2024 Wednesday Evening #4 – Maple Valley Legacy Site

WEDNESDAY EVENING

Wednesday, August 14 at Tahoma Legacy Property in Maple Valley, WA

Meet Director: Will Enger

The fourth event in the 2024 Wednesday Evening Series will be held at the Maple Valley Legacy Site, a new-to-us map made by our friends at Tahoma Orienteering. The Wednesday Evening Series is our most relaxed, casual set of navigation events, held in local parks once the weather (hopefully) warms up. These events are a little more low-key than those in the Winter League, and we typically offer a barbeque afterward for all participants.

Events in the Wednesday Evening Series are generally less challenging (both physically and navigationally) than many of our other events, and are therefore great for beginners and those less experienced with orienteering – while also offering a challenge to longtime participants of the sport.

We will be offering day-of event registration in addition to preregistration. There will be no start time pre-signup.

COURSES

Course designer(s): Bryce Winters, Chris Cooper

Here are the course statistics:

Course 1 – 1.0 km, 12 controls, 15m climb
Course 2 – 1.8 km, 13 controls, 20m climb
Course 3 – 2.9 km, 14 controls, 30m climb
Course 4 (2+3) – 4.7 km, 27 controls, 50m climb

How are courses measured?

Courses are measured as the crow flies, in a direct line from control to control. Unless you have wings, you will travel farther than this distance! Courses are measured in kilometers, so a good rule of thumb is to simply round up to miles to estimate how far you will go. So in a 5 kilometer race, you’ll likely travel up to 5 miles.

Venue Notes:

Welcome to the Legacy Site, home to the New Gnome Trail!  The Legacy Forest is a 54-acre city park located in Maple Valley.  The site is best known for its walking trails and an opportunity to stroll amongst countless gnomes.  Visitors are encouraged to admire the gnomes from afar but resist the urge to hold, cuddle and hug the woodland dwellers.  In order to get a closer look at the gnomes, visitors have created many side trails that branch off 1-5 meters from the main trail.  These frequently used mine trails are marked as open forest on the venue map.
The Legacy map is a John Brady creation and displays the usual thoroughness and detail one comes to expect from his maps. However, be warned that Tahoma uses these maps predominantly for fall and winter orienteering training.  The current mid-summer vegetation may be a bit more dense than depicted on the map. While vetting the course, it was noted that several of the smaller trails were partially overgrown with ferns, although an effort was made to clear them back a bit. Make sure you thumb your route and look for solid attack points as you move to your next control. Be mindful of low hanging branches, which are easy to run into when you are focusing on the map. Similar to Summit Trails, there are numerous deer trails that cross the area. These unofficial pathways are marked on the map using a thin dashed line, and are easy to follow while on them but can be almost invisible when crossing them. Unfortunately, while updating the map it was noted that there are stinging nettles and blackberry bushes along the edges of some trails. While these irksome plants are sporadic and easily avoided, it is recommended that all participants wear pants.

Course Notes:

– Course 1 is all on trail. However, there are some controls located near gnome villages. Controls have been set so that runners arriving and departing will not cross through the gnome territory. If you find yourself heading into a gnome village, turn back!  You are heading the wrong direction.
– Course 2 will use trails to travel between controls.  However, most controls on Course 2 are slightly off-trail and obscured from the approaching orienteer’s view. Make sure you have a solid attack point before you leave the trail. Course 2 does afford orienteers a couple of optional off trail opportunities for those that would like to test their forest navigational skills. To aid in navigation for Courses 2 & 3, several of the deer trails mentioned above will be marked with pin flags or streamers. These flagged trails are not marked on the map or your control code but are merely a navigational aid to assist with travel to some controls.
– Course 3 has been designed to allow for runners to stay mostly on trail between controls. However, for those that would like to shave off some time and distance (and are hardcore), there are five potential off-trail segments. Navigating the segments effectively will require good compass skills, ability to read vegetation, and effective use of a pace count.
I hope everyone has a great time and enjoys navigating through this magical park!
— Course Designer Bryce W

SCHEDULE

5:00 pm – Registration and starts open.

7:00 pm – Registration and starts close.

8:00 pm – Course closure.

Why is there a start window?

This event uses an interval start, which means that participants are started in waves instead of all at once. When you arrive at the start tent, find the chute for your course and follow the start volunteer’s instructions.

PRICES

PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$22 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$25 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

Participating as a group? Just $5 for each additional adult (16+) group
member, no cost for additional minors.

Become a member for $5-25

Purchase your own e-punch for $40-$80

What’s an e-punch?

An e-punch records your race. At each control, you’ll dip the e-punch into an electronic box, which will beep and flash as confirmation. After you finish, you’ll download the e-punch at the download tent and get a receipt that show which controls you visited and how long you took between each; these are your “splits.”

