Get Lost!! Running, Racing
GET LOST!!
Sports Basement
Road ID Zanfel

Explore the wild... Explore yourself!

Final results and complete splits with maps of the order of checkpoints for each team are up. RouteGadget is coming.

The following athletes have qualified for the 2015 World Rogaining Championships in Finland: V. Glen Brake Jr., Daniel Engovatov, Peter Graube, Bud Laird, Brad Poe, Yvonne P. Poe, Eric Smith, and Mary Smith.

Panoche Hills on 09 January 2014

On the weekend of 06, 07 September,

75 checkpoints are set in barren, grassy hills... runners, cyclists, and hikers pore over how to find them, visit a camp, get some food and rest, do another loop, and get back under a time limit... and then we gather you all up and tell you to...

Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills

Wilderness Navigation Race

A 24-hour U.S. Championship rogaine, with 4-  and 8-hour divisions. On foot and on bike. An endurance run, hike, or ride unlike any other!

Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills 2013 startLocation and the Basics

About halfway between SF and LA, west of the freeway, Panoche Hills loom over the Central Valley. The hills are arid, with almost no trees. Sandy washes meander among the hills, and a few ridgetop roads cross the area. Relief is intricate and footing is excellent.

Gather a team of 2 to 5 explorers; you may go solo in the 4-hour event. We'll give you 4, 8, or 24 hours to complete a course that no team can possibly finish. Prioritize and plan a good route to maximize your point scoring. Or just plan to have a grand adventure! You'll be using a custom-made map with accurate elevation contours and trails. Find up to 75 or so checkpoints; a compass can be useful. Those who opt for the longest adventure will spend up to 10 hours in the dark; bring lights!

Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills is conducted under a special recreation use permit on lands administered by the United States Government, Bureau of Land Management.

Over 150 runners and hikers came to Coe in 2011 for our Get Lost!! in Henry Coe rogaine. We are thrilled to show a completely new, different, and quite hospitable type of terrain for these second U.S. Rogaine Championships that we host—a spectacular treat for the casual adventurer and the serious competitor!

Rogaining on Wikipedia
Press coverage of one of our recent rogaines!

Panoche Hills Public Lands consist of Panoche Hills, Tumey Hills, and Griswold Hills Recreation Areas. This rogaine will cover all of the second territory, a portion of the first, and skirt the third. The hills, rising to 945 m elevation, will be completely dry in September.

Off-trail bike riding is allowed in the entire area used for this rogaine. Hunting and off-road vehicles are not allowed in September.

The start and finish will be in the (northeastern) Tumey Hills recreation access area just off Panoche Road, about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) from Interstate 5 Exit 368 (the exit is called Panoche Road). Panoche Road is mostly unpaved. Rental car drivers are advised to check the exclusions in their contract, and if driving off pavement is not allowed, to arrange a carpool from the freeway exit.

Exit 368 features a hotel, several gas stations, several fast-food places, and a full-service restaurant. Contrary to what was published before, it will be possible to camp at the event site on Friday and Saturday nights, but not on Sunday night.

Google Map
View Larger Map

Checkpoint visits will be scored with SPORTident. The use of the SPORTident system will be demonstrated at the pre-start briefing.

This is the map that was used for the inaugural Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills:

Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills 2013 map

Our Sponsors!!

This event has been made possible by the following businesses and organizations. We are delighted to offer a sampling of their products as prizes for this event. Please patronize their offerings and services, and contribute to their programs:

Sports Basement is a sporting-goods retailer with five locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Besides selling the best brands at basement prices, SB is a community center, a hangout, a hub. Its stores are like a second home to local athletes and groups who use its space daily for club meetings, potlucks, and to start workouts out of its front doors.

Friday packet pickup will be at the Campbell Sports Basement. The store is offering 10% off on everything to Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills participants on that day only. Snacks and age-appropriate beverages will be provided!

Sports Basement
Road ID

The mission of Road ID is twofold: One, to educate outdoor enthusiasts about the importance of wearing ID. Two, to provide these athletes with innovative identification products that they will want to include as part of their gear. The dream of Road ID is to see the day where wearing ID is as common among athletes as wearing a seatbelt is among motorists.

Zanfel Poison Ivy Wash is the only product clinically shown to remove the plant's toxin, urushiol, anytime after outbreak of the rash. Zanfel also provides relief from itching in 30 seconds. For most mild to moderate cases of poison ivy, one application of Zanfel is adequate for each affected area.

