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Bon Tempe Reservoir Self-Serve Courses
Date: Aug. 1 - 31, 2021
Location: Fairfax, CA
Course Setter: Dennis Wildfogel
Type: Training; Unofficial, self-serve Brown, Green, and Red courses; download PDFs of the maps from the BAOC website; the courses are also available through the MapRun6 app on your smartphone or tablet, and the MapRunG app on a Garmin watch capable of running apps
Related Event Information
December 2020 Event December Course Setter’s Notes Event Results
These are unofficial, self-serve courses that you can run anytime during February, March, and April.
General Notes
- These are training courses, not an organized BAOC event. We do not have a park permit for these courses.
- Be careful for your safety. You are on your own—tell somebody where you will be and when you expect to return.
- You are doing this at your own risk. Each participant assumes full responsibility (BAOC accepts no responsibility) for any and all injuries, losses, and damages that he or she incurs while attending or participating in these courses. Hazards could include steep hills and cliffs, loose rocks, occasional dense and sharp brush, poison oak, mountain lions and rattlesnakes … and more.
- Be mindful of the general COVID-19 restrictions, and any specific restrictions that might apply to the park.
- There is no fee for running these courses. Of course, charitable donations to BAOC are always appreciated. 😉
If you intend to go run one of these courses, please indicate that intention on this Google sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10-xsKAZJ-M-QHa2h-GWGeWcpk_uuEDjGLLpIJWhMYcY/edit?usp=sharing_eip&ts=602f4649). Don't sign up for a time when someone else is going. After you go, please at least indicate that you went; if you like, you may add your time and your splits.
On weekends when the weather is even moderately reasonable, Bon Tempe gets pretty crowded. If you are going on a weekend, it is highly recommended that you go there early enough to be done and gone by 11:00.
More information could be added to this page, so check back again before heading out.
Thanks to Bill Cusworth (MapRun), Marie-Josée Parayre (Google sheet), and Chuck Spalding (webpage) for helping to get this event set up.
Courses
Here are the course details:
Course Length Climb Controls
Brown 2.9 km 70 m (2.4%) 15
Green 4.5 km 210 m (4.7%) 23
Red 7.1 km 280 m (3.9%) 38
Notes:
- You should look at the event notes, and particularly the Course Setter’s Notes, for the December 2020 event for more information.
- Beginner and intermediate orienteers should be aware that these are advanced courses because of their navigational difficulty. If you decide to try them (e.g., to improve your skills), please be careful.
Course Comments
These courses use many of the same control points as the December event, but the routes between controls are entirely different from the ones in that event. The Brown and Green courses have no overlap at all with one another; it would be perfectly reasonable to run one of those courses one day and come back another day to run the other. The Red course is pretty much Green followed by Brown, with a few variations. Green is more physical than the Green in December, and ventures into territory that only Red went into in December.
There is a small surveyor flag marking the location of each control. The flags are red, about 2" by 3", and are on thin wire posts about a foot high; the control code is written on the flag. Neither the Start nor the Finish are marked in the terrain. The Start for all three courses is exactly where the Finish was for the December 2020 event; you can see the location of the latter, near a telephone poll, on the map of the assembly area in the December event announcement. There are two little, unmapped rocks 5 m or so NW of that telephone poll; the Start is right between those rocks. The Finish is at the next telephone poll to the NW on the same power line.
If you are using the MapRun (http://maprunners.weebly.com/) app, you will often hear the beep indicating that you have punched before you see the flag. Note that MapRun will beep if you are within 15 m of any control on your course. Since there is a good chance that you will in fact pass near a control on your course that is not on the current map you are using, there is the possibility that you will hear a stray beep or two. In any case, if you hear a beep and you’re not sure if you’re at the correct location, look for the flag and check the control code.
If you want to use the MapRun app on your smartphone, you should now be using MapRun6 rather than MapRunF. These Bon Tempe courses are already available via the MapRun Select Course button. Navigate your way to the BAOC folder (USA > California > Bay Area > BAOC), and then look for the courses with names like “Bon Tempe 2021 <color> Coronaâ€. (Don't select one of the Bon Tempe 2020 courses by mistake.) If you need assistance with the MapRun app, a good place to start is here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/18m6zL0pT1UDiNMD8EdGHXcRZOQmd_1j0082afhDLXsM/edit#heading=h.e80majbehepn).
Note: More information about the MapRun app is available here.
