Capture the Flag

The 'stalking' events of 32-060513 and more recently CMIYC2 have got me to thinking again about some kind of capture the flag type event for Harriman. In the past some of us have discussed an event at William Brien with flags stashed on opposing hills and the valley between as the battleground. This last trip, however, has me thinking Bald Rocks would be an even better choice.

Bald Rocks has high areas north and south of the shelter that could serve as locations for 'bases' and flag stashing. The area in the middle is flat, posing a challenge, but still has enough bushes and rockforms to create cover. There is enough space in between for serious maneuvering. The real issue that remains is the rules.

I figure if this takes place as a fall/winter event in the next six months we'll end up with enough participants for something between a 3 vs 3 and a 5 vs 5. The rules should accommodate a small or large group so if we do the event again with more interest the rules won't have to change much. Obviously the basis is to capture the enemy's flag and maybe we can say most captures in a certain amount of time wins. I would suggest we arrive at camp by 6PM, head to the shelter and create teams by 7PM or so and then have 30 minutes for base/cover construction and flag hiding. If we called game on by 8PM we could go until midnight and get in four hours of action.

Next is the issue of eliminating or capturing soldiers. Safety has to be a priority, especially with all of the steep inclines at Bald Rocks. For this reason chasing and tagging or tackling shouldn't be the main mechanism for capture. On the other hand, simply being seen can't be enough either since a player might be able to see a figure from dozens of yards away. I was thinking the stealth mechanism might be employed here-- a soldier is captured when an enemy soldier touches the soldier without giving away his presence until the tag is made. In other words, you are only captured when someone takes you by surprise. Likewise, the flag may not be captured if an enemy player sees the attacker and identifies them by name. An attacker must return the flag unless they make off with it without being seen. With this method, it would be to both the defenders' and attackers' advantage to stay unseen rather than make brash kamikaze attacks that could result in running/falling injuries.

Jails could be created nearby a team's flag, but not so close as to give away it's position to captured enemy soldiers. Jailbreaks would be allowed, but again using the stealth mechanism. Only unseen soldiers could make a jailbreak and detainees could only be released if unseen. If this circumstance is required for a jailbreak I'd argue that no return to base would be required for released prisoners and they would be free to secretly join the offensive. Flashlights might aid defenders in letting attackers know they have been spotted.

This would likely be an overnight, but theoretically non-campers could leave after midnight. I don't have plans for Friday night October 22.....so, anyone interested? Comments or suggestions for rules?

--Dan

Cache Me If You Can II: Results & Wrap-Up

Cache Me If You Can II: Kanawauke Circle has come and gone and it was one for the record books. It's taken a long time to process all the stats because of the complexity of the trip--There were three separate ingress groups for the overnight and two additional cache-only participants. These 12 Harrimaniacs were arrange nearly randomly into four teams, resulting in eight different mileage totals for this event. Besides this, one team did not have the capability to generate a GPS-created log of their route and I had to reconstruct the mileage from the caches they visited, MapSource, and a narrative account of the route. All of this combined for the most complex mileage set of any trip to date.

The trip began with Lori and I waiting in the Kanawauke Picnic area. Soon we were joined by the rookie and soon-to-be captain Mike, followed by Jackson, Josh, and Leah. Rob and Yelena were missing despite having texted that they were in the park. After waiting for 45 minutes without cell phone service and no sign of Rob's car, I decided to take Jackson and drive to the standard Bald Rocks parking area on Rt. 106. My prediction was that Rob missed information that we were parking at Kanawauke and went up Rt. 106, parking, and seeing no one headed on to the shelter on his own. His empty car on Rt. 106 seemed to confirm my prediction.

Upon our return, we got the group in motion and started our inbound hike via Rt. 106, the roads through old camp Quid Nunc, and the Dunning trail. Near the intersection with R-D we decided to get our revenge on Rob and Yelena for botching the plan and going on ahead while we waited in the parking lot. It was decided that we'd use Mike, whom Rob had never met, as a double-agent posing as a solo-camper. We all laid down with our stuff on R-D north of the shelter while Mike made contact. Rob and Yelena followed him back in our direction, even bathing us in their headlamps, but they didn't make the connection. Mike came over to tell us Rob was waiting for others in his party and that they were looking for somewhere to set up camp. When they disappeared over the hill we moved our position to the downside of the steep hill northwest of the shelter.

