The ground was becoming boggy, and this water-filled ditch was surely that blue dotted line on the map. That meant I had gone too far. That meant I had missed a control that was so close to the fence the two map symbols were touching. How could I have missed it?
Answer: By running along the wrong fence.
I turn and look south. I can make out two fence posts and then nothing. I look at the map. An intact fence and, just to the south, a broken one with the control. I had wondered about the slight turn in the fence going the opposite way to that on the map. This explained it.
Up to that point, the “Birthday Bash” celebration course hosted by BASOC in Dulnain Wood near Grantown-on-Spey had been going better than usual.
Not perfect, of course. I remain inexplicably incapable of sticking to a bearing. I always go left, to the point that now I follow the bearing and then look to the right. Is it because of that broken bone in my left leg I never got properly fixed? Or am I turning my wrist? Whatever the cause, it is something I need to fix before I attempt green courses at the Scottish 6 days.
Overall though - progress. Most of my orienteering over the past four months has been stumbling around between the undergrowth and the overgrowth hoping I might find a control. Today’s light green course was different; today there was running, and confidence, and finding each flag in under 7 minutes. That is a record.
I actually did a few things right. I prioritised the contours over the paths, I followed a thin yellow line to a control, and I ran along a vegetation boundary to a boulder. I even felt a bit of a buzz that followed me home for the afternoon, the the type I might get after a running race.
Almost as if I’m an orienteer.
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