Zanfel

Event Schedule

Friday 05 September 2014

10:00  Check-in and packet pickup open,
       Sports Basement Campbell
18:00  Check-in and packet pickup close

Saturday 06 September 2014

06:00  Check-in and packet pickup open,
       Tumey Hills
06:36  Sunrise
07:00  Maps are available for route
       planning, all divisions
07:40  Briefing and instructions, 4-hour
       and 8-hour divisions
08:00  Start, 4-hour and 8-hour divisions,
       foot and bike
08:40  Briefing and instructions, 24-hour
       divisions
08:55  Check-in and packet pickup close
09:00  Start, 24-hour divisions, foot and
       bike
11:30  Food service begins
12:00  Finish, 4 hours
12:30  4-hour teams not finished are
       disqualified
12:40  Awards, 4 hours
16:00  Finish, 8 hours
16:20  Awards, 8 hours
16:30  8-hour teams not finished are
       disqualified
19:24  Sunset

Sunday 07 September 2014

06:37  Sunrise
09:00  Finish, 24 hours
09:30  24-hour teams not finished are
       disqualified
10:00  Awards, 24 hours
11:00  Food service ends
Google Map
View Larger Map
Awards after a rogaine at Henry W. Coe State Park

I believe we all should get out of our usual routine and try something exciting and new once in awhile. That's exactly what I did this weekend. Instead of doing a running event I did a Rogaine Orienteering 24 hour event. Yes, we did get to run some to get to our check points faster. We covered around 45 miles. I must say [...] it's way harder than running a hundred mile race.

Catra Corbett, Team Racing with Giant Dirty Avocados, Get Lost!! in Henry Coe 2011 Mixed winners.
See you in the beautiful hills!! ...

All the Details!

In this section:

1. Event description

Get Lost!! in Panoche Hills is a rogaine. About 75 checkpoints scattered over the entire Tumey Hills, the southern portion of Panoche Hills (excluding, for bikes, the Wilderness Study Area and, for all participants, areas closed to the public), and the easternmost reaches of Griswold Hills will be circled on a map and marked on the ground by orange and white orienteering markers. Each location will be equipped with a SPORTident station, which creates a record of your visit on a small electronic card each participant will carry.

Each checkpoint has a point value, which is equal to the checkpoint number rounded down to the tens. For example, Checkpoint 68 would be worth 60 points. The objective is to score as many points as you can within the time limit by visiting checkpoints along your planned route. There are point penalties for returning late. Maps are issued well before the start, so that teams have time to plan their route.

At each checkpoint visited, every team member must use her/his own SPORTident electronic card to "punch" at the SPORTident station (International Rule B16(a)). To accomplish this by distributing all of a team's SI cards to one person who goes and punches them all is breaking the rules.

You may use your own SPORTident card, or rent one from us at no extra charge.

Each member of every team in the 24-hour bike, 24-hour foot, and 8-hour bike divisions will need a SPORTident Model 6, Model 9, Model 10, or Model 11 card. These are the only models that possess enough recording capacity for the checkpoints reachable within the time limit for these divisions. If your personal card is a different model, we will loan you a Model 6 at no charge.

We are quite sure that all SPORTident devices will work for the 4-hour bike, 4-hour foot, and 8-hour foot division participants: we do not expect anyone in these divisions to be able to collect more than 30 or so checkpoints.

2. Event staff

Administrative Director: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Course Designer:         Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Safety Coordinator:      Jay Hann
Emergency Medical:       Joel Bouyea
Food Chief:              Lani Schreibstein

3. The terrain

The terrain of Panoche Hills Public Lands used for this event will be chosen from approximately 150 km² of ridges and canyons (the actual area will be smaller, about 110 km²); elevations in this expanded area range from 171 m to 884 m. A small subset of the canyon walls are steep and/or impassable. Elevation contours are quite intricate, and navigation requires a high degree of concentration at most times. For a physically fit team, it is possible to move through most of this terrain at a high speed.

The entire area is arid and treeless, with short grasses. There is a network of dirt roads and tracks; many of the tracks are recently formed by four-wheel-drive vehicles. There is no running water in the streams at this time of the year.

The area is popular with target shooters and birdwatchers. Hunters and off-roaders are not present in September. There is no poison oak.

Desert foxes and small ground animals are abundant. They are active during the night.

4. Potential hazards

The two main hazards at Panoche Hills are target shooters and heat exposure.

Depending on the weekend, there can be between a few to many dozen well armed individuals discharging guns. Potential problems arise when they aren't paying attention to what else is happening around them. The situation is different from having hunters in the area in both a good and a bad way. In the good way, if you are not in one of the well defined practice areas, you will not encounter these individuals or groups (although you can hear them from miles away). In the bad way, they appear to be considerably less conscious of safety than hunters; they do not expect people to be "out in the hills" and may choose the location of their target in such a way that you will be in their line of fire. Some of the shooters we encountered in the past placed targets very close to established, signed trails.

