mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on Aug 18, 2008 18:53:46 GMT -9
Bill Spencer is putting on a GPS 0 and wanted you to have a heads up on it so you can make plans to attend this unique meet. Could be a new trend so better plan to be in on its debut!.
September 4th GPS “O” meet at Storck Park. Mass start Score “O” at 6:00 pm
This meet is going to be a little different.
You will need to round up a Garmin GPS if you want to participate. I will have 3 or 4 to borrow on a loose it - buy it basis or ask your friends, almost everyone knows someone who will have one of these basic Etrex models or Accupoint on the Old Seward Highway north of 76th ave. has about a half dozen to rent from $7-$9 for the day. I will not have the software for non Garmin units so you should plan on finding a Garmin less than about 4 years old. Etrex, map76, map 60 or others with a usb download cable. Call me 644-2087wk or 346-3582 hm if you have questions
I will provide instructions on how to use one of the units if you have never used one before.
We will use a standard Score “O” format. The only difference is that when you get to the control location there will be no control hung in the woods. When you find what you think is the precise control location you will enter a point (waypoint in gps-speak) in your GPS marking the location. The gps will also record your “track” as you navigate through the woods so you can see later where you actually went.
At the finish we will download your track and waypoints to a computer and overlay them on the electronic versions of the map. If your waypoints coincide reasonably well (gps has some variability built in) with the mapped location you get points for that control, otherwise you don’t.
GOOD LUCK!
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Post by li1gray on Aug 19, 2008 9:13:02 GMT -9
Sure sounds like fun too bad they are all in the evenings and most during the week when I am at work. We've done some orienteering with the club before and really had fun! When I was the Scoutmaster I really liked taking our Boy Scout troop to the Halloween Orienteering both at Kincaid and Russian Jack. We always had an advantage when they did it at Mirror Lake as we know "Camp Gorsuch" all too well!
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Post by oleruns on Aug 19, 2008 9:34:57 GMT -9
I started the mountain O last weekend... Whew that was hard and a big ol' DNF for me.
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Post by ladybugkids on Sept 3, 2008 10:01:57 GMT -9
Bump...
The GPS-O is tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Storck Park (think, Micro, Standard, Not Complicated GOcache by New Yorker (GCWPZJ)) near the intersection of Clarks and Rabbit Creek Roads.
It's a mass start, so be certain to show up a bit early to complete the sign-in process.
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Post by oleruns on Sept 3, 2008 11:58:31 GMT -9
It's Thursday night... the Wednesday night was a typo not LBK's typo See you there - O
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Post by ladybugkids on Sept 3, 2008 14:18:50 GMT -9
Uh, right, Ole: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 6:00 P.M. Virtually every other event this season was on a Wednesday night, so I was on autopilot. I'd really like to team up with a Garmin user since the event coordinator isn't supporting Magellan track logs and I don't have enough time to borrow a Garmin and learn the user interface.
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Post by FrostG1anT on Sept 3, 2008 15:57:17 GMT -9
This looks like fun. What do I need to bring if I can make it, other than my Garmin? I haven't done any orientering before.
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Post by ladybugkids on Sept 3, 2008 17:39:13 GMT -9
Just yourself, a compass with adjustable dial (if you don't have one, the club has compasses they will loan you), a whistle (the club has them for sale at the events) about $6 ($5 for nonmembers) for the entry fee, and a sense of adventure. I also recommend wearing wind pants or leggings since there are patches of devil's club in Section 36 and shoes you won't mind getting wet/muddy since there are also boggy areas out there. While I haven't done a GPS-O, I imagine the compass will be helpful for navigating toward the waypoints indicated on the map each individual/team will be provided with since it coordinates will not be provided. The Score-O format indicates that competitors will have a set amount of time (usually 30 to 90 minutes) to rack up as many points as possible and get back to the finish area before time expires. Each control point will be assigned a certain number of points, with more points assigned to the controls most difficult to reach. So, some of the strategy will be to choose to go for more lower scoring controls or fewer higher scoring controls. Here's the Arctic Orienteering Club info. for the event: linkYou may preprint the waiver form from here.
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Post by FrostG1anT on Sept 4, 2008 21:05:31 GMT -9
I hope it was a good time. I wanted to be there, but I had workers at the house until well after 7:00pm and spent the rest of the evening on the phone with good folk. Let me know how it was as I am VERY curious.
