Boggs Mountain Family Weekend & A-Meet
Boggs Mountain State Forest
Date: Oct. 1 - 3, 2010
Location: Cobb, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.525.1574
Course Setters: Sarah Minarik, Ben Legg, George Minarik
Type: A; 3-day A-meet that includes Sprint, Middle, Long, & Night-O courses (pending park approval)
Related Event Information
Please note that fees and time limits apply at this event. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.
BAOC is planning a wonderful orienteering weekend that will include camping, Junior Games, a Night-O, and a 3-day A-meet with Sprint, Middle & Long Courses. (See What are Sprint, Middle and Long Courses?). We guarantee fabulous forested terrain and great courses. This will be the premier Northern California orienteering event for 2010. Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest (http://www.boggsmountain.org/SF_Explore.htm) is in Lake County, a scenic 2.5 hour drive North of San Francisco.
This event will not be possible without many volunteers — this means you! (We still need a course setter for the Night-O.) You will be doing us a big favor if you volunteer for your preferred position before we have to take the time and effort to contact you. Please email (Meet Director) if you would like to be a part of the Boggs team.
Registration information will be posted in the spring.
Boggs Mountain Forest is embargoed from January 1, 2010 up to the weekend of the event. Anyone who visits the forest during this period can still compete in the A-Meet but is not eligible to receive USOF ranking or A-Meet awards.
Keep checking this page — more information will be posted periodically.
Event Format
- Friday Afternoon – A-meet Sprint Courses
- Friday Evening – Campfire
- Saturday Morning – A-meet Middle Courses
- Saturday Afternoon – Junior Activities
- Saturday Evening – Night-O (not an A-meet)
- Saturday Evening – Campfire
- Sunday Morning – A-meet Long Courses
- Sunday Afternoon – 1 PM Awards Ceremony
In conjunction with the A-Meet events, there will also be White, Yellow, and Orange recreational courses with day-of-meet registration.
Boggs Mountain Terrain
This forest is considered by many as the best orienteering terrain in California. It was used for the first time in October 2007, for the Western States Championships. In May 2009, the U.S. Team Trials were held there. The forest consists mostly of mature pine with excellent runnability. The climbs are moderate and very little poison oak has been spotted. The elevation range of the courses will be between 2800 and 3600 feet above sea level. October weather should be very nice, with only a very slight chance of rain. October has an average high temperature of 74°F and an average low of 45°F.
Boggs is a plateau that rises above the small town of Cobb. On top of this plateau are a dozen or so small hilltops of varying height. Most of the hilltops are flattish. The slopes of these small hills are mostly gradual, although at least two of the slopes are quite steep. On top of this plateau is a mostly mature pine forest consisting of ponderosa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponderosa_Pine), sugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Pine), and other pines. There is also a smattering of hardwood trees. The major ground vegetation consists of manzanita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanita) and coffeeberry bushes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhamnus_californica). Much of the ground slash has been removed, but there are some areas of extensive slash.
Bordering the plateau is terrain that drops off sharply. On these steeper border slopes the forest becomes thicker and more deciduous with oak and bay trees. The manzanita and coffeeberry ground cover thickens up, and the ground slash is more widespread. Reentrant systems appear here in the form of streams and gullies.
Rock features appear unevenly throughout the park. The northern half of the park has extensive amounts of boulder groups and rock faces. Many single boulders dot the landscape. The southern half has much less rock.
There is an extensive road and trail network throughout the park, consisting of old and new logging roads, mountain bike trails, and hiking paths.
Boggs Mountain Map
The map was field checked and drawn in OCAD (http://www.ocad.com/en/index.htm) in 2006 and 2007 by Vladimir Zherdev under the direction of Bob Cooley, BAOC Mapping Director. Maps will be printed at 1:5000 for the Sprint and 1:10000 for the other two A-meet days. The contour interval is 5 meters. The map is of high quality.
Vegetation recognition is important. The open forest is mapped as white and is very fast. Light green is usually younger trees close together. It is also quite fast. Medium green can be forest mixed with bushes and slash. It is a slow run. Dark green is mostly mature manzanita bushes. It is sometimes impassable, but not always. The non-forest areas of bushes are mapped as two types of green vertical lines. The widely-spaced vertical lines indicate bushy areas that can easily be run through. In the areas with closely-spaced vertical lines, it takes more time and effort to get around the bushes, but these areas are also passable. The mapper has used black dots to indicate many distinct vegetation edges. The distinctness of these edges is not always evident. Some vegetation edges that are not indicated by black dots can appear quite distinct.
