Orienteering US style

Within a few days of arriving in New Haven, I had heard rumours of a possible gathering of orienteers post-Thanksgiving to do some training near Peekshill, NY state. A 2hr train ride sounded perfectly acceptable to me, particularly after my apartments plumbing decided to have a tantrum and flood the bathroom at 11pm at night.  So, next morning saw me migrating up the Hudson Valley, and after a few wrong turns (including trying to break into the wrong house with the neighbours yelling instructions at me in Spanish), I turned up at the doorstep of a group of strangers who immediately accepted the lost Kiwi. I had made the assumption that anyone who runs round forest maps in their spare time is totally legit, and unlikely to be an axe-murderer, and was subsequently rewarded with an awesome weekend of o, banter and Mexican food. After a pretty difficult first week, my faith in the US was certainly restored

Complex two days of training on rocky state forest. So beautiful- its a winter wilderness where all the leaves have just fallen off the trees, minimal daylight (dark by 4!), around stunning lakes and just a blanket of trees in every direction. wish i could have taken my camera with me training, some of the terrain was just incredible. 

We trained on Blue Mountain map, and in the Harriman State Park, near Poughkeepsie- a state wilderness area, the photos dont do it justice as they are all just taken at the lake level.

3.30 in the afternnoon

The orienteers campsite, recovering between sessions in the cold amongst visitors to the park. Yes one of our number is in a sleeping bag. He's Irish.