Briones Regional Park
Date: (Sun.) Oct. 12, 2008
Location: Lafayette, CA
Event Director: 
- 925.934.6567
Course Setter: Alan Houser
Type: B; Regular 7-course BAOC event in conjunction with the Scout-O Championships
Event Director's Notes
By
Schedule
Registration for the regular O event will be open from about 9:00. Earliest start is at 10:00; latest start at 12:30.
The start is about 0.6 km from the parking lot, up hill. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to walk there.
Courses
The following courses are offered:
Navigational Physical Course Distance Climb Controls Difficulty Difficulty
White 3.7 km 105 m 10 Easy Easy Yellow 3.9 km 135 m 11 Easy Easy Orange 4.5 km 180 m 13 Moderate Moderate Brown 3.9 km 67 m 14 Hard Moderate Green 4.5 km 150 m 18 Hard Hardish Red 5.0 km 160 m 21 Hard Hard Blue 5.7 km 225 m 22 Hard Hard
Beginners' Courses
One leg is streamered on the White and Yellow courses. It's best to follow the streamers.
Advanced Courses
There are four sprint-style spectator legs on the advanced courses. You will be seen in action! Please do come, and promote our sport by example—we expect over 500 scouts and scouters, plus us—a very good PR opportunity!
The advanced courses are quite flat—less than 3% climb—remarkable for Briones! The courses are a real mixture—one third of the legs are in the forest and require careful navigation, one third are in the open and can be taken at sprint speed, and one third are forested and fast. There are some tough route choices to keep you sharp, interspersed with fine navigation to slow you down and coarse navigation to speed you up, short and long legs, and sharp direction changes. Footing is good—the rain has helped.
All Courses
All the courses have E-punch. If you've never used E-punch before, please read our User's Guide.
The courses do involve ungated fence crossings. You may go over, under, or through a fence wherever you like, but remember it is barbed wire. One crossing is flagged for an optimal place to go under the fence.
The star thistle is down and soft from the rain. You can pretty much ignore or avoid it, but long pants are highly recommended. There are short, typically ankle-high, poison oak stalks, as well as leafless bushes that are easy to avoid.
Wildlife includes deer, eagles, coyote, skunks, buzzards, orienteers, ticks, turkeys, lotsa goats, and frogs.
The weather forecast calls for nice temperatures, sunny and clear.
The Scout-O meet overlaps the White, Yellow, and Orange courses. Please be tolerant. Also, remember that horses have the right of way, and try not to scare them. Be polite to other park users please (this is a requirement for future permits).
Bring water.
Driving Directions
Registration will be at the West entrance to the park, off of Bear Creek Road. To get there, take route 24 West from 680 or East from 80. Exit at Orinda heading North on Camino Pablo. After about 2 miles, turn right on Bear Creek Road. After about 3.5 miles, the park entrance will be on your right, and is well sign-posted. (Don’t be fooled by the parking area on the left—that’s not it—but you could park there and walk if you like.) There is a charge of approximately $5.00 for parking.
Please carpool if possible, since there will probably be many scouts attending.