Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
March 8, 1998

You are cordially invited to the second meet on the new (and still not quite complete ;-{ ) OCAD map of this lovely urban park. The weather hasn't been too good for course planning, but I am optimistic about the weather so much later in the year...

I will be setting White and Yellow courses, primarily for what is hoped to be a large crowd of first-timers. I will also set two more-advanced courses to give club members something nice to do that sunny weekend besides helping out at the meet (hint-hint).

It is not really possible to set a course of sufficent technical difficulty in such a highly developed locale, but I will try to at least approximate the 'Orange' level of difficulty. There will in fact be two advanced courses: a shorter one of 5.4 km and a longer one of approx. 8 km. Both of these courses will venture into some of the terrain that I have mapped since the last meet. By next year I hope to have finished the project, and it may be possible to consider setting up registration in the west end of the park, which will probably provide somewhat better (and certainly less crowded) terrain for the more experienced orienteer.

Almost all of the controls on the easy courses will consist of placques and other fixed features of the park, in order to minimize the problems we had last year with disappearing controls. To do the same with the advanced courses would make it even harder to create a suitable course, so these controls will mostly be paper-plate controls. Perhaps some club members will volunteer to patrol some of the more vulnerable points...

Club members should be reminded that there is indeed poison oak at the park. I have not seen any of the monster shrubberies of it that are prevalent elsewhere; at this relatively early time of year, it should consist primarily of low shoots. There are also berry thickets, but I don't intend for these to be along the most desirable route.

Directions: Registration will be at the bandshell at the western end of the Museum concourse (same as last year). Plenty of parking should be available in the vicinity of the museums and Strybing arboretum before 11 o'clock; it gets a bit harder after that. Keep in mind that Maclaren Drive, the main road through the park, is closed to vehicles on Sunday. Enter the park from the south on 9th st. This is probably good advice even if you are arriving from the north via Highway 1.

D.D. Freund Office: ECS 4018
Phone: 916-278-7996 Home: 916-481-2850
Fax: 916-278-6774 Nom: DANDR
MS: 6021 Class: M50-A
E-mail: freundcsus.edu Shoe Size: 9