YOU MUST WEAR A BRIGHT ITEM OF CLOTHING AT ALL TIMES. We will not allow teams to start if all members are not wearing bright clothing. We will post signs throughout the area informing its visitors of our event, starting approximately three months in advance. If you see an individual or group on your course who are target shooting, announce your presence as loudly as possible and as early as possible.

It is likely to be quite warm. Stay well hydrated—there will be water stations on the course. Look out for signs of heat stroke in your teammate, such as absence of sweating, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, and confusion; if these are spotted, discontinue your route and head straight to the finish or, if not possible, to the main (Panoche) road.

Panoche Hills are mountain lion habitat. Chances of encountering the reclusive cat are very low. If you do, follow this protocol. If you turn around and run, the cat's mind will more likely identify you as prey.

5. Participant safety

Participants will be responsible for their own safety while taking part. Of course, event staff will try to help you if we learn that you are seriously injured or otherwise need assistance, but there is a good chance you would be waiting a long time for help, and we don't have the level of staffing or expertise necessary to quickly and expertly handle many emergency situations that might arise, so your best bet is to be very careful not to get injured. If you are not comfortable assuming the risks involved in prolonged exertion while traveling through rugged terrain under various and possibly unexpected conditions, then you should not take part in the event.

Each person will be required to sign a liability waiver when registering online or upon checking in for the event. A parent or guardian must sign for a minor.

The organizers are not in a position to review each participant's preparedness to participate and will not do so. However, if it comes to the organizers' attention that a person or a team is poorly prepared for the event, the organizers may deny entry to that person or team in the interest of the safety of all the participants and staff of the event.

The team aspect of the event is perhaps the best safety instrument. Team members must stay together within unaided voice distance, and must punch together at checkpoints. Not staying together will yield disqualification. If you would like additional reassurance, team up with a friend.

There is quite a bit of cellphone coverage by AT&T and Verizon on ridgetops in the southeastern part of the area; the further west you go, away from the freeway and from Central Valley, the less there is. There may not be any coverage at the start/finish, but there should be coverage within 500 meters. Participants are nevertheless advised to carry cellphones. If there is an emergency, call 911.

If a team has indicated an emergency, it is the duty of all other teams who are nearby and hear the distress signal to help the team or participant in distress.

We will have a licensed EMT on site, and there is a possibility there will be additional medical help. The Public Lands are closest to the city of Firebaugh, but the nearest hospital with an ER is in Los Baños.

Each team will be required to fill out an intention sheet, which is a copy of the competition map, with their intended route. The actual route taken does not have to exactly match the intended route. Intention sheets are due at the briefing 20 minutes before the respective start.

The two main dangers that exist for participants of an ultralong endurance event are dehydration and hyponatremia. We will provide water on the course. However, to be on the safe side, all participants should carry enough water to sustain them for six hours. In hot, dry weather, an athlete may need a liter or more of water per hour.

Consuming enough salt will mean the difference between being sluggish and not thinking clearly, and being sharp and enjoying the experience throughout the whole duration of the event. When water intake is increased, salt washes out of the body more readily and it is even more important to maintain an adequate balance of sodium ion. Take salt pills or eat salty food starting at 3 hours into the event at the latest; 200–400 milligrams of sodium ion per hour are advised, you should be on the high side of this range if you are drinking a lot. Other electrolytes may also help prevent cramps. We suggest drinking an electrolyte-containing solution and carrying electrolyte pills if you plan on participating in one of the 8-hour or 24-hour divisions.

The safety bearing is south or north to Panoche Road; this will be noted on the competition maps.

We have a safety, emergency/accident response, communications, and search/rescue plan you may peruse. Information on this webpage supercedes the Safety Plan, where contradictory. If you have any questions about information in this section, please contact our Safety Coordinator.

6. The competition map

The map will show elevation contours, some roads and tracks, and streams. It will be at 1:30,000 scale with 12 m contours. We will offer high-legibility printing. The whole area will be on a single map sheet. We do not feel that waterproof paper is needed for this event. We will provide plastic map cases of appropriate thickness.

We will add as many tracks to the map as we discover during the course of placing the checkpoints; this won't include all of them that are out there. If in doubt whether you are on a mapped track, elevation information is your best friend.

The main source of data for this map is USGS. During checkpoint placement for our previous event at Panoche Hills, we had extensive opportunities to compare map data with GPS-aided reality. The map is acceptable for this event. There is some positional noise and there are a few errors, most noticeably along flat-ish ridgetops; the exact position of a hilltop may be a few tens of meters off. You can always see the real-life hilltop from its mapped location.

