DESCRIPTION:
Please join the Greater Phoenix Orienteering Club and the Tucson Orienteering Club as we present two days of orienteering events at the Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona. On both Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16, 2022, we will offer a 4-hour event called a "Rogaine" in which participants navigate on foot using only a map and compass to different locations within a designated area. Participants are allowed to visit as few or as many locations as they can within the 4-hour time limit.
Our orienteering events at the Petrified Forest National Park offer an excellent opportunity to practice your navigation skills while at the same time exploring an incredibly beautiful and unique National Park. The Petrified Forest National Park has offered us an excellent and rare chance to practice our sport inside a National Park. We hope you'll take the opportunity to join us and discover this amazing national treasure.
NOTES:
Pre-Registration:
(Pre-Register
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(Reg List
)
Pre-Registration is Required!
The Petrified Forest National Park does not allow any money exchange within the park. In addition, there is a strict limit to the number of competitors the Park is allowing for our events. Because of this, pre-registration is required for the events using our on-line registration site.
Registration/Fees
Because of the pre-registration requirement, we use an on-line registration site to help with the registration for the Petrified Forest Rogaines. Fees for the events are set on a staggered scale to encourage you to register early. (Early registration helps when it comes to printing the maps!) The entry fees are the same for each event and are per participant. Individuals who wish to compete as part of a team still must register and pay individually. We are allowing individual participants as well as teams of 2-4 individuals. If you would like to compete as a team, we ask that you include the name of your team in the "Notes" box of the registration screen.
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Regular Registration: Register by 11:59 PM Arizona time on Sunday, September 30. The regular registration fee is $30 per person per day. A $5 discount each day is applied if you register for both days ($50 for both days.)
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Late Registration: Register by 11:59 PM Arizona time on Sunday, October 7. The late registration fee is $40 per person per day.
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Onsite Registration: We are unable to offer onsite registration.
We're sorry, but in order to meet national park rules, we must close registration the weekend before the events. There is also a strict limit to the number of participants we can invite. Please help us by registering early.
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Refunds: We regret that we are unable to refund registration fees after registration is complete.
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Electronic timing: We are not using e-punch. The two events will use a manual punch system. The registration form requests that you enter an e-punch number or check a box to rent an e-punch card. Please ignore the e-punch requests on the registration form.
Parental Consent Required
(Click here for more information)
All participants under age 18 are required to have a signed parental consent form on file with the
club. You must complete the form before the event and either scan it and send it to us by e-mail or
regular mail.
Packet Pickup
Event Headquarters
Event Headquarters is at Chinde Point. Chinde Point is inside the north entrance of the park, approximately 2.1 miles from the Visitor Center. For both Saturday and Sunday's events, you need to allow an extra 10 minutes to get from the Visitor Center to the Event Headquarters. We will conduct a pre-event briefing each day at 8:45 sharp, followed immediately by bus transport to the start location. Please plan your travel time accordingly.
Carpool to the Events
We suggest that participants arrange to meet at the parking lot of the Petrified Forest National Park Visitor Center then carpool to the Event Headquarters (Chinde Point). The Visitor Center, located just outside the park's fee area at the north entrance, has plenty of parking to accommodate extra vehicles. There is a $20 fee per vehicle to enter the park. If you carpool, you can save on the entrance fee.
Accommodations
There are a number of options for accommodations in the Holbrook area. The lodging options includes deluxe and standard motels, RV sites, cabins, paid camping, and free camping. You can click on the
List of Accommodations to see the places we have used for lodging in the past. We appreciate everything the local Holbrook businesses have done to help with our weekend of orienteering fun.
Restrooms
We will provide one portable toilet at Event Headquarters (Chinde Point). On Saturday, we'll provide an emergency camp toilet at the start location. On Sunday, the start is a ~600 meter hike from any restroom. There is a restroom available each day at the finish. Please note that the terrain throughout the national park is barren. There aren't many places to find privacy.
Map and Terrain
The map scale for both day's events is 1:15,000. The maps do not use the standard brown color for "open terrain" but instead use white (to avoid wasting ink when printing the maps). While the maps do not meet the standard for high-quality orienteering maps, we promise we'll only place controls on easy-to-see mapped features. For those of you who love running in the forest, you've come to the wrong place! The unique landscape in the Petrified Forest National Park is very rugged and very barren. You'll get to explore a badlands of rocks, gullies, cliffs, and most of all, petrified wood! We have specifically chosen sites for the controls which will take you through geologic layers with some of the heaviest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. You will NOT be disappointed!
