Briones Regional Park
Date: (Sun.) Oct. 11, 2009
Location: Lafayette, CA
Event Director: 
- 925.934.6567
Course Setters: Gavin Wyatt-Mair, Alan Houser
Type: B; Regular 7-course BAOC event in conjunction with the Scout-O Championships
Course Setters' Notes
By Alan Houser (WYO & scouts) and Gavin Wyatt-Mair (advanced)
Preliminary course statistics:
Navigational Physical Course Length Climb Controls Difficulty Difficulty
White (1) 3.4 km 30 m 9 Easy Easy Yellow (2) 3.6 km 75 m 10 Easy Easy Orange (4) 4.7 km 175 m 12 Moderate Moderate Brown 3.8 km 83 m 13 Hard Moderate Green 5.6 km 150 m 17 Hard Hardish Red 6.2 km 180 m 19 Hard Hard Blue 7.2 km 250 m 21 Hard Harder
Beginners' courses: Please allow plenty of time to get to the start.
Advanced courses: The advanced courses have only about 3% climb, and lose altitude overall. The fight really is fight, so plan ahead. The courses are a mixture of forest requiring careful navigation, and open that can be taken at speed. Footing is good—the rain has helped.
All courses use E-punch. To cross fences, you may go over, under, or through wherever you like, but remember that it is barbed wire. The star thistle is down somewhat, 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 include deer, eagles, coyote, skunks, buzzards, orienteers, ticks, turkeys, lotsa goats, and frogs.
The start is about 1.5 km from the parking lot, up hill—it takes 15 to 25 minutes to walk there. The Scout-O 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).
Registration for the regular BAOC event will be open from about 9:00. Earliest start is at 10:00; latest start at 12:30. 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.
There's a map here that shows the location of the event.