Boggs Forest is crisscrossed by an extensive network of roads and trails. But many of these tracks can be a bit hard to see, mainly due to the pine needles that cover them in various thicknesses. This is, after all, a pine forest. Every effort has been made to visit all the tracks that competitors are likely to traverse or cross on their routes. We've represented each of these on the map as either a road, a vehicle track, a large or small footpath, an indistinct footpath, or a narrow ride. In this assortment, most of the abandoned logging roads are mapped as narrow rides. A narrow ride will appear in the forest as a less than distinct, abandoned track that has the width of a vehicle track. Narrow rides could be covered with pine needles, slash, broken ground, or bushes. An indistinct footpath is similar, but much narrower.
The map contains a myriad of different rock features. Generally boulders over 1 meter are mapped. Some boulders under one meter are mapped. This is especially true of ones that stick out by themselves in the terrain. Some of these smaller boulders could be used as control points. There are many dot knolls on the map. At least two of these are anthills (with big red ants).
Hazards
Firearms are allowed in most areas of the forest at any time, although there are no hunting seasons planned at this time. There is an informal shooting range in the southeast area of the park. This range is occasionally used. Courses will not be set close to this range. We will hang yellow warning tape around the area in case anyone inadvertently wanders into it.
Most courses should not encounter any poison oak (PO), but there is a small amount present. In the fall, the leaves of PO have mostly fallen, leaving bare stick bushes. These sticks still contain the oils. If you see any PO, go around it, not through it. The potency of the oils is not strong at this time of year, but you will want to wash with Technu or some other cleanser if you suspect you touched a plant. If you do get a rash in 24–48 hours, it is best to treat it as soon as possible with a topical steroid cream. Do not wait and let it get into a nasty blistered rash. If you treat it early, when you first begin to notice itching, and you only have some small red bumps, it is easily controlled.
The forest has been extensively thinned in some areas, and this thinning has left small, hard, bush stumps that are ankle high and can trip you up if you are not careful.
There are a few metal stakes that have been left over from logging operations. These stick up about a foot above the ground. We have flagged some of these with tape, but there are probably others we didn't see.
E-Punching
SportIdent electronic punching (E-Punch) will be used for both A-Meet and recreational courses. Rental E-Punch cards/sticks will be available at the event. Information about the use of E-Punch is available in our User's Guide.
Lodging Suggestions
Here are a few possibilities for lodging close to Boggs Mtn. Reservations will fill quickly, so book early. There are many other options in the town of Calistoga (http://www.napavalley.com/regions/calistoga/lodging.html) and in the Lake County area (http://www.lakecounty-ca.worldweb.com/WheretoStay/).
Eagle & Rose Inn (http://eagleandroseinn.com/cobb_mountain_lodging/), Cobb (707-928-5242). $85 and up. A roadside motel 1 mile from the forest entrance. Located next to the post office on the west side of Route 175.
Inn at Kelsey Creek (http://www.innatkelseycreek.com/), Cobb (707-928-0433). $125 and up. Upscale roadside cabins 1 mile from the forest entrance.
Edie's Resort (http://www.ediesresort.com/front/home), Loch Lomond (707-928-5661). $55 and up. Rustic roadside cabins 3 miles from the forest entrance.
Eagle & Rose Inn (http://eagleandroseinn.com/middletown_lodging/), Middletown (707-987-7330). $75 and up. Roadside motel 15 minutes from the forest entrance.
Harbin Hot Springs (http://www.harbin.org/), Harbin (707-987-2477). $35 for a dorm room. Private rooms $130 and up. Famous alternative spa resort 35 minutes from the meet site. Also camping from $25.
Twin Pine Casino Hotel (http://www.twinpine.com/), Middletown, (707-987-0297), $125 and up. Hotel connected to casino. 20 minutes from forest entrance
Boggs Mountain Camping
Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest, at the event site
- This will be the center of the action at the event site. The camping is free. More information on signing up for camping at Boggs will be forthcoming. It may be close quarters as you will probably be sharing your site with other campers.
- There will be a yellow caution tape surrounding the camping area. Do not camp or walk outside of this area.
- There are a few tables and fire pits. The rangers prohibit us from constructing new fire pits or circles. You must bring your own water and take out your garbage. There are no showers, faucets, or trash cans. There are two "outhouses". We will be renting extra portable toilets for the event. It's a beautiful site, and you are right there in the orienteering area. There are not enough tables for all the campers, so some campers may want to bring their own table. Please clean your site before leaving, so the meet organizers don't have to.
- We'll have a campfire both Friday and Saturday nights.
- Note: If you camp at Boggs Mountain, you will not be able to wander far from the campground area the days prior to or during the meet. You can, of course, drive in and out on the park road. Also, we will be using the campgrounds for the event parking, so you probably will be asked to share your campsite with some cars.
