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Tilden Regional Park

Open Event for non-Scouts

Date: (Sun.) Oct. 9, 2016
Location: Berkeley, CA
Event Director: - 925.934.6567
Course Setters: Gavin Wyatt-Mair, Steve Harrison
Type: B; Open Event for non-Scouts — Regular 7-course BAOC event in conjunction with the Scout-O Championships


Meet Director's and Course Setters’ Notes

This is the 24th Bay Area Scout Orienteering Championships!! All scouts and non-scouts are welcome to attend, run a course, and have a generally good time! The forecast is for good weather​—​partly sunny and about 75 degrees. It is a great area for picnics, so bring your friends and your family and enjoy the beautiful park.

Courses

                                              Navigational   Physical  
   Course        Length    Climb   Controls   difficulty     difficulty
   White(1)      1.9 km     50 m      12      Easy           Easy  
   Yellow(2)     2.4 km     80 m      13      Easy           Easy
   Orange(4)     3.6 km    150 m      14      Moderate       Moderate
   Short Brown   3.3 km    140 m      15      Moderate       Moderate
   Brown         4.2 km    185 m      19      Hard           Moderate
   Green         5.4 km    280 m      20      Hard           Hardish
   Red           6.3 km    325 m      23      Hard           Hard
   Blue          7.1 km    440 m      23      Hard           Hard

Beginners' and Intermediate Courses

The Scout-O overlaps the White(1), Yellow(2), and Orange(4) courses. There will be many scouts on the courses, please be tolerant. There is an extensive network of trails in Tilden, and in some cases new trails have been blazed near the old ones. It’s a good idea to use other features to locate yourself, not just the trails.

Advanced Courses

The advanced courses (Brown through Blue) are designed to cross the scout courses often, thereby exposing scouts to advanced runners. Please set a good example! The courses are a mixture of forest, requiring careful navigation, and open that can be taken at speed. Footing is good. Route choices should be carefully selected, and there are many.

General Course Comments

All courses have E-punch. Drinking water has been placed on all the courses.

There is poison oak in Tilden​—​it is mainly stalks, and is avoidable. Tilden has some dense undergrowth, including brambles, so it makes sense to wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and gaiters. Off-trail choices may be steep and slippery​—​shoes or boots with cleats or a good grip would help, especially on Orange(4) and above.

To cross fences, you may go over, under, or through wherever you like​—​just remember it is barbed wire.

All courses feature many route choices, and some of those choices may cross roads. Please be careful of traffic! You may encounter a Geo-Cache; please do not disturb it.

Map

The map scale is 1:10,000 with 5 m contours.

There are two symbols used for man-made objects. The blue circle O represents a water feature, typically a drinking fountain, while the black × represents other man-made objects. It can be difficult to distinguish between the blue drinking-fountain symbol and the green distinct-tree symbol.

Miscellaneous

Registration for regular-O will be open from about 9:00. Earliest start is at 10:00, latest start at 12:30.

The weather forecast calls for 75+ temperatures, partly sunny, and no chance of rain. Wildlife we have seen include deer, eagles, coyote, skunks, buzzards, orienteers, turkeys, and frogs.

The Start is about 0.5 km, 40 m climb, from the parking lot​—​it takes 10 to 15 minutes to walk there. The Finish is near the registration area, at Lake Anza.

Be polite to other park users please (this is a requirement for future permits).

Directions

Registration will be at Lake Anza. There are many ways to get to Tilden Park. Here is one: From Highway 24, take Fish Ranch Road exit (this exit is just east of the Caldecott Tunnel). Go Northwest up Fish Ranch Road for 1 km, to the top of the hill. Turn right on Grizzly Peak Blvd. Wind around on Grizzly Peak for about 2.5 km until you reach the South Park Drive entrance to Tilden Park (don’t take the steam trains entrance, go past until South Park Drive).

Once you are inside the Park, follow the Park signs to Lake Anza. Lake Anza is just 400 meters south-southeast of the Merry-Go-Round, but please do not park in the Merry-Go-Round parking.

Parking

Parking is at Lake Anza. Parking is free. Do not park in the Merry-Go-Round parking lot.

Please make efficient use of the parking space, especially in the dirt overflow lot. Please car-pool if possible.