[roc-info] Reminder: Alasa Farms O meet is SUNDAY, Oct. 15; plus additional course notes

[Richard Detwiler]

Just one more reminder that the meet this weekend is Sunday, NOT 
Saturday. It was originally scheduled for Saturday but was moved because 
of other activities going on at Alasa Farms. So you may have a printed 
schedule that shows it on Saturday -- thus this additional reminder that 
the meet is actually on Sunday!

You can start any time between noon and 2 pm. The location is on Shaker 
Rd, just south of Shaker Tract Rd. This is approximately 2 miles north 
of the intersection of Rt. 104 and Rt. 14.

Also, just a few more things to mention about the terrain and the courses:

- In the farm itself (where the meet will be starting from), there are 
many fenced-in pastures, mostly for horses. The fences are shown on the 
map as uncrossable fences -- in this case, they are not generally 
physically impossible to cross, but they ARE forbidden to cross. This 
should be common sense, to not go into a horse pasture, but it never 
hurts to have a reminder. We chose not to map them as out of bounds 
(magenta striping) because it would have made the map in this area a lot 
harder to read, since so much of the area would be covered by magenta 
lines. So be aware that they ARE out of bounds.

- The trails in general are not as distinct as at most other parks. This 
is partly because the woods in general are very open (a good thing). 
Even on the White and Yellow courses, some of the trails are relatively 
subtle -- wide enough and distinct enough to be mapped as trails vs 
indistinct trails, but still they often take some focused attention to 
make sure you stay on the trail. It also helps to use a compass to make 
sure the trail you are on is actually going in the direction that it 
shows on the map -- that you didn't pick up a different trail by mistake.

- The Green and Red courses involve a stream crossing -- not extremely 
deep or wide, but you'll probably get your feet wet up to your ankles or so.

- There are many trails, especially in the eastern part of the map 
(where the Green and Red courses go), which are mapped as either 
indistinct trails or narrow rides. These appear to be mostly old logging 
roads. They can be at times very hard to follow, other times they are 
more distinct. It's a little risky using them for navigation for this 
reason (plus the likelihood that there may be other similar trails that 
didn't get mapped). The contour features are much better navigation 
aids, given the open woods and generally very accurate lidar contour lines.