1 Gold Rush in the South – USOF
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1 Gold Rush in the South – USOF Convention Maps, Meets, & More By: Laurie Searle and contributing writers In last month’s issue of ONA, we IMPORTANT DATES announced the USOF Convention, Jan 1 Registration opens GRITS’2004 – Gold Rush in the South, hosted by GAOC and COK, Jun 26-July 4. Apr 3 Early registration closes at midnight Apr 15 TMAC dorms not guaranteed after this date In this issue, we’ve asked the convention May 31 Registration closes committee and a few instructors to provide Jun 25 Registration packets available at COK A-Meet details on the maps, meets, and more. Jun 28 Registration packets available at TMAC MAPS Jun 28 Convention orientation after dinner Pre-convention orienteering meets are hosted by COK on new maps of DuPont State Forest. Convention and post-convention orienteering meets are hosted by GAOC on new maps of Smithgall Woods/Dukes Creek, and a new park-o map of Truett-McConnell College. DuPont State Forest Map – Walter Siegenthaler DuPont State Forest contains a total of 10,256 acres of forest and land in Western North Carolina near Hendersonville and Brevard. The state forest is relatively new; it does not appear on the USGS Standingstone Mountain quadrangle yet. To find the start and finish areas for the A-meet, search on the Internet for “The Flatwoods” in Henderson County, NC. The competition area is at an elevation of 2,600 to 2,900 feet, therefore, considerably cooler than most of the Carolinas. The forest is a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees with variable undergrowth from open to fight. The terrain is typically ridge and reentrant, with a relatively flat area in the center of the map. There are several crossable creeks boarded by mountain laurel shrubs, which are mapped dark green. These will create some interesting route choice options. Most of the mapped area has few rocks and boulders, but there are sections with major rock outcroppings with 3-5 meter boulders. The changes from mainly contour and vegetation reading to the detailed rock and boulder areas will be a challenge for the competitors. “Out of Bound” areas will be shown on the map to protect rare vegetation. DuPont State Forest is one of the better mountain biking areas in North Carolina. With this comes an extensive trail network, which can help navigation through or around dark green areas and will lend itself well for the mountain bike-o event on Monday. The mountain laurels may not be much fun to cross, but they could be presenting themselves in full bloom. Depending on the spring weather, the peak blooming should be anywhere from mid to end of June. The park also offers several off-the-O-map points of interest, including five waterfalls, as well as Cedar Rock Mountain, a mountain top that is mainly bare granite domes with very sensitive moss formations - thus no off trail hiking or biking. 2 Dukes’s Creek/Smithgall Woods Map – Sam Smith Many times over the years, I have been asked why we did not have any maps in the north Georgia mountains. My standard answer has always been that it was just too steep and green. Over the years I kept searching for possible sites in north Georgia then finally stumbled across Smithgall Woods. Its 5,500 acres offer some of the most unique terrain and complex orienteering challenges we have in Georgia, not to mention an interesting history. We hope you enjoy the three new maps of Smithgall Woods: Chunannee Falls, Hambly Ditch, and White Horse Gap. Gold was discovered at Dukes Creek in 1828, on what is today our Chunannee Falls map. At the time the land was owned by Lucy Bryant/Briant, a Cherokee. History does not record what happened to her, but the fate of the Cherokee in Georgia was sealed when they were removed to Oklahoma during the “Trail of Tears” in 1838, except for a small band that hid in the Smokies and now have a reservation at Cherokee, NC. Gold miners swarmed over the area, including all three maps, in the years that followed. Most of the mines were small and no great fortunes were made, but the damage done to the landforms can still be seen today. Most of the miners left when gold was discovered in California in 1848 and then in Alaska. When the miners started to leave, Matthew Stephenson, the assayer of the Mint in Dahlonega pleaded with them not to go. In a speech at the town square he said, “Why go to California? In that ridge lies more gold than man ever dreamt of. There’s