[usa2003ardf] Sam's unofficial tips

[Sam Smith]

I orienteered in the Great Rivers Orienteering Week in 1996. We started 
in MO, then worked our way east through KY, IN, OH. Then I came back for 
the US Champs in OH in the fall of 96. I haven't been back since then. I 
have been on about 4 maps in the region. They have a lot more maps I 
have not been on. I don't know what maps are being used, but I don't 
personally think it's important to know (or to keep it a secret for that 
matter). Anyway the terrain is pretty similar map to map, so here are my 
totally unofficial tips and hints:

The terrain is fairly flat farmland on top that may still be relatively 
open and mapped with some shade of yellow. This falls away very steeply 
at times into big narrow reentrants that lead down, usually to a lake. 
The slopes leading down to the lake are wooded (mapped white). There 
will be a lot of old fences, trails, and briars. There are always 
thicker areas (mapped in shades of green). It can be very steep leading 
down to the lake, with a descent of 5, 10 or 15 contours.

The maps are very good, with individual distint trees mapped in the 
clearings, fallen trees mapped as Xs in the wooded areas. Plenty of 
ditches, gullys, a few rock features. There is almost always a trail or 
road somewhere nearby.

There is also a small map in a wooded area on campus - probably that is 
what we will use for the practice day.

There's usually a pretty big lake (Mounds, Hueston Woods, Cesear Creek). 
The Woodland Trails map has a small lake off to one side, but the 
terrain is still the same. I have never been on a map in the area that 
doesn't have some kind of lake, although that doesn't mean there's 
always a lake. This opens up the possibility for 2 techniques that I 
know Bob and Dick know, because I have used them at GAOC meets they have 
been to.

1) The inlet. Have the competitors approach from the small end. Put the 
transmitter on one shore or the other. The angle is so small that you 
can't tell which shore it's on. Pick the wrong shore and you will have 
to come all the way back and around.

2) Around the lake shore. Seems simple enough, place the transmitters 
one after another around the lake. You just go around the lake and 
collect them in order. Works great until you realize you skipped one 
when it was off, and it's 45 minutes back around in the wrong direction.

Also another similar problem occurs on the long deep reentrants. It's 
quite a physical problem climbing down into these and back up, and the 
trip around to avoid the climb is long. Make sure the transmitter you 
want is really on the other side before you go across - it's quite a 
hassle to have to cross back to get the transmitter and then cross again 
to continue. Three crossings when one will do!

Anyway, those are my unofficial tips. They may or may not be helpful. 
I'll bring my old maps with me.

Sam N4MAP