Maps will be printed to magnetic north, and will have a UTM grid (no indication of true north).

7. Course specifics

There will be about 75 checkpoints, totaling 3600 points. The optimum distance to get them all will be between 110 and 115 km along straight lines. Climb on this route will be about 6% of the distance traveled. We hope that nobody is able to get all checkpoints, but if really strong mountain bike riders show up this may not be true.

The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth 60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be disqualified and will get a score of 0.

Most locations are technically easy to moderate, while a small number are hard. We will assign values to checkpoints based on their combined navigational and physical difficulty. In other words, don't expect a gimme from an 80-pointer.

Other than the start/finish, there will not be aid stations on the course, manned or unmanned. There will, however, be unmanned water-only stations (below).

The start/finish will feature an ample supply of energy gels. PLEASE DO NOT LITTER IN THE HILLS OR ON THE TRAILS!!!! If you do, this event may never happen again.

There will be six water stations. These locations may or may not be at checkpoints. Plain bottled water will be offered, in individual bottles or in jugs.

There will be a trash bag at each water station. You are allowed to dispose of your trash into these bags, but not elsewhere on the course other than the start/finish. There will not be any other drinks, food, or supplements at the water stations.

Each checkpoint will be equipped with an orange and white orienteering control marker, a SPORTident electronic station, and a red, white, and blue reflector. There will not be sign-in/intention sheets at checkpoints. Water stations, if not at checkpoints, will have reflectors, but not orienteering markers or SPORTident. A very small number of checkpoints and water stations may be manned.

The orienteering marker may have a number/code that will not match the checkpoint code. The correct code is shown on the SPORTident station. To punch at (score) a checkpoint, put the SPORTident card through the opening. If there is no confirmation beep nor a light flash, use a paper punch attached to the control marker to punch your map. If you are unable to find the checkpoint but think you are in the right location, take a picture. All checkpoint locations will have been verified with GPS.

All team members must punch the SPORTident station within 60 seconds (first to last) in order to claim credit for the checkpoint.

A Women's Division team walking8. Classes and categories

There will be six event divisions, the 4-hour bike, the 4-hour foot, the 8-hour bike, the 8-hour foot, the 24-hour bike, and the 24-hour foot. Solo competitors are allowed in the 4-hour divisions, but not in the 8-hour or the 24-hour divisions. The maximum team size is 5 members. A team that has a member born in or after 2000 must also have a member born in 1996 or earlier.

There will be the following gender classes:

  • Men;
  • Mixed; and
  • Women.

A mixed team is one that has members of both genders.

There will be the following age categories:

  • Open;
  • Juniors (each team member born in 1994 or later);
  • Masters (each team member born in 1974 or earlier); and
  • Supervets (each team member born in 1959 or earlier).

You may notice that these categories are slightly different from what Orienteering USA Rules for Rogaine Competition state. These Rules, and the International Rules of Rogaining, categorize teams by age on the first day of the event, not on 31 December 2014. A small number of teams may be affected by this distinction. If your team is, please contact us and we will ask Orienteering USA for clarification. The age on 31 December 2014 is what the rest of Orienteering USA Rules use.

Every team is eligible for awards in the Open category. Some teams may fall into multiple age categories. In this case the team is eligible for awards in all categories in which they meet the criteria.

Logical combinations of the above classifications will constitute awardable categories, for example, "8-hour bike Supervet Women" or "24-hour foot Junior Mixed". Categories with few teams will not be consolidated for the purposes of awards.

9. Scoring, results, and awards

All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and all must punch at a checkpoint in order to claim credit, within 60 seconds (first to last). If one team member is unable to continue, the whole team must report to the start/finish. A new team may be formed and it may then go on the course, but it will be unable to claim credit for checkpoints already visited.

The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth 60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be disqualified and will get a score of 0.

Teams will be ranked within their division, age, and gender categories according to their total score. Among teams with identical scores, the earliest finishing team will be ranked highest. Teams that are disqualified or do not finish do not get a place.

(Every team that finishes within 30 minutes of the time limit, and does not break certain rules, gets a score. You don't have to stay out for the full 4, 8, or 24 hours! You can finish earlier if you feel like it.)

Upon finishing, teams should proceed to a SPORTident download station. Points will be tallied, and each team will receive a copy of their score sheet that will contain checkpoint-by-checkpoint split times, the total straight-line distance traveled, and the approximate climb.

