Los Padres Practice Weekend – More Seat Time, More Growth

Hitting the Road North

Friday morning, Jessi and I met up and hit the road for a long five-hour drive up to Los Padres National Forest. The day before, I spent some focused time resetting my mapboard and updating a few calculations I’ve been working on—new methods I was eager to test out during our weekend of practice.

After a couple gas stops and snack breaks, we entered Los Padres from the north and followed a winding dirt road into basecamp. Just as we rolled in, Team Desert Belles came up behind us, and we all arrived together. Such a fun and energizing way to kick off the weekend.

Camp Setup & Evening Routine

After settling into camp and pitching our tents, I took a solo hike up the ridge above us to catch a view of the valley we were nestled in. It was peaceful, golden, and absolutely stunning. When I got back, I sat down with my notebook and calculator to work through some Enduro math, while Jessi caught up with the other ladies around the campfire.

By 8:00pm, I was tucked in and ready for an early start. I double-checked my rally-approved watch (no GPS—just time, stopwatches, and alarms, keeping things old school and basic), and set my backup phone alarm for 5:00am, just in case. And it’s a good thing I did—I totally slept through my 4:30am watch alarm. Whoops! Mental note: next time, keep it closer to my head.

Morning Plotting Curveball

As soon as I was up, I got to work… only to find that all 22 of our coordinates were listed in decimal degrees, while the map we were using was in degrees, minutes, and seconds. That meant I needed to convert every single point before I could even begin plotting. I worked through as many as I could before our 6:00am driver’s meeting, then finished plotting in the Team Desert Belle's Bronco—navigator Allison had it running with the heater on, and the warm hands were a major help in making precise marks.

Wheels Rolling: A Smooth Start

We were off the line at 7:09am, jumping straight into an on-route Enduro. This time around, Jessi and I focused on practicing a new system of communication, tightening up how I relay information and how she repeats it back to confirm. It worked beautifully, and the rhythm felt smoother than ever.

The Enduro ended perfectly at a bathroom stop, where I finished plotting the last few checkpoints before we hit the trails again.

Trail Wins & Putting Math to the Test

We hit our stride quickly: snagged a green checkpoint, a series of blues, and then… our first two black checkpoints of the day. We got them both—huge win! Even more exciting, we got to practice a new calculation I had learned: the Cartesian distance formula. It’s a method we can use to estimate how far we are from a black checkpoint after we push our tracker. By taking our current coordinate and the checkpoint coordinate, we use a formula that includes subtraction, multiplication, square roots, and a bit of π to calculate our distance in meters from that point. It’s a great way to validate our guesses when navigating to precise, hidden checkpoints.

After that, we continued through the day and nailed every remaining checkpoint. Each success is building our confidence and sharpening our skills.

Wrapping It Up & Heading Home

We rolled back into camp by 3:00pm, broke down quickly, aired up, and were on the road by 3:30. Quick turnaround, but a fulfilling day. The seat time, skill-building, and continued growth as a team made this practice weekend incredibly valuable.

Best of all, the long drive home gave Jessi and me time for deeper conversation—something we’ve both been intentional about. We’re growing not just as teammates, but as friends, and every mile strengthens the bond we’ll bring into the Rebelle Rally this October.

A Huge Thank You

This entire weekend wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible effort of Adriana from Team Double A. She went above and beyond—scouting the location, setting up checkpoints, printing maps, test running the area, and curating a weekend that was both challenging and supportive. Adriana, thank you for the heart, hustle, and detail you poured into making this a memorable and impactful practice. We’re so grateful for you!

Until next time,
With gratitude and grit,
– Jess H. | 112 Jess² reRouting

Watch the Instagram Reel of our Weekend >>HERE<<