[Triangle-AR] Night Navigation Practice?

[Charlie Roberts]

Hrmm...maybe...I'm not sure who will show up though considering the pain 
I subjected everyone to last time.  Oops, maybe I should just keep quiet 
about that. Some people may not have heard about my last practice course :-)

Any dates in mind? April sometime?

If I do, I promise that I'll pre-run the *entire* course this time, so 
that there will at least be a small chance that it can be finished in 
the allotted time.  At least one torturous climb and one rhodo-infested 
OP will have to stay however.

Does anyone else have interest in driving to the Asheville or Brevard, 
NC area for an unofficial practice "race"?  Probably a 12 hour, but I 
can work on an alternate, shorter version if there is demand.

Charlie


Don Childrey wrote:
> Thanks for the tips Charlie! I definitely need to work on both my 
> "pacing' and "timing" techniques too.
> 
> Any thoughts of putting on another practice course in the mtns?
> 
> Don
> 
> 
> Charlie Roberts wrote:
> 
>> I don't have any other suggestions for locations in the Raleigh area. 
>> I think Don and Brian covered those. But I will add that an altimeter 
>> is indispensable for many longer ARs in our region which are held in, 
>> or near, the mountains.  I use elevation "catch points" extensively.  
>> One thing to remember is that weather changes can significantly mess 
>> with your readings when using barometer-based altimeters such as the 
>> Suunto watches.  Always re-calibrate before starting the race and 
>> whenever you cross a known point.
>>
>> Keeping track of distance traveled is also very helpful. The 
>> cyclometer works great on the bike, but on foot you'll need to rely on 
>> pacing. I've never had the discipline for pace counting and just tried 
>> to learn how fast I could travel at different exertion levels in 
>> different terrain. You have to time yourself both during day and night 
>> tho.  You always move slower at night than you think.  This works 
>> pretty good for me until the second night without sleep. By that time, 
>> the brain is fuzzy and the body is in pain...one mile can feel like 5! 
>> :-)
>>
>> For following precise bearings, the "teammate as a marker" trick can 
>> work pretty good over short distances.  For a navigator I would 
>> suggest having a high power light, however, to allow them to see and 
>> mark those distance trees when you really need to be exact.
>>
>> Oh, and the number one rule...the compass is always right.  It's 
>> amazing how easy it is to get completely turned around and disoriented 
>> when bushwhacking in poor conditions at night.
>>
>>
>> Charlie
> 
> 
> 
> 
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