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Lake Herman Recreation Area

Date: (Sun.) Sep. 15, 2024
Location: Benicia, CA
Event Director: - 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Matej Šebo
Type: B; Event for beginners through advanced; free, brief, beginner instruction will be available

Related Event Information

Event Results Course Setter’s Notes Attackpoint Event Page (http://www.attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_58672) Last Year’s Event

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


September 9th Update

I hope you are all getting excited for our next event in just six days! Matej Šebo has created some challenging courses, and improved the map, which we will all appreciate after the challenges of prior years there.
I could still use one or two more volunteers, who can give me an hour or so in the morning for either beginner clinics or starts, and we can always use more help with control pick up. Please contact me if you can help.
Not to worry about control pick up with Memory-O! All those willing to pick up controls at the end of the event will be given a map (if they wish) showing the locations of the controls.
The weather forecast is for cooler temps on Sunday, so come on out and test yourself at one of our parks with virtually no poison oak!
Scott Aster, Event Director ()


We have the permit for our Lake Herman event, and the Course Setter is working on the courses, so please make plans to attend this event.

Lake Herman Recreation Area is in the grassy hills above the Carquinez Strait. This will be BAOC's fifth event at this venue. With its fairly open terrain and modest hills by Bay Area standards, Lake Herman is a lot less intimidating than many of our locations. So, if you have been thinking of moving up to a more advanced level, or if you have been trying to get your kids or neighbors or co-workers to try our sport, this is a great place to do that.

Registration for the event will be in Benicia Community Park. (Driving directions are below.)

We also invite (i.e., urge) you to volunteer! Choose from setup, registration, beginner clinics, starts, or control pickup. Most of these tasks require little or no experience (and training is provided). More information is below. The Event Director, Scott Aster (), looks forward to hearing from many of you. 😉

What is Orienteering?

An adventure: Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! Teams of 1 to 5 find checkpoints in parks and wilderness areas using specially-produced maps. All are welcome at our events: runners, joggers, hikers, and walkers; beginners and experienced; club membership is not required.

Schedule

The following standard BAOC event schedule will be followed:

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open
  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginner clinics instruction (free)
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open for all courses
                  2:00 PM: Everyone must have returned to the Finish
Note: At registration, all juniors (i.e., under age 21) 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/12KB].)

Note that you can register and start on the courses anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00. (You can if you want, but please don’t show up earlier and expect to be served.)

Beginner clinics are 15–20 minute, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the Beginner course.

Note that everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and then promptly go to the download tent, even if they have not completed their course. Please do not leave without checking in! If there are unaccounted people after 2:00, we must initiate a search for them.

Costs & Registration

The following fees apply for this event:

  $3 for each junior on the (Advanced) Beginner (Yellow) course
  $8 for each adult on the (Advanced) Beginner (Yellow) course
  $5 for each junior on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (Brown or Memory) course  
$15 for each adult member on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (Brown or Memory) course
$20 for each adult non-member on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (Brown or Memory) course
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don’t own one; each group will need one to complete their course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  
Notes:
  • Juniors are age 8 through 20 (under age 8 is free).
  • You can register at the event or online before the event (see below).
  • At the event, we can accept payment by cash, check, or credit/debit card (but no electronic payments — e.g., PayPal, Venmo).
  • There is no charge for a second course (but you must end up paying for the more expensive course — e.g., the Orange course after the Beginner course).
  • Members of other orienteering clubs can pay the "member" fee. (We hope your club would do the same for our members. 🙂)

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/12KB), 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.)

Optional Online Registration

Online registration has closed, but you can still register at the event.

Notes:
  • Online registration is not required​—​you can register at the event.
  • You can see who is registered here (https://eventreg.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/reglist/home/lakeherman2024) (but keep in mind that others will register at the event).

What to Bring

You might want to consider the (remote?) possibility of rain ... and bring warm clothes for after you complete your course(s). Actually, you might want to bring warm clothes to wear while you complete your course(s), since the temperature might be chilly because of wind.

For the Beginner course (Yellow), comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For the Intermediate (Orange) and Advanced (Brown and Memory) courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well 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 E-punch 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

The assembly area is in Benicia Community Park, which is adjacent to Lake Herman Recreation Area. We have reserved a portion of the picnic area.

The park offers ample free parking, restrooms, picnic tables and barbecues, and a children's playground. Feel free to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after you finish your course.

Dogs are not allowed in Benicia Community Park, other than in the enclosed dog area.