Part of the fun of orienteering is comparing your splits with people who completed the same course, and discussing the routes you took!

SIGN UP

Online pre-registration closes:

Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club

Learn more about volunteering

Volunteers make these events happen! You can volunteer and participate on the same day, plus earn volunteer points to earn a free meet.

LOCATION

https://maps.app.goo.gl/M7dAaA2SPqhV6tEq7

 

PARKING

The venue is located at 25719 Maple Valley Black Diamond Rd SE (also known as Highway 169), in Maple Valley. Coming from the north, turn right into the parking lot entrance (the Maple Valley Farmer’s Market is also staged here, so you may see this label on Google Maps and the like).

Directions Link

CARPOOL

Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.

THE MAP

Credits:

The map of the Tahoma Legacy Property was created by John Brady.  Much of the trail system, signs, and other elements of the entire Tahoma Legacy Property were curated by the Tahoma Orienteering Team, and particularly, the Menzie family.  Tallie, Mark, Luke, Hank, Venna Menzie, and Sherri Brady deserve a lot of credit for not just helping the leaders of Maple Valley see a vision for this public space, but also for the hard work and details that cleaned this place up and turned it into a local gem.  The park was originally slated to be an area with shopping and housing, and (for now due to its popularity) is teeming with public activity and perhaps on the track to a permanent preserved public forest and gathering space.

General Notes:

The Legacy Property of Maple Valley is a 54 acre site situated along the Cedar to Green River Trail, and on the south east side of Lake Wilderness.  This site has recently been a multi-use site, with the main attractions being the Maple Valley Farmers Market on most Saturdays, as well as a very popular children’s hiking trail known as The Gnome Trail, which is decorated with thousands of gnomes in various vignettes.

The Gnome Trail was originally part of a separate trail system across town and was quite popular in its original location.  However, the original location was not ideal for a children’s hike due to the high mountain bike traffic it saw, as well as the long and confusing trail network that was required to navigate to reach the area.  As a result of the excessive use, parking, and conflict in that area, the neighbors had successfully petitioned King County Parks to have the Gnome Trail removed.  Rather than have all of the Gnomes removed and discarded, an effort by Sherri Brady and Tallie Menzie was made to petition the City of Maple Valley to allow them to gather and “re-home the gnome” to the Legacy Property.  The City of Maple Valley agreed, and the Tahoma Orienteering Team went to work.  Trails on the Legacy Property were created, trail signs were made by the Menzies, the and a park cleanup occurred to prepare the park.  Then, a team of kids and parents went and gathered all of the Gnomes in their original location, took them home and cleaned them. A few days later, on the opening day of the Legacy Property’s new parking lot and park dedication, a “Rehome The Gnome” event was held.  The cleaned gnomes were laid out in the parking lot and the community was encouraged to hike the Gnome trail and place the gnomes where and how they saw fit.

The event was so successful, and the subsequent popularity of the trail has led to the explosion of gnomes throughout the property, not just on the gnome trail!  The trail has been the subject of TV shows, and many articles.  The map of the area is titled “Tahoma Legacy” due to the significant role the Tahoma Orienteering families had in the creation of the map as well as the vision for the property.  As a side benefit, it is a cute little orienteering venue for simple little fun events such as the WIOL series training day.

Mapping Conventions:

Standard ISSprOM conventions were used with the exception of forest trails, which the black trail symbol was used instead of the brown trail symbol.  Map scale is 1:4000.

 

Read more on the map page

Navigational Challenge: 2

Physical Challenge: 2

SAFETY & ETIQUETTE

Return to the Finish
All participants MUST return to the finish and download their e-punch or turn in their punch card.

Even if you have not finished your course, you must still return to the the finish and confirm with event staff that you have returned safely.

Out of Bounds
Some areas may be marked out of bounds. It is imperative to respect these boundaries to maintain our relationships with land managers. Participants MUST NOT go out of bounds. Any participant caught going out of bounds will be disqualified.

Course Closure
All participants MUST return to the finish by course closure time. If a participant does not return by course closure, event volunteers will begin coordinating a search party.

If you need a long time on the course, start as early in the start window as possible, wear a watch, and be prepared to cut your course short to make it back by the course closure time.

Whistle
All participants MUST carry a whistle on the course. Complimentary whistles are available at the start tent (please only take one).

If you are injured on the course and need assistance, blow three long blasts to call for help.

If you hear a call for help, abandon your course to find the person in distress.

Voices
Part of the fun and fairness of orienteering is navigating your own course, so please be polite when you find a checkpoint and don’t holler that you’ve found it.