Course Notes
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Water: We'll have two water stations on the course. At least one of the stations will be manned by a volunteer with radio communications back to the finish location. We want these events to be as safe as possible. We hope you'll all plan to visit our manned water station to help keep our volunteer entertained.
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Punch System: We will use standard manual controls. This means you will record your visit to a control by punching a control card using the punch attached to the control bag. We will NOT use electronic punching. For some of you, this is a throwback into prehistoric times, which is somehow appropriate with all the petrified wood laying around you. We hope you're not too disappointed that you won't be able to use the fancy SportIdent card you just purchased.
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Map Distribution: We'll hand out maps at the mandatory pre-race briefing at 8:45 each day. We'll then transport participants to the start location. By handing out maps before the bus trip, we're helping to ensure you don't bother us during the drive to the start location. We have a remote start each day which means you'll walk up to 600 meters to get to the start line. While you have some time to look at the map and plan your route, you need to plan enough time to get to the start line by 9:30.
Awards/Categories
We will present awards to the top 5 finishers overall as well as the top 3 finishers in each class. Each event has a minimum of three classes of teams: Male Open, Female Open, and Mixed Open. Depending on attendance at the events, we may expand the categories to include age-groupings. For purposes of the Petrified Forest events, a "team" consists of one to four members.
SCHEDULE:
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Friday, October 14, 2022
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18:00 - 20:00
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Packet Pickup
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Super 8 Motel
(Holbrook Accommodations)
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Saturday, October 15, 2022
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08:00 AM
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Park Gates Open (the park is open 08:00 to 17:00)
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08:00 to 08:30
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Packet Pickup
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Event Headquarters: Chinde Point
(Directions)
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8:45
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Mandatory Briefing, Map Distribution
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Chinde Point Event Headquarters
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~8:50
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Bus transport to the start location. It will take 2 trips to transport all participants.
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Bus drop-off location
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~9:15
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At the remote start location.
The start location is near the bus drop-off.
We will walk together to the start.
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Start
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9:30
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Rogaine course opens
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Start
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1:30
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Rogaine course closes
Participants are assessed a 10 point per minute penalty
for every minute they arrive after 1:30.
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Finish
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Sunday, October 16, 2022
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08:00 AM
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Park Gates Open (the park is open 08:00 to 17:00)
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08:30 to 08:30
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Packet Pickup
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Event Headquarters: Chinde Point
(Directions)
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8:45
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Mandatory Briefing, Map Distribution
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Chinde Point Event Headquarters
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~8:50
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Bus transport to the start location. It could take 2 trips to transport all participants.
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Bus drop-off location
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~9:00
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Walk as a group to the remote start location.
The start location is 600 meters from the bus drop-off.
We will walk together to the start.
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Start
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9:30
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Rogaine course opens
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Start
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1:30
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Rogaine course closes
Participants are assessed a 10 point per minute penalty
for every minute they arrive after 1:30.
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Finish
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2:00
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Awards
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Chinde Point: Event Headquarters
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FOOD:
We will have drinks and snacks at each day's finish location. You just wandered around through the desert for 4 hours; you deserve something for your efforts!
WHAT TO BRING:
The list below is recommended gear for the rogaines.
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Whistle (Mandatory for all. Available for purchase for $1)
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Compass (Mandatory for all. Available for rent for $1)
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Water. There will be water at the start/finish. We will also have one or two water stations
on the course. However, you are strongly encouraged to bring your own water bottles or a camelback.
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Sun screen. There is little or no shade on the course.
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Sturdy hiking shoes and long pants are recommended. You won't encounter a lot of vegetation but there is a fair amount of loose terrain.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Please direct any questions to the Meet Director at
birks(at)yahoo.com (The (at) refers to the "@" symbol.)
Directions to the Event Headquarters (Chinde Point)
Follow
this hyperlink for directions to Chinde Point (Event Headquarters).
Follow
this hyperlink for directions to the Visitor Center.
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