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Boggs 4: Adventure in Lake County

Two-Day A-Meet at Boggs Mountain State Forest

Start times are available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/reglist/index.php).

The Event Director's Notes are available here.

The Course Setters' Notes are available here.

Join the potluck dinner and/or campfire Saturday evening.

Please sign up in our online spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkYuwMAxP4YGdERKdHV5ZTVwQzhCdl8zSDE3c01ZVnc#gid=0) to help at the event!

Pre-registration has closed, but you can register at the event.

The Bay Area Orienteering Club returns to the quiet pine forests of Boggs Mountain for its fourth weekend A-meet at this venue that many consider the finest orienteering terrain in Northern California. The event will be a weighted combined-time two-day meet, with a Long course on Saturday and a Middle course on Sunday.

Orienteers of all levels of skill and experience, and of all ages, are welcome!

In conjunction with the A-Meet events, there will also be White, Yellow, and Orange recreational courses with day-of-meet registration (see below). These courses are perfect for beginners, hikers, or casual orienteers. Free beginner instruction will also be provided. Don’t be afraid to attend this event because it's an "A-meet". That simply means this will be a high-quality event — that, plus the excellent venue, means this is your chance to experience orienteering at its best.

In addition to everything below, please read the Event Director's Notes for more information.

Lake County

Lake County is a hilly, rural region, about a two-hour drive from San Francisco, Oakland, or Sacramento, and just one mountain ridge north of Napa Valley. It is known for its recreational opportunities, its vibrant new wine industry, and the cleanest air in California. Clear Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in California, is the recreational hub of the county and is just a short drive from Boggs Mountain. You can explore activities, attractions, accommodations, and more here (http://www.lakecounty.com).

Embargo

Since this is an A-meet, Boggs Mountain Forest is now embargoed until the weekend of the meet. Anyone who visits the area before then may still compete, but is not eligible for ranking points or awards.

Boggs Mountain Terrain

Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest (http://www.boggsmountain.org/SF_Explore.htm) is really a plateau topped with a series of small hilltops. The area is covered with a very runnable pine forest, and the slopes are fairly gradual over most of the plateau. The average elevation is about 3000 feet above sea level.

Schedule

July 26 – Registration opens

September 7 – Early registration deadline

September 21 – Pre-registration deadline

Friday, October 5 – Packet pickup at Eagle & Rose Inn (http://eagleandroseinn.com/cobb_mountain_lodging/) in Cobb

Saturday, October 6 – Long course starts, 10 AM – Noon

Saturday, October 6 – Long courses close, 3 PM

Saturday, October 6 – Potluck dinner, 5:30 PM

Saturday, October 6 – Campfire circle, about 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 7 – Middle course starts, 9–11 AM

Sunday, October 7 – Award ceremony, 1 PM

Sunday, October 7 – Middle courses close, 2 PM

On both days, everyone must return to the Finish by the course closing time, even if they have not completed their course.

Potluck Dinner & Campfire

There will be a potluck dinner 5:30 Saturday evening at the Boggs campground (i.e., at the event center). The club will provide plates, cups, utensils, and various beverages. You can sign up here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkYuwMAxP4YGdHZ2UnNGQU1Qd0lYTDVXQ2RfdkZOclE) to indicate you're coming and what you'll bring. Keep in mind that this is a primitive campsite — there is no electricity, so cooking is only on camp stoves or charcoal.

After the dinner, there will be a campfire jam. Come and sing along or just watch if you'd like. We're hoping that some people will bring their musical instruments (guitar, fiddle, ukulele, harmonica, banjo, zydeco tie, etc.). Nancy will bring some instruments to share (shakers, tambourines, maracas).

We've arranged for some small pieces of wood. Does anyone have some logs to share? How about smores for the young or young at heart, or are they too "old fashioned"?

Everyone is invited to participate in the dinner and/or the campfire.

