Orienteering Raleigh NC

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.

Open Orienteering and 2m ARDF at Umstead South Jan. 22 & 23, 2022

Please note our Covid-19 2022 policy

The Sunday event at Umstead Park will begin with a delayed start at 11:00am.

If you have an arrival time between 10:00 & 11:00am you can come any time it is convenient for you between 11:00am and 1:00pm.

If your chosen arrival time is after 11:00am please arrive during your scheduled half hour arrival time slot.

All participants must carry warm clothes with them on the course. If you are dressed in light weight clothing you must carry a warm jacket with you or you will not be given a map.

We encourage all participants to bring their cell phone with them in case it is necessary to call for assistance.

When choosing what to bring with you consider that you may slip and injure yourself and may sitting still waiting for assistance for an extended period in sub-freezing temperatures.

A report from the course setter said it is very icey getting from the parking lot to the large shelter. Other trails are also likely to be icey

If you paid for your Saturday registration, and are not coming on Sunday, you can request a refund by email to info@backwoodsok.org. The refund will be in the form of a Coupon that you can use in the BOK store for any purchase until Jan 31, 2023. (Note that a coupon can only be used once. If you don’t use the full value the remainder will be lost.)

Introduction

We will have two events at Umstead South on the weekend of January 22-23, open orienteering on both days and 2m ARDF on Saturday only. We do not recommend attempting both ARDF and orienteering on Saturday. If you do decide to do so anyway, you will need to register (and pay for) each separately. Note that start windows and course closing times are different for orienteering and ARDF. The location for both events is the same.

Registration is required for all events. See details and registration links under each event below.

Location:

Map pickup and download for both orienteering and ARDF will be at the large picnic shelter at Umstead South.

Take I-40 to Harrison Ave exit 287. Go N a short distance to the parking lot. Picnic shelter is a short walk NW of the parking lot. Look for orange and white BOK signs. Masks are required around the shelter area. See our Covid-19 policy.

If the weather is nice, parking is likely to be at a premium. Please respect the No Parking signs and park only in the designated parking lot. Plan to arrive before your start slot and be prepared to wait for parking if necessary. We will do our best to accommodate all registered participants, but parking is beyond the club’s control.


Open Orienteering

After a long hiatus we are finally having an Open orienteering event on both Saturday and Sunday at Umstead South on the new map that Vladimir Lyuk field checked 2 years ago. Because of overcrowded parking at Umstead we haven’t been able to use it for an Open event until now.

Scheduled start and closing times:

Orienteering starts will be available in half hour slots between 10am and 1pm

Orienteering courses will close at 3pm

Beginner Instruction

We will also have a 2m ARDF event on Saturday only. More on that below.

Beginner instruction will be available on Saturday 11:15am & 12:15pm. On Sunday beginner instruction will be at 10:15am, 11:15am & 12:15pm. Please watch our video class and compass instruction so you will have the basics. Then, we can answer questions and help you get started.

Registration:

Registration is required for either event on the BOK website. Register for ARDF, Saturday orienteering or Sunday orienteering separately.

Registration for this event will close at 4pm Friday Jan 21.

Register for Saturday orienteering

Register for Sunday orienteering

Open Orienteering Saturday & Sunday

We will have a full set of courses for beginner through expert (white through red). We will have the same courses on Saturday and Sunday.

Courses:

  • White 1.6km 8 controls
  • Yellow 2.4km 10 controls
  • Orange 3.2km 14 controls
  • Brow 3.6km 11 controls
  • Green 5.2km 12 controls
  • Red 7.3km 16 controls

Courses will close at 3pm.

As usual, help with control pickup on Sunday is greatly appreciated.

Orienteering event directors Ian and Paul


2m ARDF – Saturday January 22 only

ARDF at Umstead South is canceled for Jan 22

Everyone is welcome at this ARDF event. This will be held in conjunction with the Saturday portion of the 2-day open orienteering event at Umstead South. This course will have both a remote start and a remote finish, so plan for pleasant winter nature walks that bookend your course. Three new 2m rental receivers will be available for rent, reserve yours ahead of time.

Scheduled start and closing times:

ARDF starts will be available in half hour slots between 9am and noon
ARDF courses will close at 2pm
When: Saturday 22 January 2022
Registration: Required. Register for Saturday ARDF Registration for this event will close at 4pm Friday Jan 21.
Format: 2m Classic
Start: Remote 1.3 km walk down Loblolly Trail from the parking area
Finish: Remote 2 km walk back to the parking area from the east side of Reedy Creek Lake
Map pickup and download: Large shelter in the picnic area.
Exclusion zones: Start (750m) Finish (400m).
Course effective lengths: 5 foxes = 8.2 km, 3 foxes = 5.4 km
Fox frequency: 144.50 MHz
Beacon frequency: 145.55 MHz
Transmit power: 0.5W
Antennas: Eggbeater

ARDF event director Charles