gold in it!” Mark Twain later changed that quote for his book, “Gilded Age” to, “There’s gold in them thar hills!” After the smaller miners left for “golder” pastures, the real mining began. Dukes Creek was dammed and a 14-mile ditch, or wooden sluice, was dug. Hamby ditch is still very visible today, as are the artifacts of the mining, in the form of gullies, earth banks, dot knolls, and contour features. The next insult to the land was the arrival of the railroad. The railroad made it possible to ship lumber cheaply, and millions of board feet of lumber was cut and shipped from the area as southern yellow pine for flooring. The town of Helen was originally a lumber town. Mined and logged and left for dead? Not quite. We are able to orienteer in this area today because of the efforts of Charles A. Smithgall, a local philanthropist who recognized the value of the land and purchased thousands of acres in the Duke’s Creek valley. He saved it from further logging and eventually sold it back to the state at a considerable discount. Dukes Creek State Conservation area, otherwise known as Smithgall Woods, was formed. So how is the orienteering? It’s not as steep and green as it could be! I would be lying if I said there were not some bad spots, but we are doing our best to map them accurately and avoid them in the course setting. There is mountain laurel and rhododendron on all the maps. The rhododendron is very large and primarily located in the bottoms of the reentrants where it is wetter. The mountain laurel is the more frustrating for orienteers, located almost exclusively on the northern and western slopes of the spurs, leaving the southern and eastern slopes mostly white open forest. The higher on the 3 spur you go, the thicker the laurel becomes, until it abruptly ends when you cross to the eastern or southern slope. The next chapter in the history of Duke’s Creek will be written July 1-4, 2004. Will you be a part of it? O-MEETS NINE ORIENTEERING EVENTS The perfect compliment to great maps is Jun 26 Blue Ridge Challenge A-Meet great meets and we’ve got nine of them. Start Jun 27 Blue Ridge Challenge A-Meet and end the week with A-meets hosted by COK and GAOC. Then try a variety of our Jun 28 Mountain Bike-O other events while you’re at the convention. Jun 28 Car-O Jun 29 U.S. Trail-O Championships How ‘Bout Them A-Meets? Many of you have been to A-Meets hosted Jul 1 Bubba Goat by GAOC or COK in the winter. You Ju1 2 Park-O remember them: great organization, terrific Jul 3 GA Navigator Cup A-Meet maps, challenging courses, and in some years, freezing weather! Well this year we’re Jul 4 GA Navigator Cup A-Meet “one upping” ourselves. Both clubs are helping each other with the organization; both clubs have brand new maps for their A-meets; and both clubs are stretching the limits of setting challenging orienteering. But we saved the best for last. Both clubs promise that you won’t freeze this year! Orienteering in the South in the summer does present some challenges, but we’re starting the meets earlier in the morning so you’ll finish before the heat of the day, and the meet locations are in the GA and NC mountains where temperatures are typically 10 degrees cooler than in Atlanta. And when you’ve finished your course, you’ll still have time to take a cool dip in a mountain stream or go “tubing” in the Alpine Village of Helen, GA. Mountain Bike-O – Walter Siegenthaler The Mt. Bike-O will use the extensive system of single and double track trails that make DuPont Forest an ideal site for this event. Bikes cannot leave the trails, and the controls will be set on the trails or very near them. Each course will have its own time limit for completion. All three courses will emphasize quick decision making. The route choices will require careful attention as one way to the other side of a given loop may look shorter but have much more climb than the somewhat longer option. There will be creek crossings and some steep, rocky route choices on the more advanced courses. The idea is to have something available to challenge the novice bikers as well as the seasoned riders. Since the number of rental bikes is limited, be sure to register early as bikes will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Also feel free to bring your own bike! 4 Car-O – Laurie Searle You’ve just finished the Blue Ridge Challenge or the Mountain Bike-O. Sure, you could just load up the car and take the fastest route to Cleveland, GA, for the USOF Convention.