fast as the trail.) Since I had a plan and was executing it, I drew the bearing on my map very quickly, then kept heading down the trail to the southern terrace.
At this point, I should have known that 1 was on the southern terrace, but I didn’t realize it. I was still hoping 5 would be in front of me. Bob Frey, who again was out-running me, stopped and turned around when 4 came on. Bob has a lot more experience than I do, but I decided to stick to my plan.
The starters had audio of the five Ts at the start, and I knew that 5 was loud, meaning it was close. As it turned out, it was both close and loud. It was loud from the whole course.
When it came on, I ran on the trail until the signal was off to my side a little, and missed it. It went off too soon. I screwed up pretty big here. As I was moving along the bearing waiting on the next transmission, I passed a guy standing in some pine trees who looked like he was waiting on five. About 7 minutes later (guessing) I found that he was actually standing at five. I got five 28 seconds after it went off at 20:28.
I had managed to get a few more bearings while working on five. One looked like it was definitely on the southern terrace, which I hoped meant my plan was working. The crossing I drew was on the rocky hilltop maybe 300m (?) SW of where 1 actually was. I went down the trail, went straight to the hilltop, and…it wasn’t there. I don’t remember where it was in the cycle, but it took me 10:54 from 5, and I got it 22 seconds after it went off.
A few things about 1. It was on a little hilltop right beside a huge hill. Looking around at one, and looking at the map, I felt sorry for anyone who had to come up the hill to get to 1. (More than a few had to come up that hill.) The second thing was that it was at the far eastern edge of the Southern Terrace. I had been hoping not to have to go back 700m to the west to minimize the steep crossing of the two reentrants.
One more thing is important here. All my bearings to three (probably 5 total, three of which were precisely drawn on my map), showed it in the area I’ve drawn on my map. I got four pretty close, but my bearings to three were totally messed up.
At 1, looking at my crossings for 4 and 3, I realized my plan had failed. Clearly, 43512 would have been much better, even allowing for four not coming on until I could only get it by turning around, as Bob Frey had.
So, for the long climb westward (750m) and for the fairly easy point I chose to cross the double (here almost a single) reentrant, and for the 800m approach to 4, I was saying to myself, "I screwed this up." I was pushing pretty hard, hoping that Marvin’s tricky course had gotten everyone. Everyone on M21, anyway.
Near four, I got into a rough-open undergrowth area (yellow plus green vertical lines), and got delayed a few minutes. Four was surprisingly hard for me. It took me two or three cycles to find 4. It, like 5, was pretty well hidden. (Am I whining? Maybe.) I was again surprised that the control was so close to a really big slope. No one here would likely approach from off-the-map from the north, though. The traverse from 1 took me 37:30, and I punched at 1:08:52, eight seconds before it finished its 1 minute transmission.
At this point, I could not run up any slope, nor most flats. I was pretty much in slog-mode---just walk as fast as you can.
As I’ve said, my five or so bearings, and the "yeah it’s off to my right" bearings during the traverse said three was in the black oval I’ve drawn on the map. Now my bearing from near 4 put it right at the north edge of that oval. I decided not to climb to the faster flat area and to slog along the steep-steep slope just in case Marvin tried to pull a 400m minimum circle fast one on us. I did see some elephant tracks, probably one person. Dick Arnett said he slogged this slope too, so they might have been his. (I’ve marked this area as Point B on the map.)
This area is also where I heard a beacon transmitting on the competition frequency. We heard it at the start, and I know the organizers were trying to contact them. It was a three-letter special event station, and it didn’t bother me too much.
I wanted to get to the spur at the E end of the steep slope before 3 came on, since I wasn’t confident in my non-line-of-sight bearing. (I did run it anyway because everyone knows 80m tends to be good.) I didn’t get to the spur in time, but my bearing was still pointing out of my black oval, so I kept moving. Once I got to the spur, it was much less steep, and fast moving. I even ran down the hills. I got to three 25:32 after four, at a total time of 1:34:24. I got it 84 seconds after it stopped transmitting, which was encouraging. I think 3 was the only control that was easy to see from a distance.
I headed toward 2. I found a trail going the same direction I was going, so I ran the trail for a few hundred meters. I had a lot of trouble with 2. I think I was close after 8 minutes, but I missed it twice at close range. I was getting really discouraged. I finally got it 46 seconds after it stopped, 18:22 after I got 3. My time was 1:52:46.
I did not know my exact location. I knew within a few hundred meters, probably. I tried to hit the open (mapped) forest, and did pretty well. There were several linear things that looked like trails but weren’t. I finally got on the trail, and then just went as fast as I could. Because of my difficulty finding the trail, I tuned the homing beacon, and tried to identify every feature I could to avoid missing the trail crossing. My radio was pointing 90 degrees left when I hit an obvious crossing, and I was pretty sure I was okay. And I was. Whew!
Later, as I looked at a map with the controls drawn on it, I realized that my order, 51432, was quite good. In fact, I think it’s the best order, at least as good as 45132. The whole 37 ½ minutes from 1 to 4 that I was thinking I had screwed up, was based on bad data, mostly that I thought 3 was closer to 4 than it was. With 3 being farther away (which my five bearings didn’t show), the order 43512, that I thought was best, probably wasn’t even close.
The one problem I have with the course is that 4 and 5 come on so late that whatever choice you made to proceed at the start is what you’re stuck with. By the time they do come on, you have trouble correcting. I guess if you chose to-the-right (like I did) or left toward 4, a reasonable order existed, but it was still very disconcerting. That 1 was so far E was actually a help, because it helped me get decent crossings, even if my bearings to 3 were wildly wrong. The order is supposed to be "solvable", and it’s interesting to make the order different depending on your uninformed decision at the start. The order here was solvable, but it was different depending on your initial choice, that is whether you went for 5 first or for 4 first. Very weird. (I’d point out that I am certainly no expert here. If I’m missing something, please tell me.) I have wondered if the route left from the start had enough "deflection" to get a good fix on transmitter 3 (I’m talking about the angle between the two bearings). I’d think a route by the parking lot would, but a route directly down the hill to 4 would not. Overall, I was really impressed with the course. I haven’t measured my course, but it sure felt long. But that’s probably the altitude talking.
Follow-up August 2004: I ran an 80m course on August 7th, and I think at least part of my problem with the bearings was me not being careful enough. I was using a new radio for our first competition together, and I’m guessing that was most of my trouble. Several competitors told me they had trouble with 3, too, but at least 1 person told me he nailed it for every bearing.
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