A-Meet Awards

Awards will be presented for the standard 51 classes for an Orienteering USA A-Meet. (A table showing the classes can be found here (http://orienteeringusa.org/eventregister#osignup-how).)

We will combine the times for the two days (according to an algorithm not yet finalized) to produce one set of winners, and therefore one set of awards for the weekend.

Recreational Courses

In addition to the A-meet courses, there will be Beginner (White and Yellow) and Intermediate (Orange) recreational courses on both Saturday and Sunday. Register on the day of the event for these courses. Normal BAOC event fees apply. Start windows and course closing times are the same as for the A-meet schedule. These courses will be of the same high quality as the A-meet courses, but will not be counted in the A-meet results or earn Orienteering USA ranking credit.

There will be free beginners’ clinics on each day. These will take place next to the registration area from 9:30–10:30 AM.

Please note: If you are planning to bring a group of 5 or more, please contact the at least 10 days prior to the event, so we can print enough maps.

Registration Information

As mentioned above, registration for recreational courses will be at the event.

Start times are available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/reglist/index.php) (you might need to click on "View Registration/Start List" for the Boggs Mountain event).

A-meet pre-registration has closed. The list of current registrations is available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/reglist/index.php) (you might need to click on "View Registration/Start List" for the Boggs Mountain event).

Unfortunately, online payment is not available for this event. After completion of your online entry, please mail the Registrar a check payable to Bay Area Orienteering Club (or BAOC). (Non-USA entries may pay at check-in.) If you did not "sign" your waiver form online, include a printed waiver form with your check.

Registrar's address:

Gary Kraght

60 West Blithedale Ave

Mill Valley, CA 94941

Please note that your registration is not final until the registrar has received your completed waiver form, either online or on paper, and payment for the full amount of your registration.

Event Fees

The fees for the A-meet events are shown in the following table (recreational entrants pay normal BAOC fees at the event). Adult members of Orienteering USA or another national orienteering federation may deduct $4 per day from the rates shown. Junior members may deduct $2 per day. If this is your first A-meet, you can save up to $20 with this coupon (950KB/PDF).

After September 21, A-meet entrants must register at the event and pay day-of-event prices.

E-punch rental is $3 per day. You can purchase a 1:10000-scale sample map of Boggs Mountain for $5.00.

Course Statistics

Orienteers familiar with the rugged hills of the Bay Area may need to look twice at the percent of climb that our course setters are providing. Saturday’s Blue Long course is the only one exceeding 5% climb.

Saturday Long Courses

     Course    Length       Climb     Controls

     White     2.6 km     80 m  3.1%     14
     Yellow    3.3 km    125 m  3.8%     12
     Orange    4.6 km    200 m  4.3%     13
     Brown     3.8 km    120 m  3.2%     12
     Green     5.5 km    230 m  4.2%     14
     Red       8.0 km    390 m  4.9%     17
     Blue     10.1 km    525 m  5.2%     19

Sunday Middle Courses

     Course    Length       Climb     Controls

     White     2.6 km     85 m  3.3%     15
     Yellow    3.2 km    110 m  3.4%     13
     Orange    3.7 km    185 m  5.0%     15
     Brown     3.0 km    125 m  4.2%     13
     Green     3.5 km    155 m  4.4%     14
     Red       4.2 km    155 m  3.7%     16
     Blue      4.7 km    185 m  3.9%     17

No model course is planned.

Be sure to read the Course Setters' Notes for more information.

Electronic Punching

The SPORTident E-Punch system will be used for both A-Meet and recreational courses. Rental E-Punch sticks may be ordered at the time of online registration, and will be available at the event. An explanation of E-Punch is available here. More information about the use of E-Punch is available in our User's Guide to Electronic Punching.

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. The map is of high quality. Bob will be printing the maps for the two A-meet days. The contour interval is 5 meters. The map scale is 1:10000 for all the courses both days, except the Saturday Red and Blue Long courses are printed at 1:15000.

