i love nav

the trailblazers had our second annual valentine's nav training today up at red top mountain (thanks to ron sanders for setting up a great course!) it was absolutely gorgeous out: lots of sunshine, little wind, blue skies, and temperatures near 60! i was up there with my raging russell team, the dynamic duo of clifford & lisa... and not to forget the wonder pug, kona! (who hung out in a special backpack lisa had on.)

we started off early (8am) and i taught them the basics of plotting utm points. then we hit the woods in search of points. the first we were a little shaky on, but we settled into our groove (thanks bill hill for the onsite tutorial on taking bearings properly). clifford is more of the mathematical navigator (with the bearings & such); i tend to prefer reading the terrain and keeping a close eye on the map. together i think we'll have a great set of checks & balances to keep us on course.

we were on foot till 12:30pm, then hopped in the canoe and paddled to more points until 4pm, when we called it a day. or at least, so i thought. on the drive home we pondered the weather... it was supposed to rain tomorrow, and we hadn't ridden our bikes at all. the decision was made to have a night ride out at the horse park. it was a beautiful night to ride- clear skies, lots of stars. serene. i had a great ride which was much needed since i've been sorta sketched out since the clemson endo. lisa made the comment that i should ride more at night, as i seem to ride better then. maybe so. maybe the peacefulness of the night takes over and nervousness dissipates. maybe it was riding after 8 hours of training earlier that day (i'm sorta sick like that!)... maybe i'm just finally getting my confidence back. whatever it is, i like it.