Winter League #6 – Lincoln Tree Farm
IMPORTANT REMINDER: All participants must park at Cougar Mountain Middle School and take a shuttle to Lincoln Tree Farm. Plan ahead and leave plenty of time to get to this great venue in time for your scheduled start. Shuttle will run from 8:45am-2:45pm. Departing approximately every half hour. Please see site map here for where to park, where to catch the shuttle, etc.
Micro O’ Training Available
As a training exercise or a short physical and mental warm up, a short Micro O’ will be set up near Registration. This will be a self-service activity and you will need to print your own map which you can find here. There is also a brief write up on how to use Micro O’ to practice “flow” here. Be very careful around moving people and vehicles! If you have questions (or suggestions), please see Mike Schuh – he’ll be working the announcers tent.
COURSES
Course designer(s): David Vaisar and Glenn Rogers
| Course | Controls | Length | Climb |
| 1 – Elementary/Beginner | 9 | 1.8 km | 30 m |
| 2 – Middle School | 12 | 2.6 km | 30 m |
| 3 – JV Rookie/Advanced Beginner | 11 | 2.3 km | 30 m |
| 4 – JV Girls/Intermediate | 12 | 3.0 km | 35 m |
| 5 – JV Boys | 11 | 2.8 km | 40 m |
| 6 – Varsity | 13 | 3.5 km | 45 m |
| 7 – Short Advanced | 15 | 3.6 km | 45 m |
| 8 – Intercollegiate/Long Advanced | 21 | 5.8 km | 85 m |
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.
COURSE NOTES
Lincoln tree farm is a silvicultural farm. Historically it was operated as a program of Tacoma Public schools. That program no longer exists but the farm still operates for silvicultural use, wildland fire fighting training, and other outdoor uses. There are areas that have been logged in the past and are in different stages of regrowth. These growth boundaries are delineated on the current map.
There are areas consisting of open and undergrowth forest, open grasslands, and thick underbrush including blackberries. The map is bisected by high voltage power lines.
For clarity, the short advanced and long advanced courses will feature a map flip at controls 7 and 8, respectively.
Special map notes:
- On the map a green dot is a brush pile, on the control description defined as special vegetation feature O
- A green x is a root stock or stump
- A brown x is an ant hill/termite mound
SCHEDULE
9:30 am – Registration opens
9:30 am – Newcomer instruction available
10:00 am – Start opens
11:45pm – Registration closes
Noon – Newcomer instruction ends
Noon – Start closes
2:30 pm – Course closes
**PLEASE NOTE COURSE CLOSURE IS NOW 2:30 PM FOR ALL WINTER LEAGUE MEETS**
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
$17 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$20 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
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
LOCATION
PARKING
There is no parking at Lincoln Tree Farm. All participants must park at Cougar Mountain Middle School and shuttle over. Please see the Site Map here.
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the Yahoo listserv and share your request to find a ride.
THE MAP
Lincoln Tree Farm is best known for its whack-a-mole brush piles. Swaths of logged areas, mapped as light-yellow-tan “rough open area” on the map, are speckled with green dots representing tall brush piles. A major dirt road and power lines run through the center of it all, providing a confident feature to re-orient oneself on. There are some delightful open forest areas of the map, where there is little underbrush, that may cause bouts of gleeful skipping. This is balanced out by the areas of low-lying blackberries on the map, that cause tripping.
Lincoln Tree Farm is also a bit unique due to its 2-meter contours, instead of the traditional 5-meters. There are also areas that use form-lines, which are dashed contour lines that appear between the regular contour lines, thus providing areas with contour information for every 1-meter of elevation! Advanced course participants will be challenged when navigating these subtle contours in the forest.
Read more on the map pageSAFETY & 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.
