We've heard good things about Sky Pilots events, and our travel schedule happened to line up with their unique "Lost One Standing" weekend last August. Art and Robyn also traveled around from the Buena Vista area to Purgatory to participate. Something new for all of us!
The concept is a merge of the backyard ultra (last one standing) format and orienteering. There were 8 possible courses and we had 24 hours to complete as many as we could. If we completed each one within the time limit (which varied from 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on daylight) we would remain in the Blue division. As soon as we missed the deadline to finish a course, we would shift to the Brown division, where the only time limit was returning from the field by the end of 24 hours.
My goal was to stay in the Blue division as long as I could, and then switch to "get as many as I can" after that. John was up for that, without promising as much on the back half of the 24 hours.
I was glad they posted a previous Lost One map on their website so I could get a feel for the large amount of information contained on it. Here is our map, lots to absorb:
And a better look at our map if you want to see all the details:
The weather for the weekend wasn't great. It had been raining that week so the vegetation, and subsequently our feet and lower legs, were wet. We were likely to get more rain during the race, perhaps clearing up by the end.
At least Friday evening was lovely, and John got a sunset photo from camp:
Saturday morning, time to get our map and figure out what the heck we were going to do! John and I planned to travel around at least the first course or two together. Helpfully, the weather was cool and cloudy but not rainy to start.
First order of business was to decide which courses to start with. We took into account the navigational and physical difficulty (indicated on the map) and decided to try one that was physically easier and navigationally advanced. This might have been a mistake. Or not, depending on perspective.
The course labeled "Gentle Giant" fit the bill. With a rough semblance of a plan, we headed to the starting line. Time to "Go!" run in the woods for a few hours... as everyone scattered in different directions.
For the first few controls we started to get to know the map and terrain. A bit of trail, a bit of bushwhacking, lots of trees, nothing too challenging in the vegetation department while still being way different from the Arizona desert we'd gotten used to. The biggest adaptation was figuring out how to track which control was next. We made good use of our orienteering arm bands and cut out some long, thin pieces of paper to create control lists. We weren't required to reach the controls in order within each course, but a suggested order was listed and that helped a lot (as long as we always did a sanity check and rearranged them as made sense).
We got rather lucky finding #60 and then tried to come up with a decent plan for the longer trek to #126. Our contouring (in the area of #147) apparently wasn't very accurate and then our climbing apparently was much stronger than we realized. Somehow while trying to ascertain our position we ended up at the very top of the hill. John suddenly figured it out and he led us over to #109. Which at least was on our course, so that was the good news. If I remember right, we also punched #61 since it was close by.
Bad news was the big downhill backtrack to finally locate #126. The rest of the course went fine but we had taken too much time on that major mistake, coming in over the 2.5 hour limit. So we (along with a bunch of others) were relegated to the Brown division right away.
That actually turned out to be a good thing. No more time pressure! We were free to do whatever we wanted for the next 20+ hours.
We tackled the Busy Beaver next, which took us to a bunch of little ponds and lakes and next to (and through) some marshes. As mentioned, everything below our waists was already wet from pushing through soggy vegetation, so a bit of occasional wading wasn't a big deal.
I don't usually take pictures during orienteering events (leaving my phone sealed and protected) but couldn't resist this particularly photogenic pond (our faces notwithstanding):
The loop went great, let's do another! We figured we could probably fit one in before sunset and so we hustled out to make good use of daylight. Time for another advanced-level nav attempt in the Yonstrosity.
The area between #70 and #98 was steep and tricky. We had to work back and forth a bit to locate #98. Then a huge climb up to #111. It was really helpful seeing this in the daytime. I don't remember our exact route from there except this course certainly could be optimized by going in a different order from what was listed.
Sometime during the day, Art and Robyn decided they had done enough and needed to bail for real life responsibilities. Wish we could have spent more time with them during the event - maybe next time!
They probably knew that the forecast called for evening rain, so in a way they were the smartest ones by leaving early...