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Post by ladybugkids on Sept 5, 2008 7:18:47 GMT -9
It was fun to spend 90 minutes wandering Section 36, an area I thought I knew, but learned I really didn't. There are lots of nice spots on that part of the undeveloped Hillside. About twenty people showed up and those I heard make comments said they enjoyed the event. I got to borrow a brand new Garmin 76CSX which was a nice unit with an intuitive user interface I figured out in a matter of minutes. And, now I have a highly detailed map of a full square mile of mostly undeveloped terrain right accross the street from my house! As anticipated, we weren't given coordinates. We were given a map with the control points marked and one had to navigate as usual using the map and a compass. Once one thought they were at a control, they "marked" the control with the GPS and moved on. So, instead of a paper punch card, the GPS provided documentation of a visit to each control via the track log and marked waypoints. Many of the participants gave the organizers feedback about the format. The main issue is that many of the features we were supposed to visit weren't necessarily immediately obvious. In a regular meet, one would have the control (blue, orange, and white nylon object shaped like a small box kite) to confirm you were in the right place. Last night, there were several features I just had to "mark" and keep moving, not knowing for certain whether I had located the desired feature (e.g. "rootstock"...there are lots of downed trees and old stumps up there...after going cross country for 200 meters, did I really end up at the right one?). One format idea for next year might be to match GPS users against campass users. Each group would be given the same map and controls. The GPS users would have to dial in the coordinates or project coordinates while the compass users would just go. I believe the best compass users would win this one. Another idea that was tossed out was to give the compass users the map with the controls and the GPS users a GPS with the waypoints and basemap preloaded. That would be interesting because the paper maps have a lot more detail in them with respect to vegetation and trails, so GPS users could get stuck in a number of places the compass users might skirt relatively easily. The next meet is a night orienteering event at APU, on Wednesday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m.
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Post by ladybugkids on Sept 19, 2008 21:07:07 GMT -9
The results are posted...I got my clock cleaned by the true orienteers. I've requested a screen shot of my route compared to the official map so I can see where I missed the mark. Kinda' hard to figure on how I missed half the points I attempted, but that just goes to show I may know where I am on the earth to within thirty feet without knowing where I am on the map! As for the guys who attempted and scored more points...some of them are real mountain goats or moose and can run through the woods faster than I can run on good trails.
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Post by ladybugkids on May 7, 2009 8:17:20 GMT -9
The Arctic Orienteering Club's schedule is in full swing again with events scheduled for most every Wednesday night between now and the of August. Each meet usually features a variety of courses to match up with your ability and desire to keep your feet dry. Orienteering is a great way to get some exercise, enhance one's mapreading skills, and scout out new geocache locations. The extremely well-detailed map you get at each meet is worth the $5 entry fee alone! Click here for a schedule. For those not wanting to dive right into a meet, there is a classroom session at the BP Energy Center on Tuesday, May 12, from 7-9 p.m. Approximate parking coordinates are: N61° 11.384, W149° 51.911, near GCR6QW. Last night's meet was at Elmendorf AFB. I crossed paths with Oleruns somewhere in the woods out there and rescued MTBoy from the parking lot. Fun terrain, a challenging course, and a bear made for an interesting evening.
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Post by li1gray on May 8, 2009 19:54:39 GMT -9
Thanks for the link in your post LBK, Now to schedule a Wed evening off from work to go do one of these haven't even done the disorented cache yet but still sounds like fun. Bears on Elmendorf are out, hum. Guess I better be careful out looking for BM's out on the back side of base again!
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on May 11, 2009 14:39:10 GMT -9
I heard LBK is going to buy dinner for anybody that beats his time on the red course!!!!
This is whateveryouwant's course this week...so show some geocaching support and get out and race!
