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| Caltopo tracker map + control descriptions + Fe²⁺Al₉Si₄O₂₃(OH) |
What: low-key virtual 8-hour rogaine rehashing Adrenaline Rush AR course. There will also be 6 geocache controls plus 2 points awarded for finding a fairy stone for a total possible score of 100 points! See scoring rubric. Minimal distance to clear this course is 33 miles with 9000' elevation gain.
When: Saturday January 17, 2026 (good tune-up for Wildcat). ~8 am start.
Where: S/F at Fayerdale Hall, Fairy Stone State Park, VA (36.79443, -80.11536).
Who: open to self-sufficient runners/navigators. Report/results posted below.
Why: to practice endurance and explore the effects of fatigue on navigation.
How: Contact me if interested in participating in mass start. Printed maps can be obtained from tanZ navigation. MapRun CheckSites will be used for virtual punching. Caltopo tracking can also be shared with those interested. Special code/link will be sent to participants via email. NOTE: participants must be self-sufficient and take full responsibility for their own well-being while on this course.
Where: S/F at Fayerdale Hall, Fairy Stone State Park, VA (36.79443, -80.11536).
Who: open to self-sufficient runners/navigators. Report/results posted below.
Why: to practice endurance and explore the effects of fatigue on navigation.
How: Contact me if interested in participating in mass start. Printed maps can be obtained from tanZ navigation. MapRun CheckSites will be used for virtual punching. Caltopo tracking can also be shared with those interested. Special code/link will be sent to participants via email. NOTE: participants must be self-sufficient and take full responsibility for their own well-being while on this course.
Kevin, Phil and I carpooled to Fairy Stone and started in a cold sleet just after 8 am with similar strategies to first head to Stuart's Knob. Not yet accustomed to the map, we all had an early hiccup with the presumably crossable, but actually quite wide and freezing Goblintown Creek. We also struggled to learn the sensitivity (or lack thereof) of MapRun punches.
The three of us met up around 1.5 hours at a bottleneck at the third and trickiest cache. Each of us had visited the same controls to this point. Phil got here first having covered the most distance, about 6 miles. By contrast, Kevin only needed 4.5 miles to get here and arrived second. Although I was the caboose with 5 miles, it was my "geo-senses" that helped us log this cache.
Onwards. The sun began poking out of the clouds and the day warmed nicely. Time slipped away with countless punchy ascents and descents into and out of rhodo-choked coves and over forested summits with expansive winter views of the distant Blue Ridge. I felt my plantar fasciitis, but couldn't help to smile while training on this perfect January day in these beautiful woods.
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| 58 still had a flag after 10 months |
Kevin, Phil and I went our separate ways. Each of us made on-the-fly adjustments to our routes based on timing and terrain. Some of these were smarter than others. The hour it took me to do a sloppy cross-country link-up from 9 to 58 was probably my biggest setback. Kevin mentioned spending 20+ minutes looking for cache E having plotted it incorrectly on his map.
Perhaps the smartest move was Phil's decision to skip controls in the SW and use that extra time to make an epic, but successful traverse over to the sixth and most distant cache. This maneuver earned him a well-deserved 10 points and secured the highest score despite visiting the fewest controls for the day. Hope to see you at the next one!
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| Good times! |
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