Today I went for the 'moderately difficult' level of the permanent orienteering course which, according to the leaflet, is 2.2km long. I knew that I would go further than this though because there were a few controls on it which were on the 'quite easy' course I did the other week so I knew whereabouts they were and so wanted to come at them from a different direction.
The first control was F, which I had done the other week and was right on a path so not at all difficult to find so I just headed straight for it. Next was B which was described as a re-entrant. I found this one really quickly and easily so headed off for the next one which, again, I had done the other week but I went to it from a different direction. This is one of the ones that I didn't actually find the other week though. It turns out that the reason for this is because it is up a hill a bit further along from a post which says 'no public access' so last time I adhered to the order of the sign and didn't pass it, so didn't find the control. This time I ignore the sign and found the control.
The next control was up a very steep hill which I had to hold on to tree roots to climb but I couldn't find an alternative route. Getting back down it was interesting with Ruby tethered to my waist so I had to unclip her to save me from falling down on my bum.
According to the route card, the next control was R, however this doesn't appear on the separate map. I noticed a few discrepancies between map and description card so I'm not sure if one is up to date and one is old. Most of the permanent orienteering courses I have seen have the map and control descriptions on the same piece of paper, but not this one. Instead of finding the possibly non-existent R (seeing as I had no idea where it could possibly be if it does exist), I decided to try to find P again, which I failed to find last time.
I'm now totally convinced that post P has been knocked down. I even went to find it last weekend with Duncan whilst we were walking Ruby but neither of us could find it. If somebody tells me it's definitely there then I might as well give up orienteering right now.
After failing to find P again, I went to N which is another from the last route so was found with ease.
Last one now, K, which I'm pleased to say I found really quickly, even though it was off the path and into the woods.
I was only two miles in at this point and 45 minutes so decided to just go for a run around the woods which was lovely.
Total distance - 5.3 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/261513089
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