Spring Lake Regional Park
Date: (Sun.) May. 15, 2011
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Event Director: Judy Koehler - 707.778.1604
Course Setters: Brett Carver, Erik Carver, Scott Aster
Type: C; A "Come and Try It" event. Spring time at Spring Lake -- be there!
Course Setters' Notes
By Scott Aster
Welcome to Orienteering at wonderful Spring Lake County Park. Four courses will be offered, with a range of challenge that should suit anyone's taste. Try more than one course if you have the time and desire!
The map is of generally high quality. We updated the entire map in 2009, and have made recent revisions as needed, especially near control locations. Although there are too many pits and boulders on the map to show them all, the areas around control locations are very accurate.
Manual (pin) punches will be used, which will give you a chance to practice your punching speed.
The course statistics are:
Course Length Climb Technical/Physical
White 2.2 km 35 m First timers/Easy Yellow 4.0 km 115 m Advanced beginner/Easy Motala 1 1.6 km 70 m Intermediate/Moderate Motala 2 2.0 km 45 m Intermediate/Moderate
The White course is designed for people trying this sport for the first time. It stays on trails & roads, and teaches you how to read and navigate by an orienteering map.
The Yellow course is a little tougher technically than the White course, and is more physical as well. The Yellow course will be quite a bit longer than usual, and roughly half of the course will traverse the most technical areas of the map, visiting parts of the park we rarely venture into. All the controls will be within 50 meters of a trail or road (most much closer), but they will not all be visible from trails, and so will be a bit more technical than our usual Yellow courses. However, trails and other linear features can be used to get very close to the controls. Many optimal routes will tempt people to go cross country, rather than on paths. This course straddles the normal Yellow and Orange courses in technical difficulty, and should be a fun challenge for all levels of navigation skill.
There are two Motala courses today, set to challenge your ability to navigate at speed (if you choose to go fast) with many abrupt changes of direction. Both courses are short, and will have quick route-choice decisions, placing an emphasis on good map reading. The Motala results will be calculated based on your completion of both loops, though you are welcome to do just one loop if you prefer. Those doing the full Motala will complete Motala 1 first, and upon crossing the Finish line, immediately go to the Start area, grab a Motala 2 map and continue on the course without getting a new start time. All are welcome to try these courses, which contain many short legs where it will be easy to make a wrong turn!
The pair of Motala courses will substitute for the announced Sprint course for those who want a sprint. The combined distance will be 3.8 km (if you do both loops, running from the Finish to the Start for your second loop). The first loop will take you on a brief tour of the Annadale side (hence the greater climb), while the second loop dives into the heart of the complex, technical terrain on the west side of the map. You are welcome to do one or both loops, but the results of the Motala will count only for those who complete both loops, doing loop 1 first.
While poison oak is a always a factor at Spring Lake, I've found it to be sparser than usual this year, and easy to avoid. The primary hazard will be bicyclists, equestrians, and distracted mothers pushing double and triple baby carriages on the bike paths (no kidding, they seem to be out in force this year). Please don't run into any of these hazards, and remember that horses always have the right of way.
Spring Lake is a great park to enjoy a picnic lunch at, and with the recent warm weather, the swimming lagoon may even be open, if you care to cool off after completing your course.
Finally, please remember that courses close at 2:00 PM. You must return to the Finish by then — even if you haven't completed your course.