The Fallen Leaf Lake orienteering area is on U.S. Forest Service Property. This is the first time this area has been used for orienteering. The terrain is approximately 1/3 open meadow, rough open or fast runnable coniferous forest, 1/3 slower but still relatively easy to run forest with some slash, and the remaining 1/3 slower forest with slash and low growing thick bushes and other thick vegetation. The slash may be very heavy in some areas and may slow your progress through the forest to just a walk, and you may have to climb over a number of fallen trees.
The trail and road network is variable, being relatively extensive in some areas and sparse in other areas. The rock detail varies from almost none in some areas to areas with a lot of rock detail which may be difficult to read at full speed. There are many, many pits. Most of them are only 0.5-1.0m deep and 2-4m wide.
The elevation gains are reasonable and less than at U.S. Championships at Spooner Lake four years ago. The blue and red courses have significant elevation gain on several legs both days. The brown and green courses have been designed to avoid most of the steeper terrain, with one or two exceptions for the green courses.
Courses
Courses are on the long side for both days, and estimated winning times are on the upper limit of the recommended time guidelines for most of the courses. Day-1 and day-2 courses are on different terrain and do not overlap.
Class Course Length Climb No. of Controls
----- ------ ------ ----- ---------------
M21, M21E Blue 1 11.55 420 23
Blue 2 10.6 375 20
M40, M45 Red X 1 8.175 290 16
Red X 2 7.825 255 16
F21, F21E, M20, M35, M-Red Red Y 1 8.0 260 16
Red Y 2 7.8 245 16
M50, M55, M60 Green X 1 6.075 190 13
Green X 2 6.025 180 12
F20, F35, F40, F45, Green Y 1 5.525 165 12
F-Green, M18, M-Green Green Y 2 5.575 165 12
F18, F50, F55, M65 Brown X 1 4.55 95 11
Brown X 2 4.425 130 10
F60, F65, F70, F-Brown, Brown Y 1 4.05 95 9
M70, M-Brown Brown Y 2 3.825 105 11
F16, F-Orange, M16, Orange 1 4.3 100 8
M-Orange, Group-Orange Orange 2 4.575 150 9
F14, F-Yellow, M14, Yellow 1 3.525 65 11
M-Yellow, Group-Yellow Yellow 2 2.95 60 9
F10, F12, M10, M12, White 1 2.25 35 10
M/F White, Group-White White 2 2.65 45 12
Class Course Length Climb No. of Controls
----- ------ ------ ----- ---------------
Orange Recreational Orange 1 4.3 100 8
Orange 2 4.575 150 9
Adventure Race Training AR 2 5.725 165 11
Yellow Recreational Yellow Rec 1 2.575 65 10
Yellow Rec 2 2.825 60 8
White Recreational White Rec 1 2.175 35 8
White Rec 2 2.05 45 10
I have tried to design all of the courses to be interesting and
demanding.
The controls are on small features and require good map reading skills.
In
most cases attack points are 100-300 m from the controls. The blue and
red
courses on both days encounter areas which are "slow-run" (light green)
or
"difficult to run" (dark green or walk). The green and brown courses
are
mainly on faster terrain. However, there may be some slash and thick
vegetation that may hinder your progress. I have tried to avoid the
worst
of the thick vegetation areas, and in most cases there are route
choices
that avoid the "slow" areas.
The top of the control flag will be approximately 80 cm from the ground. The flags are not hidden but in some cases you may need to be at the control location before you see it.
Animals
On both days the blue course will go to remote areas not shared by any other course. Some of the terrain for blue is really pristine and not disturbed by anyone except maybe an occasional bear and you. I have twice seen a black bear in approximately the same area during my many visits to the forest. The mapper saw a bear three times and the vetter once. The red and green courses will go close to the area where we have been encountering bear(s). The Lake Tahoe area is known to have many bears. They are very often seen nighttime near houses trying to open garbage cans, and they tend to be not very aggressive. Bears will usually run away if they see you, but you still need to be careful if you encounter one, especially if you see cubs nearby.
During the first day you may encounter horses. There is a horse rental facility nearby, and many people rent horses for daily rides. Remember that horses have right away on trails. You may also see some occasional deer.
Map
The map is new and was prepared during the summer of 2002 by Zoran Krivokapic. It is not a perfect map, but it is reliable especially around the controls. One weakness, if there is one, is the mapping of the slash and the thickness of the vegetation. In some areas it is accurate, but in other areas it is not perfect. Forest mapped as white may have some slash. Also, sometimes the difference between the "slow-run" (light green) and "difficult to run" (medium green) is not clear. The major fallen trees have been mapped, but many other fallen trees have been mapped as slash.
There are also some smaller rocks which have not been mapped, especially in those areas where rocks are very numerous. Pits and small depressions can be seen all over the map. All of the pit controls have been marked with the symbol "V". However, you may find many other pits or small depressions which have been marked by the "small depression" symbol. These symbols have been used in conjunction.
The brown X is a rootstock. The green circle is a lone or distinct tree. The green X is a dead tree or a high stump, at least 2 meters high. A large fallen tree that is at least 1 meter in diameter is shown on the map as a tall thin green T, and is oriented in the direction the trunk lies. Dark green crosshatch is used to show undergrowth which is difficult to walk. The black X is a man made object. In the course descriptions a lone tree symbol is used with the ruined symbol to indicate a high stump, a dead tree, or a fallen tree.