There's been orienteering at Tahoe, in Alberta, and in Wyoming.Finally, orienteering returns to the Bay Area! On Sunday, July 28,little Bayfront Park in Menlo Park will again be full of interesting O'pportunities.
Bayfront is a pleasant little park on the shores of the bay near thewest end of the Dumbarton Bridge in Menlo Park. The terrain ismostly open with a number of modest hills and quite a few trails.It's a great place for first-time orienteers, and still provides a lotof fun for experienced competitors. This year's event will again offer the mixture of Trail, On-Trail, Off-Trail, and Trail-less-O'.
First, the important stuff -- wear a hat, wear sunscreen! Bayfront is mostly open. Leg protection is not necessary -- grass has almost everywhere been mowed to ground level. The park has a real bathroom, but no picnic tables or benches. We will have water on all courses, as well as at the start and finish.
The On-Trail O' is a standard White course, excellent for beginners of all ages. The Off-Trail O' is our Yellow course, for those with some orienteering or other topographical map experience. Trail-less-O'is navigationally equivalent to the Yellow course, but none of thepark's trails will be shown on the competitors' maps. This year, the course will use a map exchange and make two loops around the park.
Here are the course statistics. First, we have four standard courses.
Length Climb Controls
White 2.2 km 35 m 10
Yellow 3.0 km 65 m 13
Short Trail-less 2.5 km 60 m 11
Long Trail-less 5.5 km 140 m 24
And we have two Trail O courses.
Length Climb Controls
Beginner 2.5 km 15 m 8
Intermediate 2.9 km 30 m 10
Because of the open terrain and numerous trails, the Yellow course is on the easy side. The Trail-less O' is navigationally similar to the Yellow, but all roads, trails, buildings, crossable fences and assorted other person-made objects have been deleted from the map. The Long Trail-less course consists of two loops (A and B) with a map exchange. The Short course consists of doing Loop A only. You don't need to decide which you are doing until you reach the finish of Loop A.
Trail O is a new version of the sport designed to provide an orienteering experience to those who are not physically able to navigate cross-country, from disability, injury or age (evenfolks in wheelchairs), but it offers a challenge for any orienteer. You have a clue sheet and a map with control circles on it, but instead of going to that location and punching, you follow a trail to a "viewing station" (not mapped), from which the control feature is visible. Multiple control markers are set up in the area; your task is to determine which is the correct one, based on matching the terrain with the map and the control description.
The Beginner Trail O is designed for newcomers of all ages.The Intermediate Trail O is for those with good map-reading experience, whatever their competitive orienteering level.
From the East Bay, cross the Dumbarton Bridge. Go to the fifthtraffic light after the bridge and turn right into the park.
Questions? Email me or call evenings (650)321-9713.