With the rest of the group waiting for a moment of opportunity, Jackson and I headed south and east through the grove of conifers, then around and finally over the knoll in front of the shelter. Along the way we came very close to Rob and Yelena as they roamed around looking for somewhere to set up shop and waited for the yet-to-have-arrived Harrimaniacs. Jackson and I decided there was a good chance they knew we were present and that something was up, so we decided it would be an accomplishment simply to get into the shelter behind their backs. We could see two people in the shelter, so we split up and worked our way in their direction separately. I arrived behind the shelter first and decided to scare Rob and Yelena inside with the help of a knife I had with me.

Suddenly I saw light coming over the hill--Jay and Paul were arriving and would blow my cover in just a few seconds. Just as I was about to make my move, Jackson came casually walking over just feet away without seeing me and began to speak with the people in the shelter who were NOT Rob and Yelena. Rather, the couple in the shelter were older and had two dogs. Talk about close calls. The lights on the hill were not just Jay and Paul, but also Rob and Yelena. After 45 minutes of stalking on an empty stomach I decided to return to our waiting party call an end to the chase.

We set up our camp in the same location as the 5th Anniversary Overnight and cooked our dinner. We hadn't left the parking lot until about 7:15PM and it was now well after 9PM. Most of us got to bed soon after. In the morning we got up and departed by 8:15AM. We arrived in the parking lot around 9:00AM, just before Neal and Getti. For the next hour and a half we waited for a final participant to arrive, but he simply could not get to us despite passing three times on the Thruway and being given all manner of directions. He finally gave up and we called game on.

Paul, Jay, and Josh formed Team Last Place, Lori and Getti were Cache & Burn, Leah, Jackson, and myself became the Bushwhack Buccabneers--complete with pirate flag and hat, and Mike, Rob, Yelena, and Neal donned the moniker Black-Eyed Pea. We had 4 hours and 15 minutes until the revised finish time of 3:30PM.

The events of the day vary for each team. My team headed to Silvermine and completed a loop passing the Lewis Gravestone (where we crossed paths with Black-Eyed Pea), Lewis Mine, Cave Shelter, Stockbridge, Hippo Rock and returning down Menomine. We grabbed 4 caches in about an hour as we jogged many of the flat sections. Next was another cache off of the Silvermine parking lot, then another at the LP trailhead on Rt. 6. From here we were a little stumped as to what we should do-- We already found more caches than we won with at CMIYCI and in half the time. We decided to take a risk and head to Island Pond. The cluster of three caches there would be an easy drive-up if the gate on Arden Valley Road was open. After 20 minutes of driving we found the gate closed. We decided to cut our loses by snagging a cache south of Elf Pen. Here we passed Cache & Burn returning from this and another cache just 0.2 miles away.

While we found our target cache, we blundered here in that we didn't know the other cache was nearby and left without getting it. Our last segment involved parking on Rt. 106 at White Bar, hiking over a big hill to a cache called Jack Straw, and then bushwhacking back to Rt. 106 for a chance at another cache off of the road in a river valley. This would be our last cache as the hill hiking took longer than expected and my team was hurting from previous injuries and the wear and tear of the day. This last cache proved to be a stumper and it took more than 20 minutes before Jackson finally made the find. With only 20 minutes left, we debated heading to one last roadside cache, but decided to play it safe and made the 5-minute drive back to the finish line.

In the end our 9 finds and 0 DNFs would come in an agonizing second place to Black-Eyed Pea with 10 finds and 1 DNF. My team performed very well-- We covered the most mileage of any team (~6mi) and I extended my CMIYC DNF-less streak as captain by nine. It was bittersweet to do so well yet come in second place, but that's what competition is about.

Besides the congratulations due to team Black-Eyed Pea, their captain Mike, and Neal (the only person on two winning CMIYC teams), we had many Harrimaniacs earn the Treasure Hunter, Leah earn the Nomad for sleeping out, and Paul earn the Cartographer for successful nighttime navigation to Bald Rocks. Jackson, Paul, and Jay all moved up a rank. Mike and Yelena completed their first of hopefully many trips. All in all a great time had by all.

CMIYC3 will take place spring/summer of 2011.