Maps
The maps and clue sheets are available with the links below. All the maps print on 8½×11 (letter-size) paper.
- Control Descriptions (80KB PDF)
- Brown course: Part 1 (860KB PDF) Part 2 (845KB PDF)
- Green course: Part 1 (840KB PDF) Part 2 (840KB PDF)
- Red course: Part 1 (840KB PDF) Part 2 (840KB PDF) Part 3 (880KB PDF)
Special map note: Control #4 on Brown, which is also #27 on Red, is a rootstock surrounded by a thicket of Scotch Broom. Well, at least it was. When I was out there on Feb. 19, there was a worker removing the Broom. The rootstock is no longer in the thicket, and the worker indicated that they may be removing the rest of the thicket soon. I won't correct the map until they've completed the work, so just be aware that some or all of that thicket won't be there when you get there.
Map Exchange
All the courses have a map exchange; the Red course has two exchanges. That is, there are two or three separate maps for each course: one with the first part of the course, one for the middle portion for the Red course, and a map with the rest of the course. The control where the map exchange takes place is on both the first and second maps (and the second and third Red maps). Ordinarily, you would drop off the first map at the exchange control and pick up the map for the second part. However, since you’ll be on your own, we’re using a “map flip†instead: you’ll start with all the maps at the Start, arranged so that you’re looking only at the Part 1 map.
Clue sheets for each part are printed on each map. If you use a separate clue sheet, you should start with it folded so that you initially see only the clues for Part 1.
At an event where there is a “real†map exchange, you don’t have the second map until you reach the map-exchange control, and you don’t have the first map after you leave the map-exchange control. So, on your honor, for these Bon Tempe courses you should not look at the second (or third) map until you actually reach the map-exchange control, and after that you should not look at the previous map(s) again. Similarly, at the map-exchange control, you should flip the clue sheet so that you see only the clues for the new map (or simply use the clue sheet printed on the new map).
Results
For the people who have run the courses up to now and uploaded their GPS tracks with MapRun, you can see the overall results and you can see their routes and splits on RouteGadget with the links below.
- Brown course: Current results (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/SelectResultFileForSplitsBrowserFiltered.cgi?days=60&act=fileToSplitsBrowser&eventName=CombinedResults_Bon%2520Tempe%25202021%2520Brown%2520Corona%2520PXAC.csv) RouteGadget (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=12102&kieli=&cID=1)
- Green course: Current results (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/SelectResultFileForSplitsBrowserFiltered.cgi?days=60&act=fileToSplitsBrowser&eventName=CombinedResults_Bon%2520Tempe%25202021%2520Green%2520Corona%2520PXAC.csv) RouteGadget (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=12103&kieli=&cID=1)
- Red course: Current results (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/SelectResultFileForSplitsBrowserFiltered.cgi?days=60&act=fileToSplitsBrowser&eventName=CombinedResults_Bon%2520Tempe%25202021%2520Red%2520Corona%2520PXAC.csv) RouteGadget (http://www.p.fne.com.au/rg/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=12101&kieli=&cID=1)
(Of course, you won't want to "peek" at the routes before you run your course. 😉)
Driving Directions
The first challenge is to locate the Start! There are several ways to get to Bon Tempe from Highway 101 in Marin.
The approximate coordinates for the Start are 37.9501,-122.5975. Use those coordinates, use Google Maps to get directions to “Lake Lagunitas Parking Lotâ€, or take the default route described below.
From Highway 101 in Greenbrae, take the Sir Francis Drake Blvd exit, and go west for 5.5 miles to the town of Fairfax. Turn left at Claus Dr (Rino gas station on the right), and then immediately take another left onto Broadway. Turn right at the next corner (coffee shop on the corner) onto Bolinas Rd.
Stay on Bolinas Rd for 1.5 miles. Turn left at the large, brown, wooden sign on your left with white lettering that says “Lake Lagunitasâ€, “Alpine Lakeâ€, and “Bon Tempe Lakeâ€.
Stay on this road until you reach the ranger kiosk. If the kiosk is not staffed, pay the $8 entrance fee at the pay-and-display machine 150 m further on the right. The automated pay station accepts debit and credit cards and $1, $5, and $10 bills, but it does not make change.
Proceed on the paved road to the parking lot at the very end, following any signs to Lake Lagunitas. (Note: Do not turn right onto the gravel road to Bon Tempe Dam.)