Recognition of vegetation 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. Many of these linear features can be a bit hard to see, mainly due to the pine needles that cover them in various thicknesses. Each of them is represented 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 one meter high are mapped. Many boulders smaller than one meter are also mapped, but these tend to be distinct in the terrain. Some of these smaller boulders will be used as control points. There are many dot knolls on the map, including a few anthills.

Hazards

Firearms are allowed in most areas of the forest at any time, although there are no hunting seasons planned at this time of the year. There is an informal shooting range in the southeast area of the park. This range is occasionally used. It is mapped as out of bounds with purple grid lines. Courses will not be set close to this range, although you may hear the gunshots.

The courses could encounter small patches of poison oak (PO), but they can be avoided easily. In the fall, most leaves of PO have either become red or have 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 Tecnu 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.

Remnants of human activity in the park that may cause unpleasant encounters include: small sections of old barbed-wire fences; hard, ankle-high bush stumps; numerous potholes that can be as deep as 3 feet; and a few metal stakes sticking up about a foot above the ground.

There is occasional vehicle traffic on the roads, and more frequent equestrian traffic. For the safety of the riders and orienteers alike, you must yield to horses if they are in your path. Do not run out of the forest towards them from their side.

It appears that yellow jackets could be a concern for the event. They are apparently very thirsty and hot, and are swarming around any water source, including human sweat. It's only a problem if you stop moving for a few minutes, and they don't sting, so it won't likely bother people on their course. However, the bees could be a problem at the campground and Start areas. For example, the weekend before the event they were swarming all over the toilets.

Event Volunteers

The event Officials will be:

Event Director –

Courses Designers – Heidi Cusworth, Bill Cusworth

Registrar –

Map Coordinator – Bob Cooley

OUSA Course Consultant – Jim Hall

The event Crew Chiefs will be:

Starts – Scott Aster

Finishes – Steve Harrison

E-Punch – Rosemary Johnson & Jeff Lanam

Junior Activities – Erin Schirm

Control Pickup – Harold & Penny DeMoss

Site Setup – Matthias Kohler

Recreational Registration – Esther Heller

Beginners' Clinics – Vicki Woolworth

Camping – Nancy Lindeman

First Aid – Joan Roos

Search and Rescue – Kelly Wells

Equipment – Mark Blair

The event Volunteers will include ... you?

This event will require a lot of volunteer help. Anybody who would like to offer to help (i.e., before they are asked) is invited to use our online sign-up sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkYuwMAxP4YGdERKdHV5ZTVwQzhCdl8zSDE3c01ZVnc#gid=0) (instructions are in blue at the top of the sheet). Please feel free to add your name — either for a particular task, or put your name at the bottom of the sheet to indicate your willingness to help where needed.

Alternatively, you can contact one of the Crew Chiefs, or the , directly.

Having many volunteers makes everybody's task easier, and everybody's experience better. Thank you in advance!

Training for Juniors

Erin Schirm, coach of the U.S. Junior Orienteering Team, will be offering training for juniors at the Boggs Mountain A-meet. Erin says he will lead a junior training session and review of courses for about 90–120 minutes starting at 3 PM on Saturday after the Long course. Be prepared to go into the woods for a little bit; have a compass and your Long course map with you. Any juniors who ran Orange and up are welcome. If you are a White or Yellow course runner and would like to attend, please contact in advance.

Erin has been orienteering for about 10 years. He graduated from Syracuse University in 2011 with a Physical Education degree. At Syracuse, he ran track and cross country. His team twice won the U.S. Interscholastic Championship. He was a member of the U.S. team at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in Lithuania in 2006.

If you are interested in competing for a spot on the U.S. JWOC Team in the next couple years, please set up a time to talk with Erin for about half an hour during the A-meet weekend.