Product Review: Asolo Fugitive GTX Hiking Boots

Back in May I purchased the Asolo Fugitive GTX Hiking Boots from Rob's REI. I previously owned a pair of New Balance boots of slightly lighter construction. I destroyed those boots--literally shredding the sole and ripping chunks of rubber off. To recollect a particularly low point in my ownership of those boot, I was descending the Cat's Elbow near West Mountain when a big chunk of rubber came off and I almost rolled my ankle on the side of the cliff.

I decided I needed something tougher to stand up to the beating the Harrimaniacs would put my boots through. I settled on the Asolos through a combination of factors-- First, I wanted to be economical but I did have some money given to me at my birthday specifically for boots, so my budget was higher than it would have been on my own. Next, I wanted something that would hold together against the rock-bashing they would receive and would remain waterproof for all of the snow-slopping and torrential downpours they would endure. The New Balances lost their waterproofing quality after only a few dozen miles, eventually becoming no better than the average tennis shoe. Lastly I wanted something with better sole support-- I could feel everything through the New Balances and it think it precipitated a recurring strain in my foot.

I have worn the Asolos now for a few dozen miles of camping and another ten or so miles of hiking while birding. The are much more rigid in the sole than my previous footwear--a huge improvement. I feel the increased stiffness protects my foot better. In addition, the break-in period for my previous shoes was about 50 miles. The Asolos felt much better from mile one and have seemed to need less breaking in in general. My feet have not felt the pain of the break-in process they way they did last time.

Honestly I cannot yet comment on the water-proofing as I have not yet been in a very wet environment while wearing them as of yet. In the future I may update with respect to this aspect of their construction. I bought mine on sale for about $175. If you are an REI member, this is a good candidate for a regularly mailed 20% off coupon. In conclusion, the Asolo Fugitives are a little pricey, but are in the same range as other similar boots. The construction is solid and durable and the boots are comfortable. I would recommend these to any light backpacker or aggressive hiker.

Asolo Fugitive GTX Hiking Boots
http://www.rei.com/product/706762
$207.50 retail
Dan's Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0*

UPDATE:
*I finally got a chance to weather-test the Asolos on 116-111004 and wow did they impress! The vast majority of the 7-hour, 15.6-mile hike was spent in consistent, moderate rain. My British military-issue 'smock' started soaking through in the arms after about 6 miles. My pants started soaking up water through my rain-pants a few miles later. But the Asolos kept my feel dry right through to until I set foot back in the car! I can only hope they stay this waterproof for the life of the boot.

Upcoming Events

We've had something of a lull this summer with four of our members getting married and many of the others members involved in the weddings. All the planning and moving has tied up alot of our camping and hiking time. As we move into the fall things are going to return to normal: Here are some proposed and finalized upcoming events...

9/9 PROPOSED OVERNIGHT - In the longstanding tradition of holiday camping we may attempt an overnight this Wednesday-Thursday if there is enough interest as many of us will have off for Rosh Hashanah. The following Friday-Saturday is another option as well.

10/2 Cache Me If You Can II: Kanawauke Circle - Our second geocaching race is all set for October second and interest seems high. Teams will be different because a few people from CMIYC I won't be able to make it, but fortunately there seem to be a lot of new people interested. Since it's probably going to be too cold for a post-event BBQ, we are going to try a pre-event overnight on October 1. This event will center around the Route 106 area, so we'll do either Tom Jones or Bald Rocks.

OCTOBER - Most weekends look good for an overnight or hike, so expect one in late-October.

11/26 ThanXgiving Big Hill VI - Our sixth straight year at Big Hill for a post-Thanksgiving overnight is sure to be the highlight of the fall. Last year we cooked a turkey in camp! This year we will likely follow suit.

113-100703 CMIYC -- GZH Reflections

The First Cache Me If You Can has come and gone and boy was it awesome! I can honestly say it turned out better than I expected. We had three teams-- Ground Zero Heroes w/ me as captain, Cachetastrophy with Lori as captain, and Dharma/LOST with Paul as captain. Here's my narration of the day from the perspective of the Ground Zero Heroes:

The crew from Maywood was late because we were waiting for Andrew's friend Lauren to arrive from Connecticut. No harm done, but it did make for a rushed morning. I arrived at the Anthony Wayne parking area to find Jay and Paul looking perplexed with the status of Paul's GPS. Lori, Jay, and I had met the previous afternoon to load all the caches to each GPS and to hit some local caches to 'train' Jay since no one on their team had ever been caching before. It seems all of the caches we loaded were gone (though a few from Bergen County remained, very odd). As a last ditch effort to save the event, Jay and Paul manually entered the lat/long for ten caches as waypoints. In the meantime we finalized teams, distributed scoresheets, and reviewed the rules.

