Sunol Regional Wilderness
Date: (Sun.) Oct. 29, 2017
Location: Sunol, CA
Event Directors: 
- 925.862.2978,
Course Setter: Misha Kreslavsky
Type: B; Standard 7-course B-meet in a beautiful, but challenging park
Course Setter's Notes
By Misha Kreslavsky
Welcome to beautiful Sunol!
Course Statistics
Water
Course Length Climb Controls Stops Navigation Terrain
White 2.4 km 60 m 2.5% 12 0 Beginner Trails, Very easy
Yellow 1.9 km 120 m 6.3% 10 0 Adv. Beginner Off-trail, Easy
Orange 3.7 km 150 m 4.1% 8 1 Intermediate Off-trail, Moderate
Brown 3.6 km 150 m 4.2% 14 2 Advanced Off-trail, Difficult
Green 4.9 km 200 m 4.1% 14 2 Advanced Off-trail, Hard
Red 6.2 km 290 m 4.7% 19 3 Advanced Off-trail, Very Hard
Blue 7.6 km 390 m 5.1% 26 4 Advanced Off-trail, Very Hard
Starts and Finish Locations
The White (Beginner) Start is a short (170 m) walk from the registration/assembly area southeast along the main park road. Be sure to go to the correct Start.
The Start for all the other courses (Yellow through Blue) will require a short (400 m, 40 m elevation gain) trail hike following streamers. Plan on taking 15–20 minutes to get to the Start.
The Finish for all courses is 100 m from the assembly area (just across the footbridge).
Terrain
It is a mixture of open and forested terrain. The ground is dry and hard. The steepest slopes are difficult to cross in any direction. Grass on open terrain is dry and easily runnable. There are a lot of star thistles. They are easily runnable, but annoying.
Map
Map scale:
- 1:7,500 for White, Yellow, Orange, and Brown courses
- 1:10,000 for Green, Red, and Blue courses
Contour interval: 7.5 m (25 feet)
There are many unmapped cattle trails.
Green ×'s mean standing dead trees.
Brown ×'s mean fallen trees. Ignore them: Some old mapped fallen trees are almost unnoticeable; a lot of trees fell last spring and were not mapped. Fallen trees are not used for control locations.
Blue ×'s are water troughs, water tanks, and hydrants.
Black ×'s are picnic tables, broken power-line poles, covered concrete wells, and other man-made objects.
Hazards
There are cattle in the park. They are not aggressive, however, try not to startle the cows, run around groups of cows rather than through them, don't get between a calf and its mother.
On all courses except White, there is some poison oak, but not much.
On all courses except White, there are pieces of barbed wire on the ground. Please be careful.
White Course (Easy Beginner)
The White course follows roads and trails. You will need to recognize them on your map, on the terrain, and make the correct turns at the junctions.
Yellow Course (Advanced Beginner)
This time the Yellow course is unusual and somewhat challenging: it is short, steep, with high elevation gain, and long off-trail segments. Long pants and shoes with good grip are needed. You will mostly follow linear features: trails and fences.
You must cross fences through mapped gaps and gates only. Do not climb over fences—you do not need to do it, and it is forbidden.
From your control #7 to #8 you need to follow streamers—they will lead you downhill on a manageably steep route and then through a difficult-to-find gap in a fence.
Orange, Brown, Green, Red, and Blue Courses (Intermediate and Advanced)
The courses are in the western part of the map that hasn't been used for a decade. Unfortunately, the pre-Lidar map does not adequately show rich details of topography of the Calaveras fault zone. I redrew contours in vicinities of several controls, but they still are not perfect.
The courses cross barbed-wire fences. If there are no gaps or missing wires, roll under the wire—it is quick and safe. Don't jump or climb over the fences, it is forbidden and would compromise our ability to use this beautiful park in future.
The courses have a common first control 120 m along a trail from the Start. Some controls are close to each other—don’t forget to check the numbers.
On the Green, Red, and Blue courses, some (not all) sensible routes cross Alameda Creek. The water level is low, so the creek is easily crossable.
There is a loop on the Blue course (i.e., you will visit one control twice). Be careful with the control order.
I hope you enjoy the courses.
Your course setter, Misha Kreslavsky