Backwoods Orienteering Klub, founded November 15, 1978 sponsors events and teaches orienteering in the North Carolina piedmont, around Raleigh, NC.
We invite you to try orienteering with us. Everyone is welcome at all our events. We always offer beginning, intermediate, advanced and expert courses (routes through the woods) at every Regular event.
It was good to see so many orienteers come out for a middle distance event at Schenck Forest. BOK hasn’t had many real middle distance events and while Schenck may be a challenge for full size courses, it turns out it provides a marvelous venue for a middle distance event. Many of the runners expressed […]
Read MoreAdvanced orienteers are welcome to join us for classic orienteering courses at Falls Lake State Recreation Area on Sunday, March 8th. Start on the Orange (3.5), Brown (4.2 km), Green (5.3 km) or red (7.6 km) course any time between 10:30 AM and 1:00 PM (Note:- times might change slightly in the final registration details. This is the day the clocks go forward). Control pickup will start no later than 2:30.
Registration will close at 6pm on Friday March 6.
Joseph Huberman will also set an 80m Classic Radio-O course using our new SignalSlinger transmitters.
Park near the west corner of the large parking lot for the Hwy-50 boat launch (GPS = 36.021518, -78.692192). Restrooms are available in the car park. Get your map before carefully crossing Highway-50, and starting your course on Woodpecker Ridge, a little-used area of the park, just south of Sandling Beach.
Please note that the map of this area has not been systematically field-checked but additional mapping has been undertaken in the flatter southern half of the map compared to last year’s map, and some additional work has also been undertaken in the northern area, used by the expert courses.
Whilst we hope to have identified nearly all the significant features in the southern half of the map, coverage in the northern half is more patchy and we have concentrated map additions near control sites and those that help route choice. Many of the re-entrants in the northern half have complex erosion gullies in them, often very deep with steep sides. Based on IOF advice we have tried to split the erosion gullies into 2 types:-
Erosion gully >1m deep on average and an obstacle to crossing – Standard erosion gully symbol
Deep Erosion Gully – >1.5m on average, deep AND a significant obstacle to crossing. These are identified by a Solid Black Line (IOF symbol – 201 – Impassable cliff) on one or both sides of the gully. Note these ‘uncrossable Banks’ are all earth banks/cliffs that will require time and effort to climb safely and may be dangerous to descend especially when wet.
BOK is hosting an Advanced middle distance event on March 1st at NC State’s Schenck Forest. Park on the road outside the entrance at 35.816203, -78.720469 and walk down the gravel drive to the shelter. Starts will be from 10:30am to 1pm with control pickup starting at 2pm.
Director’s update: Because of the short distances and comparatively flat courses, we will print out some extra reversed courses. If you finish and would like to try a second course, and time permits, you may run a course in the reverse direction. Of course, for those with extra energy at the end, help with control pickup is always appreciated and a great way to practice more orienteering.
Registration has closed.
This event offers an Orange course for advanced orienteers and three expert courses; Brown, Green, and Red. A middle distance event is shorter than normal and therefore faster, but hopefully also a bit more navigationally challenging. Brown maps will be at 1:7500 scale. All other 1:10000. Course length are as follows:
We will also have an advanced Explorer course. An Explorer course is the chance to find any controls you want. There is no set course, but there is a 2.5 hour time limit. There are no beginner-level controls, so only those ready to move up to orange, but maybe not quite ready to do a full orange course, should opt for the Explorer course.
Results and courses will also be posted to LiveLox. You can upload your routes from your watch by hand, but you can also download their app to your phone and have it record and post for you.
Last summer, Tropical Storm Chantal dropped a lot of water that ultimately influenced the event over the weekend. Not being able to cross the river, the course design was left with limited options. However, this drove us to areas of the park not normally seen when we visit Eno River and it seemed that most […]
Read MoreDespite an overcast and bitterly cold day, we still had a solid 42 starts for our sprint event in Bond Park. Two sprint courses were offered, each with winning times of about 20 minutes. Competition was tough at the top, with Gheorghe Fala winning Sprint A by just 26 seconds and Matt Craig winning Sprint […]
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