My team consisted of myself, George, and Neal. Cachetastrophy included Lori, Andrew, Lauren, and Laura. Finally, Getti joined Paul and Jay to form an as of yet unnamed team. On the trail they decided to adopt anything related to "LOST" based on the state of their progress.

I had planned out a strategy for the GZH ahead of time-- We'd head to Silvermine where there was a large concentration of caches in a small area first, With time remaining we'd head to the finish line so we'd be close by when the end time was drawing near. There were a few more caches right there in the parking lot we would look for with time remaining.

Once the starting bell rang, we were off! --but in the wrong direction. Neal then directed us to turn around so we could get on the Pal Parkway North. We quickly arrived at Silvermine and took off south on Menomine towards William Brien Shelter. On the trail I began to explain more about caching, the GPS, and trackables to my team. Neal had found a geocache once on a trip with us, earning him the Treasure Hunter homework assignment. When we arrived at the first GZ it was George who quickly found the first cache under a boulder. We dropped off a geocoin and he earned the Treasure Hunter.

Next we made our one major error for the day. We debated whether to continue around the lake to get two caches on Silvermine Ski Road or to head back to the parking lot and in the direction of Stockbridge where there were a few more caches. First we opted to continue, then we opted to take the tiny remnants of the incomplete ski road to try and cut out the triangle of Menomine and AT that goes to William Brien. It worked well for a few hundred yards. Then Neal realized he had dropped a two-way radio. Again we debated turning back, but Neal was satisfied with forging ahead. Soon we found ourselves chest-high in rhododendron and mountain laurel; our progress slowed to a crawl. By now we were committed because it seemed like only a short distance left and a waste to turn back and go all the way around. We made it out with cuts and scrapes and about 20 minutes of lost time.

We finally got to the ski road. Neal found the next cache a few tenths of a mile into the woods. We turned north and I found my first cache of the day by the southern shore of the lake. We caught a major break next-- The water in the lake was low enough for us to walk across the dam and take a shortcut back to the parking lot, rather than walk the ski road to its terminus and hike Seven Lakes Drive all thew way back. We hopped in the car with three caches under our belts and headed back to Anthony Wayne.

We quickly made a break for what seemed to be the closest cache. We tried to go straight to it, but the wall of barberry between the picnic area and Beechy Bottom Road stopped us and we had to go the long way around. We headed first for a cache called Ye Old Bike Trail, which as it turns out, all three of the teams stopped at and eventually found. It took us a while, but we found it with the help of the clues we were getting from the geocaching.com app on my Droid. Phone service in the area was terrible, but we got just enough. After that cache we headed North were we got a mini-cache (film canister) in a log. It would have been very hard without the hints, but the clue made it easy. Once I read it, I saw the cache immediately.

I was wondering if five caches would be enough to win. Really I expected Lori's team to have six or seven based on the fact that we had wasted time bushwhacking and the fact that I deduced from questions she asked me about the map that her strategy was to get caches near the road. We started walking to the next closest cache, just across the Pal Parkway. We were almost out of time. Once we got onto the bridge over the highway we could see that the GZ was at least 1000 feet of walking through trail-less woods. With only seven minutes left to get to the GZ, find the cache, and walk back we decided it was just not enough time and it would be better to go home with five caches than get DQ'd. Our team was dragging a bit too. I didn't know it yet, but we had walked almost five and a half miles (which ended up being the longest of the three teams).

We had all agreed a certain dumpster was the finish line and the finish time was 1:00PM. As we walked to the dumpster, I was surprised no one else was there. With about 4 minutes left we saw Darma/LOST coming out of the woods. With only two minutes left we all stood at the dumpster watching Paul's watch. Where was the last team? Paul was adamant that we hold the time limit to the very second, and rightly so. He was especially concerned because he thought his only way of coming in second was if the third team was DQ'd. One o'clock passed with no sign of Cachetastrophy. At about one minute after we saw Lori get in her car on the far side of the parking lot and a few people pile in. When they arrived at the dumpster it was one minute and forty seconds past 1:00PM. Paul's team made sure everyone knew who was late.

