Orienteering in Berkeley

An announcement of an upcoming event from the Bay Area Orienteering Club:

Tilden Park

Berkeley, CA
Sunday, January 13, 2008

Event Type: (B) Regular 7-course BAOC event

Contact: Evan Custer, 925-254-5628, evan.custer@baoc.org

Latest Information: http://baoc.org/wiki/Schedule/2008/Tilden_Park

NOTE: THE EVENT DATE WAS STATED INCORRECTLY PRIOR TO THE OCTOBER
MONTHLY MAILING. THE DATE ABOVE IS CORRECT.

This will be the second use for our Tilden map. The "Swiss Mountain
Goat", Martin Kunz, will be the course setter. I'm sure he will produce
some interesting and challenging courses.

Assembly Area

Tilden is a very central park and is convenient to most Bay Area
residents. This is one of the main reasons we decided to map Tilden--
because of its close-in location. The assembly area will be at the same
place as last year at the Mineral Springs Group Picnic Area on Wildcat
Canyon Road. There is probably room for 60 cars in the parking lot, so
please park close together. Late comers may have to park on the
shoulder of the road (see below) or in several other relatively close
parking lots.

There will be remote Starts and a remote Finish. There will be two
Start areas: one for the Green, Red, and Blue courses, and another for
the other courses (White through Brown). There will also be a remote
Finish. It is about a 5-minute walk to the start areas, and about a
5-minute walk back from the Finish to the assembly area. Because of the
remote Finish, IT WILL BE IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD YOUR SI
STICK AT THE BLUE EP TENT NEAR REGISTRATION BEFORE YOU GO HOME.
Otherwise, we will not know that you have returned, and may have to
start a search party for you after the courses close.

Registration

Registration will be at the assembly area at Mineral Springs. Remember
that registration is a two-step process. First you fill out the forms
and pay your fee. Then, do not forget to go to the blue EP tent to
enter in the computer before you go out on your course. This is
important, because this is the main way we keep track of people who are
still out on the courses. We do not leave the area until everybody has
been accounted for, so for safety reasons, please check in at the EP
tent BEFORE going out on your course. It also significantly improves
the speed of the download process after your run if you are entered in
the computer before you download your results.

Map

The terrain was field checked and drawn in 2006 by Russian mapper
Vladimir Zherdev. The map is quite good. All maps will be printed at
1:10000 scale, and the contour interval is 5 meters. Standard IOF
orienteering symbols are used. Zherdev frequently uses the dotted-line
symbol for distinct vegetation boundaries, which many other mappers,
particularly in this country, do not use.

Terrain

Tilden Park is much like most of our Bay Area terrain: steep, lots of
rough open with scattered areas of pine and eucalyptus forest, and a
moderate amount of fight, which is mainly poison oak, brambles,
blackberries, and dense coyote bush. In the summer, the meadows are
filled with stickers, burrs and thistles, but by January the hostile
vegetation usually dies back and the rains beat it down, so there it
will not be a significant problem. The poison oak is mainly in the
reentrants, but since the event will be in the winter, the plant is not
quite as noxious as in the early spring; however, poison oak prevention
techniques should still be utilized.

The contour detail is relatively bland. Most of the competition area
will be on the side of a large hill, the park border being the ridge
line. There is a relatively dense trail network. There are some rock
features, many of which will be used as control points. The vegetation
is quite well mapped, particularly since the map is new.

Courses

All seven standard courses will be offered: White, Yellow, Orange,
Brown, Green, Red, and Blue--and also a Long Orange (adventure racer
training course). Course statistics will be published closer to the
event date, after the courses have been finalized.

Martin Kunz has been working hard on designing some interesting and
challenging courses. This year, the emphasis for the Green, Red, and
Blue courses will be on route choice. These courses will have several
long legs that have some challenging route choices. Your success will
largely depend on choosing quickly which route is optimal. Martin is
using some fresh terrain for the first half of those courses.

Also, because he wanted to use different terrain for the White and
Yellow courses, there will be remote Starts and a remote Finish. This
is so that the younger participants will not have to cross Grizzly Peak
Road in the middle of their course. The walk to the Starts is about 5
minutes, as is the walk back from the Finish. Because of the remote
Finish, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD YOUR SI STICK AT THE EP
TENT at the assembly area near registration after you return from your
run.

Electronic Punching

Electronic punching (EP) will be used on all courses. If you do not own
your own EP card (finger stick), you may rent one at the event. For
participants who have never used EP before, look at our User's Guide to
Electronic Punching (there's a link on the event Web page).

Beginner's Clinics

Beginner's clinics will be offered between 9:30 and 10:30, depending on
the demand. These short introductions to orienteering provide all the
information you'll need to complete a beginner (White or Yellow) course.

Volunteers

We will need volunteers to staff the usual tasks: starts, finish,
beginner's clinic, control pickup, etc. Please contact me to sign up.

Driving Directions

There are many ways to reach Mineral Springs in Tilden, depending on
what direction you are coming. Since you are an orienteer, you may want
to check a map. Here are a few possibilities:

From the east, take the Orinda exit from Rte. 24, and head north toward
Orinda Village and Richmond on Camino Pablo. Go about 3 miles, and turn
left at the signal onto Wildcat Canyon Road (Bear Creek Rd. goes off to
the right toward Briones Park), and wind your way up Wildcat for 3.1
miles. The Mineral Springs Picnic Area will be on your right, past
Inspiration Point, but before you get to the Botanical Garden.

If you are coming from the north or from Berkeley, it probably will be
easier to go up to Grizzly Peak Rd., east on Shasta, and right on
Wildcat Canyon Road past the Botanic Garden, and turn left into Mineral
Springs Picnic Area.

In the winter, the park closes South Park Drive, so if you are coming
from the south on Grizzly Peak Rd. from Claremont or Fish Ranch Rd., you
will not be able to take South Park Drive down to Wildcat Canyon Rd.,
but should continue to Shasta Road, and turn east.

If the lot is full, and it probably will be if it is a nice day, you may
park on the shoulder of the road if your vehicle is COMPLETELY off the
road and is not in a "No Parking Zone".