Calero County Park
Date: (Sun.) Oct. 4, 2015
Location: San Jose, CA
Event Director: - 650.281.5280
Course Setter: Theo Verhoeven
Type: B; Regular event with courses for beginners through advanced
Course Setter's Notes
By Theo Verhoeven
Welcome back to Calero. The park is as beautiful as ever, but, unfortunately, you will readily notice the impact of the ongoing drought. Many trees appear to be dying, and vegetation has changed dramatically. Thus, you should be careful to not rely on just one vegetation feature while planning your routes.
Courses
Courses are shorter than last year's A-meet. Here are the details:
Water Course Length Climb Controls Stops White 2.8 km 85 m 11 1 Yellow 2.7 km 100 m 13 1 Orange 3.7 km 235 m 14 1 Brown 2.9 km 175 m 11 1 Green 4.5 km 270 m 17 2 Red 6.2 km 375 m 17 3 Blue 7.4 km 420 m 20 3
The remote Start is a short, mostly flat, walk from the parking lot (750 m for the beginner and intermediate courses, 600 m for the advanced courses), and the Finish is 10–15 minutes away. However, Calero is hilly and the courses are still very physical, and involve significant climb and contouring. There are water stops on each course as indicated above, but depending on the temperature and your expected time on the course, you may want to consider carrying additional water.
Beginner Courses – The White and Yellow courses are a bit longer than usual. The White course is fully on trail, while the Yellow course requires short excursions off-trail.
Intermediate Course – The Orange course is fully off-trail. It might be a bit more difficult than usual, and requires good map reading.
Advanced Courses – The advanced courses use different areas of the park, from the open grass lands to the more covered open areas, and have a mix of longer and shorter legs.
Orange Streamers – You might notice many orange streamers in the park. They very likely do not indicate any control location. Most are not set out by us, but by the park rangers to mark future trail projects. Please do not remove them.
Out-of-Bounds Areas – The Green, Red, and Blue maps include a large out-of-bounds area. It is off-limits to all runners to protect California's serpentine rock.
Hazards
Horses – Please watch for horses on the trails. Give them the right-of-way. Do not run closely past a horse. If you are on a narrow trail, step aside and let the horse and rider pass. Above all, don't startle them. We don't want anyone to be thrown off a frightened horse.
Poison Oak – Poison oak is prevalent in the park. Most plants have lost their leaves and may appear as short sticks. The sticks are still poisonous though. Take precautions: wear long pants and long sleeves, and wash yourself properly after your run.
Hills – Calero is very hilly and the courses require a lot of contouring. The ground is very hard, and, when covered with leaves, can be very slippery.
Stickers and Seeds – Open areas have long grass with seeds that are sharp and work their way into your ankles and feet through shoes and socks—gaiters are recommended.
Gullies – Be vigilant and take care when crossing any gully. If a gully looks too dangerous to cross, there likely is a safer crossing nearby.
Wildlife – Calero has a variety of wildlife, including deer, mountain lions, and rattle snakes. Ticks are present in the park and may carry Lyme disease, so check yourself all over after getting home.
Heat – Calero has steep terrain, and early October temperatures may be in the 70s or 80s—runners should stay hydrated and run within their limits.
Map
The map scale is 1:7500 for the White and Yellow courses; it is 1:10000 for the other courses. The contour interval is 25 feet.
The ongoing drought in California has changed the appearance of many features. I have updated the map in many locations, but many inaccuracies remain. Please read the following notes carefully.
Vegetation – Due to the drought, the vegetation is often less dense than mapped. Care should be taken not to use vegetation boundaries as your sole navigation aid.
- Light green ("slow running" in legend) has some low bushy undergrowth, but generally should not slow you down.
- Green ("difficult to run" in legend) has more vegetation. It may slow you down, but is generally still quite runnable.
- Dark green ("difficult to walk" in legend) include thickets or areas of poison oak. It might be difficult to cross, although passage through short segments of dark green might be possible.
- Clearings are not always very distinct from the surrounding wooded area.
- Mapped thickets are a useful navigation aid, but many, including some used for controls, no longer have any leaves. Other mapped thickets have withered away and are more difficult to recognize. Some thickets are not mapped.
Trees – There are many unmapped ruined trees, fallen trees, and rootstocks, while some mapped ruined/fallen trees/rootstocks may have mostly eroded.
On the Map:
- The map includes rootstock (brown-×), ruined-tree (green-×) and fallen-tree (green-T) symbols. While a green-T is always a fallen tree, and a brown-× always a rootstock or tree stump, a green-× might be any of the above.
- A green-O is a distinct or lone tree. Due to the severe drought and sudden-death-oak disease, many such trees now appear to be dead. They might have lost a branch, but otherwise are still largely intact.
On the Clue Sheet:
- The ×-inside-a-circle symbol with a height description indicates a tall tree stump. It can be mapped as a green-× or brown-×.
- A "ruined tree" with an "end of" symbol indicates a fallen tree. Long ruined trees are mapped with a green-T. Other fallen trees are mapped with a green-×.
- A "ruined-tree" clue without an "end of" description indicates a large dead tree. The tree might still be largely intact, or reduced to a trunk with one or more branches. They are mapped with green-× symbols.
- Trees mapped with the green-O symbol always use the "tree" clue, whether they appear to be dead or not.
Boulders – Generally only larger rocks are mapped. This is however not always used consistently, and, at times, smaller rocks (0.5 m–1 m) are mapped, especially when there are no other boulders in the vicinity. Boulders on a slope might be indicated in the control descriptions with two heights (i.e., for the up-hill and down-hill sides).
Trails – Some mapped trails are no longer used, and might be partially overgrown and appear less distinct than mapped.
Lake Level – The lake level is significantly lower than mapped. While this should not affect your route choices, it is something Red and Blue runners should pay attention to.