My team finished the day with five caches, as did Cachetastrophy. Paul's team ended with three. GZH was the only team with no DNFs. Our name held true, we got the job done at every GZ we stopped at. In the end it was enough for an unexpected win! I was pretty happy that everyone on my team found at least one cache and Neal and George both had a great time. From what I could tell, it seemed all of the rookie cachers had fun, especially Paul who has already said he is hooked. The Harrimaniacs also dropped a total of ten trackable items off in the park.

We wrapped it all up with a great BBQ as everyone shared stories from the day about caches found and missed, anecdotes from the trail, and other interesting events from the day. Cache Me If You Can was a wild success and a bunch of people specifically asked when the next one would be. With this kind of response we'll shoot for the next one in the fall before it gets too cold. More on that later, but for now I am just enjoying the success of this whole thing.

--Dan

CMIYC Predictions

It looks like a dream I have had for several years is finally becoming a reality with our first ever Cache Me If You Can geocaching race. My hope is that many people will get excited, complete the Treasure Hunter homework assignment, and maybe begin their own interest in caching.

Because of the large percentage of rookie hikers and cachers involved with the exercise, I have begun to sort of plan out the teams ahead of time in order to assure there is an even spread of Harriman and geocaching knowledge on each team. I'll be leading a team with a bunch of rookies. My strategy is simple, but I won't divulge it here. Lori is captain of team #2 with Andrew to assist with Harriman direction-finding. Lori is the most experienced cacher. Team #3 is headed up by Paul with Rob to assist with Harriman trail knowledge. This team will have the least caching experience but Rob probably has the most off-hand knowledge of trails after myself. The personalities on this team might give them a competitive edge.

I won't predict a winner, but I will predict that the winning team has seven or fewer caches--remember we'll have under four hours to grab our caches. I wouldn't even be surprised if the winners had only four or five caches.

Less than a week to go. We have a captains meeting on Thursday night to load caches, go over protocol, and hammer out the details. Things are getting exciting...

--Dan

CoR Bald Rocks 6/18

Andrew and I took our father up to Bald Rocks for a Father's Day camping trip. To the best of my knowledge it is the first Clan of Rob trip that legitimately could have counted as a valid trip if it were 'reported.' The only rule it violated was the unwritten 'open invite' rule. At any rate, the invite was closed and the intention was simply to enjoy the weekend with our father.

The hike up was pretty standard, with stops at the usual viewpoints and typical recollections of the first time this or that happened. My father was interested to know what stories he had heard had occurred on this stretch of trail. There were no cars on Rt. 106, but when we arrived at the shelter there were two guys already there. They were middle-aged brothers from NYC and they had all the gear and experience of well-traveled campers. One of them mentioned it was his first time over-nighting in Harriman in over a decade.

My brother, father, and I immediately set to work building a fire to cook our burgers in armor. Andrew almost stepped on a fawn on the way down the hill from the shelter. It was easily the smallest deer I had ever seen-- barely larger than a beagle. We set up our gear on the rocks while the food cooked. We each had a different foil-application technique and we compared the quality of our cooking. My father's 6-layer method had be best combination of adequate heat without burning.

The Whip-poor-wills showed up right on time and put on a great display. One in particular perched repeatedly very close by and flew around our heads. It didn't seem to mind having a flashlight on it, which enables me to get some grainy pictures. From a birding perspective, it was awesome to see all of white markings on the birds. Later we turned to stargazing. I was navigating using Google Sky Map on my Droid while the guys from NYC were using the the analogous app on the iPhone. The Google product proved superior-- Despite it being after 9PM, the iPhone believed it was daytime, that we were in Southern California, and that North was East. Meanwhile the Droid knew what time it was, where we were, and what direction it was facing. Venus, Mars, and Saturn were all out along with a number of prominent constellations and stars.

It was a hot buggy night for my father and I who did not have the benefit of a bivy like Andrew did, thought I will say my new sleeping pad was excellent. The following morning the guys from NYC left early. Our trio headed out to the North after enjoying the fire for a while. Lots of birds were singing and four woodpecker species were heard, including a pair of Pileated. We swung west on Dunning and took White Bar and Nurian back to Black Rock. Back on R-D, Andrew and I tried for a cache to the East of the trail with no luck.

All in all it was a fun weekend with dad. We hadn't been camping together in at least ten years, maybe fifteen. It brought back some memories of Webelos camping trips long ago. Maybe an extensive father/son outing is in order for the future...

--Dan