Arastradero, Palo Alto
Practice Session
Wednesday, July 1, 1998, 6PM

PLACE: Arastradero Preserve. Take Page Mill road Southwest from I-280 about 0.5 km. Make a right onto Arastradero road and follow about 1 km to dirt parking area on right side of road.

TIME: Wed. July 1, @ from 6:15 PM on, staggered starts

AMMENITIES: Water fountain and portable toilets

MAP: 5-color Topo plus hand-drawn features, ~1:11,000. About 3 sq. km.

FORMAT: White/Yellow and Memory-O'. This will be an exercise in terrain visualization. I will use Start-O' controls for the punch locations and maps will be available to read only at these location - no carrying maps between controls. The whole course will be given on each map so you can plan as far ahead as you like or can. Each participant will be given a sealed black & white copy of the map to carry along for safety.

COURSE STATS:

Long Orange Memory: 4.0 km, 145 m climb, 11 controls
Short Orange Memory: Competitors may skip any control or series of controls to shorten as desired.
White/Yellow (maps allowed): 2.9 km, 80 m climb, 9 controls

TERRAIN: Mostly open grassland with some foxtails and thigh-high thistles, varying between easily runnable to slow trudge. There is some forest and you may want to go through one or two short sections of fight. There are some patches of poison oak but it is almost always avoidable. Adequate leg protection is a must (new club pants are marginally adequate). The dirt is hard at this time of year, and metal-spiked shoes may beuncomfortable in portions. The landscape is hilly, but not too steep, with good views of the bay and Stanford dish. There are many trails and fences as route choices, handrails, and catching features. There also may be swaths of plowed up ground (fire breaks) that are NOT mapped, as they may change from year to year. There are lots of good point features such as lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and rootstock.

REMEMBER: You will be on your own, as this is not a formal event.

QUESTIONS: Call Werner Haag @ 408-243-4234 at home until 11:00 PM or 408-481-3198 at work 8:30 AM - ~6:30 PM. Or e-mail at wrhaagnetgate.net (the address given in the bulletin is wrong)

SUDS & GRUB: Afterwards at the Los Altos Bar & Grill (unless someone has a better suggestion)

Join us - This will be a good exercise for Orange level orienteers who want to move up. If you get caught out after dark, you will be treated to a glistening view of the Bay Area below.

Thanks to Michael Poulsen for the base map and assistance in field checking.

Werner


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