By Ouri Karni
General
Huddart Park is well known for its steep slopes and its dense undergrowth, crisscrossed with hiking trails, and dotted with picnic areas. The vegetation is a mix of redwoods and oak forests, with varying degrees of undergrowth. Thanks to the fresh map by Misha Kreslavsky, I was able to plan courses that would be technically challenging while mitigating the climb as much as possible.
Comments from Misha:
"We will use a brand-new, accurate map. I'm sure, the feeling of running in Huddart this time will be totally different.
"Ouri designed a set of Middle-style, point-to-point courses. I vetted them — they are great indeed."
Although the landscape is generally a south-to-north slope, there are many fine features embedded within the woods. As well, the vegetation in the newly-mapped area varies between redwoods, oaks, and semi-open areas. Since these are now clearly mapped, fine features like rocks, re-entrants, and vegetation boundaries are integral parts of the courses.
Course Statistics
Course Length Climb Controls Navigation
White 1.6 km 80 m 11 Beginner
Yellow 2.2 km 110 m 9 Adv. Beginner
Silver 1.6 km 60 m 10 Advanced
Brown 2.4 km 140 m 13 Advanced
Green 4.0 km 260 m 18 Advanced
Red 6.5 km 430 m 30 Advanced
Beginners should be aware that the distances shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setters' opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).
We apologize for the absence of an Intermediate (Orange) course. This park and its map do not support an Intermediate course. People with a lot of experience on Orange courses might want to challenge themselves to "move up" to one of the shorter Advanced courses (e.g., Silver or Brown).
The "Silver" course is a shortened Brown course.
Course Comments
Beginners will find the White course based on the shaded trail system of the park. The slightly more experienced who choose the Yellow course will be able to deviate from the trails a little.
For the advanced orienteers, I have planned four courses: Silver (aka Short Brown), Brown, Green, and Red. Their details are listed on the table above. They all rely on advanced orienteering skills, with various degrees of physical fitness.
The Red course is based on a combination of the Green course followed by the Brown course (with a little divergence). The course will be printed on both sides of the page, which should be flipped at control #17. The first part of the Red course is identical to the Green course: If you are fed up with running in Huddart, you may give up, run from the map-flip control directly to the Finish, and get your Green-course result (before downloading, tell E-punch that you have changed from Red to Green). If you continue the Red course, do not run close to the Finish on your way to the next control, to be sure that your SI stick does not trigger at the Finish.
Note to people with SI-Card5 (ID number 1–499,999) or SI-Card8 (ID number 2,000,001–2,999,999) E-stick: The Red course will completely fill those E-sticks. If you use one of those E-sticks, and think you might happen to punch at an extra control, you should rent (or borrow) a higher-capacity E-stick.
Finally, there are many controls scattered in this relatively small area, so double check the control code before moving on to the next leg.
Map
- Map scale: 1:5,000 (The map is ISOM-2017 drafted for 1:7,500 scale and printed at 1:5,000).
- Contour interval: 5 m.
- Small watercourses (thin blue lines) are dry and crossable. This symbol actually maps small gullies.
- Gullies shown with brown, bold lines are not crossable.
- Earth banks (brown lines with teeth) are also not crossable.
- Light green denotes "normal" forest with some undergrowth and fallen trees and branches — easily to moderately runnable. Intermediate green is very slow. Solid green is uncrossable. Clearings hatched with vertical, green lines are moderately runnable.
- Dead trees, fallen trees, and rootstocks are not shown.
- Black crosses denote benches and picnic sites. One black cross can denote several close-together picnic tables.
Safety
- Please be courteous around slower orienteers, families, and hikers along the trails.
- Huddart Park is popular with equestrians, and it is mandatory that all runners yield to horses.
If you encounter people on horseback, you must stand by the side of the trail and let them go by. It has been suggested that when approaching a horse and rider, say "Hello" to the rider from a distance so that the horse knows you are a human being, and thus will not be spooked.
If you are about to emerge from the woods onto a trail, look and listen for horses first, and wait if they are nearby. The worst thing you could do is burst out of the woods onto a trail near a horse. - Pay close attention to traffic when crossing the park roads, and if running along Kings Mountain Road at the higher parts of the courses. (The courses are planned such that using Kings Mountain Road is not necessary.)
- Poison oak is not very dominant, but is present. By now I noticed it has already turned red, so it is easy to spot. (Read this information about washing yourself and clothing.)
- Ticks, though not in season, can be seen. Check yourselves after returning from the forest.
- Yellowjackets may be present around the picnic areas.
- In any case, I would recommend using long-pants and/or gaiters for advanced runners, to tackle the undergrowth.