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Post by li1gray on May 11, 2009 19:54:01 GMT -9
Okay looking at the schdule the red course is the tough course and MtBoy looked like he placed 1st in his division but if your a beginner say like me! I want to do an easy couse. I did one about 15 years ago at Hilltop. Haven't played around much with the compass other then when hunting and looking at the maps to figure out what ridge or Valley I wanted to travel to and I don't have a little orange and white control station to look for when I get those places. We used to take our Boy Scout troop to the Halloween ones at Russian Jack and also at Kincaid. The boys always liked finding those controls on Halloween as they were able to get enough energy from the sugar to get the next control! I look forward to taking a Wednesday night off. So it looks like I'll need to coordinate which event Mtboy and LBK are going to attend so I can at least have some one there that can identify the body
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on May 13, 2009 9:42:13 GMT -9
See you brave orienteers tonight. It sure is different without a GPS ;D
FYI, Hope Point is in good shape, I was up there last weekend. Harp mountain is too. I just replaced the container as it was starting to rust. They are both spectacular early season summit caches. Get out there to the high country this weekend!
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Post by ladybugkids on May 13, 2009 12:39:16 GMT -9
I heard LBK is going to buy dinner for anybody that beats his time on the red course!!!! SURE...at any eating establishment within three miles of the start/finish line. I'll be doing a White Course with the junior ladybugs at 5:00 p.m. and then taking on the Green or Red course depending on what time whateveryouwant wants people off the course.
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Post by Valerieseaker on May 13, 2009 13:35:30 GMT -9
I heard LBK is going to buy dinner for anybody that beats his time on the red course!!!! SURE...at any eating establishment within three miles of the start/finish line. Isn't tonight's at Hilltop? The only eating establishment within 3 miles is .... McDonalds? Even that is probably over 3 miles. Maybe the Zoo snack bar?
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Post by ladybugkids on May 13, 2009 14:47:26 GMT -9
SURE...at any eating establishment within three miles of the start/finish line. Isn't tonight's at Hilltop? The only eating establishment within 3 miles is .... McDonalds? Even that is probably over 3 miles. Maybe the Zoo snack bar?
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Post by FrostG1anT on May 13, 2009 22:59:35 GMT -9
What a fun night, thanks for dinner Ladybug Kids, even if it was only by a foot. Finishing the white course and then the red course tonight was an awful lot of fun. Some of the controls were very difficult to find, but in the end we found them all. This is a great way to spend time in the woods. I hope to see you all next week at the O on the East side.
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on May 14, 2009 9:33:08 GMT -9
I didn't see LBK and the frosty guy there last night...i did see they signed in. It was a tough course...it looks like i did the tango with a wolverene today...scratches everywhere.
Hope to see more people out there in a few weeks. I am the meet director in August for the Russian Jack Meet.
We could make it a geocacheing event and do a training on orienteering and help pick up controls:)
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Post by ladybugkids on May 14, 2009 11:09:21 GMT -9
I didn't see LBK and the frosty guy there last night...i did see they signed in. Yeah, silly us, we looked for Red Control #8 where the map said it was. Apparently, a group of four or five orienteers had the advantage of one competitor stumbling across it due to a different attack angle and he pointed others toward it. We spent a good forty minutes on that control before we found it (kind of looking for a geocache with coodinates 100 meters off). Then, once we found it, we weren't exactly certain where we were on the map and spent another big chunk of time looking for control #9 because we vectored in from an unknown location of #8. We had to bail out to a known point on the trail system and come back in for success. One of the reentrants have us a bit of a challenge early on as well, but we would have been under two hours if it weren't for #8 and #9 triping us up. All in all, it was a fun three hours wandering around the Hillside. FrostG1anT selected dinner at Subway (since the zoo was closed) after winning a sprint to the finish line. It's amazing how fast he can move when motivated by food! MTBoy must not have been hungry, because he didn't stick around for dinner.
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mtboy
Silver Cacher
Posts: 139
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Post by mtboy on May 18, 2009 6:43:35 GMT -9
Interestingly enough LBK, there are 2-3 controls every race that "aren't where they are supposed to be"...It never is user error.
Just like geocaches I don't find are "missing" or have "bad coordinates"
;D
Next meet is Wednesday!! Hope to have a good group out again.
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Post by ladybugkids on May 20, 2009 5:43:55 GMT -9
Don't forget tonight's (Wednesday) orienteering meet. The meet will be held at Pia Margrethe with starts from 5-7 p.m. From the Arctic Orienteering Club website: 1. Parking is limited and in a private neighborhood. Access off Tudor Road and Pioneer Drive to Klutina. Carpool or bike there if you can, and be respectful of homeowners/parking. 2. Technically the meet is on military land off the tank trails and you should have your RAP (Recreational Access Pass) from the main Ft. Rich gate.
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