Lodging

Here are some suggestions for lodging in the towns nearest the event site. They are all fairly small, and may fill up quickly.

• Eagle & Rose Inn (http://eagleandroseinn.com/cobb_mountain_lodging), Cobb (707-928-5242). $75 and up. A roadside motel 1 mile from the forest entrance. Located next to the post office on the west side of Route 175.

• Edie's Resort (http://www.ediesresort.com/front/home), Loch Lomond (707-928-9804). Rustic housekeeping cabins 3 miles from the forest entrance.

• Mariah Meadows Resort and Spa (http://www.mariahmeadowsresortandspa.com), Kelseyville (707-928-9983). Newly renovated resort 5 miles from the forest entrance.

• Eagle & Rose Inn (http://eagleandroseinn.com/middletown_lodging), Middletown (707-987-7330). $70 and up. Roadside motel 20 minutes from the forest entrance.

• Twin Pine Casino Hotel (http://www.twinpine.com), Middletown (707-987-0297). New hotel with very nice rooms, connected to an Indian casino. $129 (AAA and senior discounts available). 25 minutes from the forest entrance.

• Harbin Hot Springs (http://www.harbin.org), Middletown (707-987-2477). Non-profit retreat center offering a variety of accommodations, from tent cabins to dorm rooms to private cabins. Membership required ($10 for one-month trial).

The town of Clear Lake, about 40 minutes away, has a wider variety of accommodations (http://www.lakecounty.com/Accommodations/Area/Clearlake.htm), including:

• America’s Best Value Inn (http://www.americasbestvalueinn.com/bestv.cfm?idp=1787), Clear Lake (707-995-1555).

• Best Western El Grande Inn (http://bestwesterncalifornia.com/clearlake-hotels), Clear Lake (707-994-2000). AAA discount.

Calistoga, in northern Napa County, is about 50 minutes away, but staying there shortens your Friday night drive by that amount. Lodging information can be found here (http://napavalley.com/regions/calistoga/lodging.html).

Camping

Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest, at the event site itself

On the plus side, it’s a beautiful spot, it’s convenient, it’s free, and it will be the center of all the organized social activity for the weekend (more information coming soon). On the minus side, the facilities are minimal (a pit latrine and portable toilets, limited tables and fire pits, no running water or trash containers). You will need to bring your own water and remove your own trash. No new fire circles may be constructed. You will also need to stay close to the camping area, since you will be surrounded by areas used for the weekend’s courses (and thus off limits).

Jellystone RV Park and Camp Resort (http://www.jellystonecobbmtn.com), 10 minutes away.

This is a well equipped private campground with tent and RV sites, a few cabins, laundry, playground, swimming pool, showers, etc. If you're not staying at this park, you can pay $3 to get a pass to take a shower (the previous "$13" amount was incorrect).

Clear Lake State Park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=473), 30 minutes away

Lakefront park with tent/RV sites, restrooms, and showers.

Individual campsites (for up to 8 people each) are first come, first serve. There are two group campsites that can be reserved, but you need to have at least 9 people. Both types of sites have tiled, flush-toilet bathrooms, and nice, large, coin-operated (bring quarters), tiled showers.

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.

A map of the park is available here (PDF/364KB) (http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/473/files/ClearlakeCampgroundMap.pdf).

Equipment Sales

Scarborough Orienteering (http://orienteer.com) will have the following equipment available at the event:

Inov-8 Oroc 280 and 340, and some sizes in X-talon 212, and other off-trail shoes

Finger Sticks — SPORTident SI 6, 8, 9

Special: A few USA team uniform shirts. "Support the Team."

Also: club shirts, o21e o-tops, shirts, gaiters and o-pants, description holders, compasses, and other necessities

Look for the white Ford van. Joe will be camping Friday and Saturday.

Google Map

Map Legend

Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest
Oakland Airport (OAK)
San Francisco Airport (SFO)
Sacramento Airport (SMF)

Driving Directions