Other Camping Options
Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, about 10 minutes away
- This is a KOA-type park. They have tent sites, water, RV sites with hookups, laundry, playground, camping cabins without kitchens, etc. If you're not staying at this park, you can go there and take a shower for $8. See this Web site (http://www.jellystonecobbmtn.com) for more info on the park.
Clear Lake State Park, 30 minutes away
- There is lots of parking in a flat area. The hiking area is hilly, but the camping area is very flat. The fee includes camping for 40 and parking for 8 cars and 4 RVs. There are four tiled, flush-toilet bathrooms and four nice, large, coin-operated, tiled showers (bring quarters), just for the two group campsites.
- There are individual sites with showers available.
- There is a nice swimming area on the lake. If you are not camping there, you can pay the day-use fee to swim and take a shower.
- For more info on the park, see this Web site (http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=473). A map of the park is available here (http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/473/files/ClearlakeCampgroundMap.pdf).
Event Officials and Crew Chiefs
- Event Director – George Minarik
- Friday Sprint Courses Designer – Sarah Minarik
- Saturday Middle Courses Designer – Ben Legg
- Sunday Long Courses Designer – George Minarik
- Registrars – Gary Kraght & Olga Serendenko
- Map Coordinator – Bob Cooley
- Awards – Tony Pinkham
- Junior Activity Coordinator – Jay Hann
- Camping Director – Nancy Lindemann
- Control Pickup (Sat & Sun) – Harold & Penny DeMoss
- More to be added...
Google Map
Map Legend
Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest
Oakland Airport (OAK)
San Francisco Airport (SFO)
Sacramento Airport (SMF)
Driving Directions
Traffic Warning: Friday afternoon and evening traffic on CA 29 through Napa Valley and US 101 to Santa Rosa is quite heavy. Give yourself at least another hour to get through this. Better yet, drive up early in the day and run the sprint course!
From San Francisco via Santa Rosa
This is usually the fastest SF route:
- Drive north on US-101 through Santa Rosa.
- Exit at River Road/Mark West Road.
- Turn right on Mark West Springs Road. This road becomes Porter Creek Road after about 5 miles, and eventually ends at a flashing red light after another 4 miles.
- Turn left onto Petrified Forest, following signs for Calistoga, for approx. 5 miles.
- Turn left onto Foothill Blvd/CA-128, and drive less than a mile.
- Turn right onto Tubbs Lane, and drive for 1.3 miles.
- Turn left onto CA-29, driving 15 miles into Middletown. (This is a curvy, mountainous road.)
- After you arrive in Middletown, turn left onto Hwy 175.
- Drive 7 miles to Cobb.
- About 1 mile past the center of Cobb turn right onto Forestry Rd. (This is a small road at the end of a sharp bend. There is a blue sign that says CDF Fire Station.)
- Follow O' signs for about 1.5 miles. The road soon becomes dirt, as you pass the ranger station. Park at the campgrounds.
From the East Bay via Napa Valley
- Take I-80 east past the town of Vallejo.
- Exit at Marine World Parkway/CA-37 toward Napa, and drive 2.5 miles.
- Exit Right on CA-29, driving for 39 miles to Calistoga.
- (Once in the Napa Valley, you have the option of taking the scenic Silverado Trail instead of the traffic-heavy CA-29. Turn right to leave CA-29 at Trancas, then turn left onto Silverado heading north. You will turn right onto CA-29 just north of Calistoga.)
- Turn Right on CA-29 through the town of Calistoga, driving 18 miles to Middletown. (This is a curvy, mountainous road.)
- After you arrive in Middletown, turn left onto Hwy 175.
- Drive 7 miles to Cobb.
- About 1 mile past the center of Cobb turn right onto Forestry Rd. (This is a small road at the end of a sharp bend. There is a blue sign that says CDF Fire Station.)
- Follow O' signs for about 1.5 miles. The road soon becomes dirt, as you pass the ranger station. Park at the campgrounds.
From Sacramento
- Drive north on I-5 for 58 miles to the town of Williams.
- Exit west on CA-20 for 37 miles.
- Turn left onto CA-53, though Clearlake.
- Drive 8 miles south and make a right onto Hwy 29.
- Drive 1.5 miles and make a left onto Seigler Canyon Rd.
- Drive 4 miles and bear right onto Loch Lomond Rd (the main road changes name).
- Drive 4 miles and make a left onto Hwy 175.
- Drive 2 miles and make a left onto Forestry Rd. (This is a small road. There is a blue sign that says CDF Fire Station.)
- Follow O' signs for about 1.5 miles. The road soon becomes dirt, as you pass the ranger station. Park at the campgrounds.