The Saturday 12 September Shindagin Scramble is almost upon us! Three courses offer a choice between a long or medium run and a short scout. Or make up your own medium-length course from a selection of the available controls.
The long courses are your chance to get in a lot of exercise and a little orienteering. Somewhere between a trail run and an orienteering event, this could be considered a really long white (beginning level orienteer) course over your choice of 15K or 30K distance. The control markers will all be on trails, but the more experienced orienteer will be able to go rather faster by cutting some of the corners. Mass start for the long courses is at 9am.
The much shorter course is good for beginners, or for folks who don't want quite so much running! Starts on this course are any time from 9am until noon.
If you think 15K is too long and 1K is too short, come early and make up a course to your liking from the available controls. Follow your course at your pace (be back within 3 hours, please), or convince other people that your course is worth while, and start a competition!
Directions to start:
Follow NY79 east from Ithaca slightly beyond the Caroline School (if
you reach Slaterville Springs, you have gone too far). Turn right
(south) on Boiceville Rd. Shortly this will dead-end into Central
Chapel Rd. at a bend (going right, the road has a different name).
Turn left and proceed south on Central Chapel Rd for a couple of miles
until it forks, with Shindagin Hollow Rd. going left and Braley Hill
Rd. going right. Follow Braley Hill Rd (which soon becomes dirt)
until you cross the Finger Lakes Trail (another mile and a half or two
miles). This will be the site of the mass start at 9am, Saturday Sept.
12. People interested in the beginners' course can start any time from
9am until noon.
(Shindagin road map, thanks to Dan Eckstrom. Note that the road names on the map are slightly different from the ones in the description above, and Rt 79 and Boiceville road are not labeled.)