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Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

Date: (Sun.) Feb. 12, 2017
Location: Livermore, CA
Event Directors: - 925.516.7622, - 650.404.7037
Course Setters: Daniel Å ebo, Matej Sebo
Type: B; Regular 7-course event at one of our most popular venues

Come one, come all, to the first BAOC event of 2017! We return to Morgan Territory, with stunning views north to Mt. Diablo and south to the Livermore valley, and a high quality map from last year's US individual championships. Daniel and Matej Å ebo have designed a full range of courses, White through Blue, in this beautiful and complex terrain.

Please consider volunteering to help at the event. No matter what your skill set or experience, we can use you! We need several people to work on starts, one or two people on registration, any help on E-punch will be gratefully accepted, someone to give Beginner's Clinics, and lots of people for control pickup.

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! You can explore a course by yourself or go as a team with your friends. You will get a highly detailed orienteering map, probably unlike any map you have seen before. The map will have a lot of features on it, such as fences, boulders, lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and anything else you might see. Your course will be printed on the map.

Orienteering is easy to learn, a challenge to master, and incredibly fun!

Schedule

  9:00 AM – Registration opens (closes at noon sharp​—​no latecomers!)

  9:30 AM – Beginner's clinic instruction available (free)

10:00 AM – Starts officially open, you can start on courses anytime until 12:30

 2:00 PM – Courses close; checkpoint pick-up begins

At registration, all juniors must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian (the registration form is available here (PDF/100KB)).

Beginner's clinics are repeating sessions that provide an introduction to orienteering and enough instruction to be able to complete a beginner (White) course. The sessions will continue until 10:30–11:00 (they could stop earlier if there is no more demand).

Everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and check in at E-punch, even if you don't complete your course. We need to account for all participants, because otherwise we must organize a search party for you. At 2:00 PM we will also start taking down controls, so there is no point in staying out longer (other than to cause us worry).

After you finish, enjoy free snacks and refreshments, and socialize with other participants!

Costs

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for juniors on beginner's and advanced beginner's courses (White and Yellow)

  $8 for adults on beginner's and advanced beginner's courses

  $5 for juniors on intermediate and advanced courses (Orange, Brown, Green, Red, Blue)  

$12 member price for intermediate and advanced courses

$18 non-member price for intermediate and advanced courses

  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  

  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don't own one; you'll need one to complete the course)

$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

For extra people on a team, add $5 per adult on beginners' courses or $7 per adult for intermediate and advanced courses (with lower prices for juniors).

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/100KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.) Please note that the form has a second page for signatures of group members.

Location Within the Park

The Assembly Area (E-punch download, registration, snacks, and restrooms) will be at the Morgan Territory Road Staging Area (37.818582, -121.795560), on the right almost immediately after entering the park from the south side.

Note: The road from I-580 to the park includes a lengthy section of narrow, steep, twisty, 1.5-lane road. Please allow more time for the drive than the distance would lead you to expect.

Carpooling is encouraged due to possibly limited parking.

Courses

Here are the course statistics:

                                          Water   Navigational   Physical  
    Course    Distance   Climb  Controls  stops   Difficulty     Difficulty
    White      3.0 km     90 m     12       0     Very easy      Easy  
    Yellow     3.2 km     90 m      9       1     Easy           Easy
    Orange     5.3 km    170 m     14       2     Moderate       Moderate
    Brown      3.7 km    130 m     15       1     Difficult      Easy
    Green      5.4 km    210 m     22       2     Difficult      Moderate
    Red        7.1 km    320 m     28       3     Difficult      Difficult
    Blue       8.8 km    375 m     30       3     Difficult      Very difficult

Be sure to read the Course Setters' Notes for more information. In particular, note that there will be a remote start location for all the courses. It is located 1.5 km (real, not straight-line distance) from the registration area. It will take about 15–20 minutes of walking to reach the Start.

The White course is perfect for first-timers and families with small children. It is a beginning-level orienteering course that is completely on trails and paths.

The Yellow course is advanced-beginner level, mostly along trails, but with easy cross-country opportunities available. If you wish, you can do both beginner courses at this event, as there will be no overlapping controls.

The Orange course is intermediate level technically, but physically long and tough. This is a great course for adventure racers and others with stamina and enthusiasm.

The Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses are difficult both technically and physically. The courses have different lengths, with Brown being the shortest and Blue being the longest.

The White, Yellow, and Orange courses have been designed by Daniel Å ebo. Matej Å ebo designed the advanced courses (Brown through Blue).

What to Bring

For beginners' courses, comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For intermediate and advanced courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well as shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident fingerstick. If you don't have your own, you can rent one at registration for $5. (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Venue Facilities

Water fountains and pit toilets are available, as well as unlimited beautiful outdoor space, so please feel free to bring along a blanket and a picnic lunch for after the course.

Hazards

Participants on the intermediate and advanced courses should be aware that the park has some poison oak that you will want to avoid. It looks like this. Washing clothes and shoes, and bathing with dishwashing soap or a commercial product such as Tecnu, is recommended to remove the irritant oil.

Volunteers Needed

The Event Directors Marie-Josée Parayre and Aron Walker will be totally appreciative to anyone who can volunteer to help at the event, either before or after their run. Please email or if you can help out. Rosemary Johnson is also always looking for help at E-punch, so if that interests you, let the event directors or know.

Help is needed for the following tasks:

• Assistant for Steve H. at registration

• Parking assistant

• Beginners clinics (9:30–10:30)

• Starts (9:30–11:00 and 11:00–12:30)

• Finish (10:00–12:00 and 12:00–2:00)

• E-Punch

• Food and social

• Control pick-up

Help with control pick-up will be essential, because the event will use lots of control units, many in remote locations. You do not need to let us know before the event (although it is always comforting to hear), but please plan on helping to pick up controls afterwards if you can fit it into your schedule. Picking up controls is also an excellent way to practice orienteering skills off the clock, and is recommended for anyone wanting to improve their skills. If you are in a carpool, try to bring your buddies with you! Control pick-up will begin at 2:00 PM sharp.

Driving Directions

From most of the Bay Area, take I-580 East to North Livermore Ave. After a straight, tree-lined stretch, North Livermore Ave ends at a "T" at Manning Road. Go left and then promptly right on Morgan Territory Road, the first real street, which will ascend into the hills and to the event.

For anyone east of Livermore, do the same, reaching North Livermore Ave from I-580 West.

From the northeast bay (e.g., Antioch), there are more interesting route choices entering the park from the north. Consult your favorite mapping website or app (the coordinates of the Assembly Area are above).

There's a map here that shows the location of the event (and future events at this park).