Tamarancho

BAOC Club Championships

Fairfax
Sunday, Oct. 22, 2000

Contact: Scott Aster, 415-456-8118

How does a brand new, never-before-orienteered-on map on great terrain minutes from San Francisco sound? Well, that's what we've got with our spanking new map of the Tamarancho Boy Scout Camp, located in the hills west of Fairfax!

Tamarancho is a collage of Bay Area terrain. There are sections of rolling oak and bay tree terrain much like the good parts of Morgan Territory, steep chapparal sections with lots of fight like Las Trampas, areas of steep open grasslands like Sunol, and extensive redwood forest terrain very similar to parts of Huddart and even Big Basin (no huge trees though). We don't know yet if there is a "Hillside of Death" like at Bon Tempe (hope not!).

In the middle of the map is the camp, with gently rolling terrain and a good trail network, ideal for White, Yellow, and even Orange courses. On the periphery, the terrain gets steeper and more technical with fewer trails. Poison oak varies from none to light, but all advanced courses will probably encounter at least a little PO. Full body covering and Technu are advised.

Start times will be the same as usual, between 10:00 am and 12:30. The start area is located about 200 meters from the main parking lot. Beginner clinics start at 9:30 and run throughout the morning as needed. The courses close at 2:00 pm, so if you want a full three hours to do a course, make sure you start no later than 11:00 am.

We will NOT be using electronic punching for this event. Maps will be preprinted, but manual punching is the rule of the day.

Courses

George Kirkov drew the map and set the advanced courses, with yours truly creating White and Yellow. All seven standard courses are on tap:
        distance    climb
White    1.1 km      45 m
Yellow   2.0 km      95 m
Orange   3.3 km     200 m
Brown    3.3 km     185 m
Green    4.8 km
Red      6.2 km
Blue     7.9 km
We are still calculating the climb on the advanced courses, as George has had some difficulty making contours meet in the extensive redwood forest areas of the map, and I haven't have the energy to make the calculations. The climb will not be excessive compared to other Bay Area Parks. However, based on my own opinion of the courses George and I have set, I would not recommend people moving up a course at this venue.

Club Champs

This event has been designated as the annual BAOC Club Championships, and suitable prizes will be presented to the top finishers on each course. Awards will be presented at 2:30 pm.

The media has gotten wind of this being the club championships, and both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Marin IJ plan to be in attendance! On a slightly weirder note, I received a call last night from an "event director" from ESPN (yes, the TV sports channel), wanting to know more about the upcoming BAOC championships. I really can't imagine them wanting to cover us, but if you see a couple of TV trucks on Sunday, you'll know who they are.

Directions

From Highway 101 in Marin, take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard until you reach downtown Fairfax. Continue westbound on Sir Francis Drake past downtown for another quarter mile and look for the green highway sign that says "Camp Tamarancho." Turn left at this sign onto Olema Road, and continue to follow the subsequent green camp signs until you reach Iron Springs Road. Head up Iron Springs Road for two miles until it ends at the camp entrance.

WARNING!!! Iron Springs Road is a narrow, winding, partially paved road with lots of small to moderate-sized potholes. A car with normal clearance can make it up if driven carefully. Low-riders and sports cars are not advised on the road.