Links to : Results, Splits, Route Gadget, and WinSplits
Pictures by Jeff and Nancy Coker 
Orienteering Event at Painted Gorge, Ocotillo, CA
28 February 2009 :
What a beautiful day for orienteering in the desert! Springtime in the desert
is not always filled with color, but this year it sure has been, and those
orienteers who made the trip out to Painted Gorge were treated to both a
colorful and fun day of orienteering.
The day started off with temperatures in the low 60s but by afternoon they were
in the low 80s, which made the water controls a blessing for some of the late
starters. 18 individual competitors and 7 groups/families took part in the
event, including a couple on vacation from Italy/Netherlands and a few people
that were trying orienteering for the first time. The Painted Gorge map is a
great map to test your skills at reading contour lines, as there are almost no
trails or roads on the map, and the only vegetation that is mapped are the
individual ocotillo cactus. I think everyone who ran got a good lesson in
reading contours and the importance of keeping your map oriented correctly.
Several orienteers found out how hard it is to relocate on this map once you get
off course, but in the end everyone made it back to the finish. Another comment
heard after the event was how much climb there was on the courses. Although
none of the hills on the map are that tall, climbing in and out of numerous
re-entrants can took a toll depending on your route choice.
Kristaps Jaudzems had the fastest time on the long course and Katia Bertoldi
(visiting from the Netherlands) had the fastest time on the medium course.
Matthew Garratt had a great run on the short course, running so fast he said he
didn’t have time to stop and smell the desert lilies!
Big thanks to Edwin and Donna Gookin for bringing the watermelon (what a perfect
snack after a hard run in the desert), to Matthew and Tony Garratt for helping
with control pick-up, and to Jan Urban for bringing all the computer gear
necessary to run the e-punch, and helping with the registration and finish.
Pre-registration was a big help in planning the number of maps to print, so
thanks to all those who pre-registered and pre-paid using Paypal, and to
Veronica Williams for managing it all on-line.
One final note, after cutting up the watermelon rinds to feed to our worms in
the composter, and recycling the paper cups, we ended up with a half a plastic
shopping bag full of garbage, not bad! Thanks for packing it in and packing it
out!
Meet Directors,
Jeff and Nancy Coker
Event volunteers **:
Pre-registration and Paypal: Veronica Williams
Registration: Jeff Coker and Jan Urban
Start: Nancy Coker
Finish and Download: Jan Urban
Refreshments: Edwin and Donna Gookin
Control pickup: Matthew and Tony Garratt, Jeff and Nancy Coker
Electronic punching: Jan Urban
Course design & setting: Jeff and Nancy Coker
Orienteering Event at Painted Gorge, Ocotillo, CA
28 February 2009 :
What a beautiful day for orienteering in the desert! Springtime in the desert
is not always filled with color, but this year it sure has been, and those
orienteers who made the trip out to Painted Gorge were treated to both a
colorful and fun day of orienteering.
The day started off with temperatures in the low 60s but by afternoon they were
in the low 80s, which made the water controls a blessing for some of the late
starters. 18 individual competitors and 7 groups/families took part in the
event, including a couple on vacation from Italy/Netherlands and a few people
that were trying orienteering for the first time. The Painted Gorge map is a
great map to test your skills at reading contour lines, as there are almost no
trails or roads on the map, and the only vegetation that is mapped are the
individual ocotillo cactus. I think everyone who ran got a good lesson in
reading contours and the importance of keeping your map oriented correctly.
Several orienteers found out how hard it is to relocate on this map once you get
off course, but in the end everyone made it back to the finish. Another comment
heard after the event was how much climb there was on the courses. Although
none of the hills on the map are that tall, climbing in and out of numerous
re-entrants can took a toll depending on your route choice.
Kristaps Jaudzems had the fastest time on the long course and Katia Bertoldi
(visiting from the Netherlands) had the fastest time on the medium course.
Matthew Garratt had a great run on the short course, running so fast he said he
didn’t have time to stop and smell the desert lilies!
Big thanks to Edwin and Donna Gookin for bringing the watermelon (what a perfect
snack after a hard run in the desert), to Matthew and Tony Garratt for helping
with control pick-up, and to Jan Urban for bringing all the computer gear
necessary to run the e-punch, and helping with the registration and finish.
Pre-registration was a big help in planning the number of maps to print, so
thanks to all those who pre-registered and pre-paid using Paypal, and to
Veronica Williams for managing it all on-line.
One final note, after cutting up the watermelon rinds to feed to our worms in
the composter, and recycling the paper cups, we ended up with a half a plastic
shopping bag full of garbage, not bad! Thanks for packing it in and packing it
out!
Meet Directors,
Jeff and Nancy Coker
Event volunteers **:
Pre-registration and Paypal: Veronica Williams
Registration: Jeff Coker and Jan Urban
Start: Nancy Coker
Finish and Download: Jan Urban
Refreshments: Edwin and Donna Gookin
Control pickup: Matthew and Tony Garratt, Jeff and Nancy Coker
Electronic punching: Jan Urban
Course design & setting: Jeff and Nancy Coker