Crow's Nest

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November 30
Saturday

Crows Nest Update: This event is filled to capacity, in other words, SOLD OUT. This is an unusual event ... it's both an expedition to assess a new venue and a Score-O, set in a park so new that it lacks facilities like parking lots or restrooms, and using a basemap that has been quite minimally fieldchecked. For safety reasons as well as permitting limitations, participation in this event will be limited to at most 40 QOC members with advanced orienteering skills. Registration is now open closed. and the sign-up page is located at URL https://www.eventbrite.com/event/9196921239.

Questions? Use our Contact Us form!

Websites describing this area include the VA DCR Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve page and a description in Wikipedia.

Location

Crow's Nest, Brooke Rd Parking Area (Exploratory Score-O)
RegistrationHead to URL https://www.eventbrite.com/event/9196921239 to register and pay.
Start TimesWe will meet at the parking area at 11am, and then carpool into the park. The 2 hour Score-O will go from noon to 2pm.
ScheduleSaturday, November 30
11:00 am - 2:00 pmExploratory Score-O:
Volunteers
Meet Director:Tom Strat
Registrar:Greg Lennon
Location Details

Exploratory Score-O
Crow's Nest
Brooke Rd Parking Area
Google Map

From I-95 exit 140, take Courthouse Road east for 3.5 miles. Turn right onto Andrew Chapel Rd (Rd 629). In just under a mile, turn left onto Brooke Road (Rd 608). In about 1.4 miles, stay on Brooke Rd through the intersection with Raven Rd (Rd 609). We will meet at the parking area on Brooke Road less than a mile east of this (Brooke/Raven Rds) intersection and carpool from there.
Course NotesExploratory Score-O

The Course: Score-O with 20 controls (all equal value). 2-hour time limit. Find as many as you can within the time-limit. Overtime penalty: 1 control for every 2 minutes overtime. Approximate distance for all controls: 11km. Approximate climb for all controls: 340m.

The Terrain: The Crow's Nest peninsula is characterized by extensive ridge and valley terrain, with steep hillsides. Vegetation is predominantly hardwood forest with very little undergrowth. There are patches of mountain laurel that will slow you down, but they are not impenetrable. There is virtually no rock.

The Map: Scale 1:10,000 with 5-meter contours, printed on 11x17 inch paper. The map was generated from LIDAR data and has not been field checked. Therefore there are some important considerations to keep in mind.
Contours: The contours were generated from LIDAR and are extremely accurate. Since they have not been field checked, there may be some peculiarities.
Vegetation: The green on the map was guesstimated from aerial photographs. The green gives a general impression only and does not correlate well with runnability. If the vegetation were mapped to IOF standards it would be mostly white woods with some localized areas of mountain laurel or saplings mapped as light green or medium green. There are virtually no areas of any size that would be mapped as dark green.
Roads/trails: The map shows a few roads, and those that are on the map are quite accurate. However there are many more unmapped roads/trails. These are old farm roads and logging roads which run down the spines of almost all ridges.
Water: The streams shown on the map do not exist in the terrain for the most part. Think of them as merely highlighting the drainage network. However, the lower reentrant bottoms are likely to be wet. Marshes shown on the map are very deep and should be avoided.

Entry FeesTo be determined.