John and I made a different decision and headed back out on the Crepuscular course. We had completed 2 advanced nav courses during the day, which was helpful because it left 3 intermediate nav courses to choose from overnight.
Crepuscular started with a big climb and then wandering around the upper plateau. It was dark and raining by this point. There were a couple lightning flashes but the thunder didn't sound super close. Our lower bodies were still wet, of course, and now our rain jackets were as well. At least we had dressed for this occasion.
Our night nav went well, making use of roads and trails when we could. It really was nice being able to return to Howie (our travel trailer) and remove every bit of wet clothing and dry off.
John decided that was enough fun for him, time for bed! I really enjoyed his company for 4 loops, thank you John! Time to see what I could accomplish solo.
As soon as it had started raining, I had started smiling. I didn't know how many people might decide "no thank you" to more of that, but I did know that the weather might help me beat a few people.
I decided to try Crash Course next. It was designed to start with some beginner-level controls and gradually work up to more difficult ones. I got lucky walking right into #79, then the northern part of the map kept me entertained for a couple of hours in the darkness. Also, it stopped raining at some point. I think I saw Alex, the eventual winner, while descending from #133 and it was nice to know I wasn't the only crazy person still roaming around in the forest.
The beacons (control flags without a punch) were helpful around the edges of the map and I don't recall having any particular difficulty finishing up the loop. It just took a while - almost 5 hours - because I was slow and careful the whole way. Both with navigation and footing. The exciting part was seeing that I might have time for one more loop.
Assuming I maintained or improved my speed (and didn't make any big mistakes), I might be able to finish the Witching Hour course by 9 am. This one was designed for night nav, with reflectors on all of the controls and presumably the ability to spot them from a distance or at least keep in contact with the map reasonably easily.
On the other hand, the loop started in the steep area on the south part of the map. I debated switching the order and going clockwise, but I really preferred going up the steep slope instead of down. Let's go see what we can do...
#92 was near a beacon (that was one the trail), easy enough for starters. I wasn't sure how the traverse would go, and there were terrain challenges but the map details were easy to follow along. I remember having issues just getting to the little creek (lots of plants in the way). Once on the other side I found the base of the cliffs and followed them around.
I crossed my fingers that I was climbing the correct spur, and there was #116, yay! As expected, it was a haul up a steep, steep slope (so glad I was going up and not down it). #71, top of the hill!
I had a major issue finding #77, possibly ending up off the bottom of the map. It was getting light as I was figuring this out and getting back on track. Dang it, time to get a move on.
From there I started ticking them off in earnest. It helped having seen this area a couple times, plus daylight made everything faster. And it was generally downhill going back. I knew the route from #95 to the beacon. There was another climb to #50/78 and my legs were happy to oblige. Down to the trail and run it in with plenty of time on the clock.
In the end my 6 completed courses put me on top of the Brown division, with only 2 Blue division guys finishing more (Alex with 8 and Joe with 7). Most of the people who completed courses on time subsequently stopped altogether after failing to hit a Blue division cutoff. Only Odd went back out for a couple more. I think the lack of time pressure on me, plus the overnight rain, played to my advantage. Plus I found the whole thing to be highly entertaining.
So yes, I really like the format! It's similar to a 24-hour rogaine but carrying way less stuff. The concept of returning to the start/finish every few hours makes it easier to adapt to changing conditions and to attempt to fix anything that starts to go wrong. It's more challenging mentally, which is where "Big Dog Backyard" training comes in handy. That has helped me stand up from whatever chair I'm resting in and get my butt back out there, on multiple occasions.
Results (see the different tabs on the bottom for the 2 divisions and our splits):
A couple photos from John while we were helping pick up controls on Monday... an example of a giant rootstock:
And a control placed in a creek:
Eric and Ginny designed an amazing set of courses, each with its own personality and challenge. No matter how many times we overlapped our previous locations, it was only a brief bit of help and then it was off into the unknown again. The amount of work they put into creating this event was incredible. Thank you both! We hope to do this again some year.