Terrain and Courses

The park consists of about 2.3 sq km of rolling hills sloping down to Lake Herman, a small reservoir that is the source of drinking water for the city of Benicia. The base map, produced by Bob Cooley in 2012, was a high-resolution aerial photograph overlaid on 2.5-meter LIDAR contours. The map was then drawn in OCAD by Benicia teenager Emily Radtke as a Girl Scout Silver Award project. There are some wooded areas on the outskirts of the park and in streambeds, but over most of the area, mapped vegetation consists of bushes and small trees.

Because of the relatively open terrain and gentle climb in most of the park, this is a good opportunity for anyone considering moving up a level to do so.

Courses

Here are the course details: 

                                              Navigational
    Course        Distance   Climb  Controls  Difficulty
    Yellow         2.9 km    110 m     12     Beginner  
    Orange         3.7 km    125 m     16     Intermediate  
    Brown          3.1 km    110 m     15     Advanced  
    Short Memory   3.0 km    115 m     13     Extreme  
    Long Memory    4.8 km    190 m     19     Extreme

Beginners should be aware that the lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (i.e., in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).

So, there will not be a White (Beginner) course, but the Yellow (normally, Advanced Beginner) course will be on the easier side. And there will not be conventional advanced courses, apart from a shorter-than-usual Brown course.

The safety bearing for all the courses is south to the baseball fields.

The Start, Finish, and assembly area are all essentially in the same place, in the area with the picnic tables.

No water will be provided on the courses (the assembly area will have water). The courses are short, but if you feel like you'll need water on them, please carry your own. Carrying water is strongly recommended on both Memory courses, as the risk of getting lost for a long time is significantly higher on these.

The two Memory courses will not overlap at all, so ambitious orienteerers can run both of them if they wish. The Orange and Brown courses overlap significantly with both Memory courses.

The gist of Memory-O is that you're navigating without a map. You carry only a control description sheet with safety bearing information (in case you get irrecoverably lost). Map snippets are attached to all of your controls, showing only the next leg on your course. You memorize the route to the next control, and execute it entirely from memory. If that doesn't work out, you can (hopefully) go back to the previous control and try again. The Course Setter has found this training to be a helpful way to learn map simplification. More details about the Memory-O courses will be in the Course Setter's Notes.

In addition to the courses described above, there will be a "Sketch-O" option with blank paper provided at the Start. This is for those who want an easier training exercise, and wish to simplify the map at each control with their own sketched drawing.

All the maps are printed at 1:4000.

The Course Setter's Notes are here​—​be sure to read them. In particular, there is more information about the Memory courses and the "Sketch-O" option.

We Need Volunteers!!!

Specifically, it will be very helpful if you volunteer to help with E-punch, starts, beginner clinics, or control pickup.

E-punch is not as difficult as you might think, and adequate instruction will be given.

Managing starts is a nice activity that anyone can do, regardless of orienteering experience, so I encourage new members who are looking for a way to help the club to step up. We will have shifts working on the Start line, so you will be able to run a course.

And imagine the newcomers that you can inspire as their beginner-clinic guru. Marriages have even resulted from our beginner clinics!

OK, enough of the volunteer spiel. And seriously, all BAOC events can be put on only with volunteers like you. If you can help, please contact Event Director Scott Aster ().

Driving Directions

The assembly area will be in Benicia Community Park. Its official address is 540 Rose Dr, Benicia​—​that will get you close enough to find us. Alternatively, the approximate coordinates of the assembly area are 38.0862,-122.1586. Or you can follow the directions below.

Note: Do not follow Google Maps directions to Lake Herman Recreation Area. That would put you on the opposite side of the park.

From the South Bay, most of the East Bay, and the southern half of the Peninsula:

Take I-680 North across the Benicia-Martinez Bridge (toll crossing). Stay in the left lanes on the bridge to merge onto I-780 West. Take the second exit (#5) from I-780, E 2nd St. Go straight-ish (uphill) on E 2nd St, and continue 1.3 miles. At the traffic light, turn left onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.

From Sacramento:

Take I-80 West to I-680 South. Take exit #61 for Mount Herman Road, and turn right. At the stop sign (almost immediately), turn left onto E 2nd St. After 2.1 miles, turn right at the traffic light onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.

From San Francisco, Oakland and surrounding communities, and from the North Bay:

Go to I-80, and take it to Vallejo (toll bridge). Take exit #30A onto I-780 East. After about 5 miles, take exit #5 for E 2nd St, turn right and continue 1.4 miles. At the traffic light, turn left onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.