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“Corona” training course in Vallejo

Sulphur Springs Mountain

There's another pink-streamer course for training, at Sulphur Springs in Vallejo: 3.9 km, 240 m climb, 8 checkpoints.

The coordinates of the start triangle are 38.138556, -122.208139.

The printable map and course notes are here (https://sites.google.com/view/terraloco-training/2020-04-03-sulphur-springs). Note that there are photos of the control locations in the middle of the webpage. Note that some of the streamers are high (so the cows can't reach them).

At the bottom of the webpage, there is a form where you can submit your results.

Thanks to Marie-Josée & François for beta testing the course.

(April 7, 2020)

April 15^th Update

Went back out to Sulphur Springs in Vallejo today (April 15) and replaced pink streamers #1, #3, and #6. Streamers #2, #4, #5, #7, and #8 were still intact.

The grass is still short, cows are still bashful and shy, there are more flowers, especially golden poppies, and there were hang-gliders/para-sailers cruising the skies above (they launch from very high up).

Rex

Course Comments

I hiked Rex’s course at Sulphur Springs Mountain, just northeast of the junction of I-80 and Route 37 in Vallejo today. Interesting terrain. Although almost entirely open, there is a fair amount of contour detail, and loads of rock features, almost all of which were not mapped. Also, almost all of the cultural details, such as trails, power lines, fences, etc. were not mapped. It was basically a contours-only map, which definitely increased the challenge.

The vegetation wasn't too bad. The cows keep it in check, although I did spend about 10–12 minutes picking foxtails out of my socks after I returned.

It would be interesting to have a real O map of the area. As I hiked through the area, I kept wondering how I would map those rock features. Certainly some are cliffs. However, I think the majority probably should be mapped as rocky dot knolls, rather than boulders. I remember Mikel Platt saying that if you were strong enough and could push it over, it probably should be mapped as a boulder, but if it was more of a land form feature, probably as a (dot) knoll. Also, I saw a rock wall. I think that is the first rock wall I have seen in California. There are tons of them in New England, but rare here in California.

Rex, do you know what those metal cylinders in reentrants are, such as at control #1? Are they water tanks for cattle, or perhaps caps of quicksilver mine shafts. The mountain was the source of multiple cinnebar mines which produced mercury, used in the extraction of gold from about 1850 to the early 1900’s. There is an interesting article about the history of the mountain here (https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2018/03/30/solano-chronicles-vallejo-had-its-own-quicksilver-mining-district/).

Who is the landowner? Is it the Greater Vallejo Recreational District? I didn’t see any park or water district signs. The biggest problem for having a real event there is lack of parking. I guess we could ask Lowe’s, which has a big store and parking lot across the street. Also, there is a Solano Community College east of Lowe’s. There is also the Blue Rock Springs Historical Site, which has group picnic grounds and trail access to the mountain.

Thanks, Rex. It was a fun morning.

Evan Custer
(May 5, 2020)

Status Update

I've discovered that for some reason when you Publish a Sheet with Google, it defaults to “only those who you’ve shared it with.” So I had to go through another step to fix some of the “results” pages.

However, I think the link for this venue (https://sites.google.com/view/terraloco-training/2020-04-03-sulphur-springs) has been working all along. It also has the most entries for all of “my” venues.

A couple of the streamers have probably gone missing.

(May 22, 2020)