U.S. Championship medals will be given at the award ceremony to all members of the top 3 eligible teams in each category of the 24-hour foot division. The eligibility criteria are quite simple:

  • Each member of the team must be a member of Orienteering USA; and
  • No member of the team may compete in the same calendar year for the same category of championship in any other national championships.

So, why not join Orienteering USA?

Top teams in all divisions, classes, and categories, whether eligible for U.S. Championship or not, will also get prizes from our sponsors. Event results, splits, and RouteGadget will be promptly made available online.

10. Weather and recommended clothing

Early September in central California is hot. Temperatures will rise from the 50s in the early morning (+10– +15 °C) to a high in the 90s (+32– +38 °C). Overnight, temperatures will dip into the high 40s (+8– +10 °C). It is likely to be sunny and cloud-free. The chance of rain is negligible.

There are no air-conditioned indoor facilities in all of Panoche Hills Public Lands. The nearest ones are at the freeway exit, 4 km away from the start.

11. The rules

Although they don't explicitly cover bikes, Orienteering USA Rules for Rogaine Competition and the International Rogaining Federation Rules of Rogaining will be in effect, supplemented by this information. When there is a conflict between the two sets of Rules, U.S. Rules take precedence.

Here are a few rules highlights:

  1. Team members must stay together (within unaided verbal contact) the whole time they are on the course (Orienteering USA Rule 5.5).
  2. All team members must go to each checkpoint visited by the team, meaning all must punch within 60 seconds (IRF Rule B16). (This rule is why each team member must carry a SPORTident card.)
  3. All participants are required to respond to a distress signal and to assist a participant who is injured and needs assistance (Orienteering USA Rule 10.2).
  4. All participants are responsible for their own safety while they participate, and participants should make themselves aware of the hazards associated with the weather, rugged terrain, health risks of extreme exertion, equipment malfunction, and remoteness from emergency assistance.
  5. Except in case of emergency, all participants must check in with event staff before leaving the area; in case of emergency, an evacuated participant or her/his team members should notify event staff of the situation as soon as possible after attending to the emergency.
  6. Points will be deducted from the scores of late returning teams, and teams finishing more than 30 minutes late will receive a score of zero (Orienteering USA Rule 9.1).
  7. A team may be disqualified for infringing these rules (Orienteering USA Rule 8.1).
  8. Solo participants are allowed in the 4-hour divisions (exception to Orienteering USA Rule 3.1 and IRF Rule B1).
  9. GPS devices and altimeters (such as GPS tracking watches) may be carried on the course (to allow tracking analysis afterward) but not used for navigation by teams. If carried, any such devices that have a display must be presented to race officals to be sealed (after tracking is activated, if desired) before the start. Without going into the details of the sealing method, we can say that participants with GPS watches and altimeters should plan to carry them, not wear them. This is an exception to Orienteering USA Rule 5.2 and IRF Rule B7.

    Most cellphones nowdays have GPS on them. We will rely on your honor not to use it to aid your navigation.

  10. It will not be allowed to have equipment caches arranged for you on the course. Carry all you may need, including spare inner tubes. (Orienteering USA Rule 5.8 and IRF Rule B13.) You are also not allowed to discard trash or unwanted equipment, except into trash bags at the water stations.
  11. Off-trail travel is indeed allowed in the bike divisions.
  12. Any participants or teams seen entering areas marked out-of-bounds will be disqualified.
  13. Please observe trail etiquette. Cyclists, yield to foot travelers; both, yield to equestrians. Friendly, respectful interaction with other trail users is key to our future ability to use Panoche Hills Public Lands.

The required equipment is (we may modify this list up to one week before the event):

  • Each team must have bottles or other containers able to carry at least 0.5 liters of water per team member.
  • Each participant should have clothing appropriate to the weather, accounting for the possibility of injury or exhaustion. Each participant must wear at least one brightly colored item.
  • Each participant must have a SPORTident card.
  • Each team must have a watch, or another time-telling device.
  • Each participant must carry a whistle for signaling in case of emergency (three short blasts).
  • Each 24-hour team must have 2 operational flashlights.

We will check this equipment before the start. Teams who do not possess it will not be allowed to start.

12. Suggested equipment

Each team should have a compass, a cellphone (AT&T or Verizon), a first aid kit, food/energy snacks, salt tablets, and a space blanket. For bike division participants, we suggest bike map holders such as this one.

Get Lost!!'s second rogaine at Henry Coe State Park was sanctioned by Orienteering USA as the 2011 U.S. Rogaine Championships. One hundred and fifty-six rogainers, adventure racers, orienteers, hikers, and ultrarunners took part. Three event durations were offered, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours. Sixty-nine souls joined in the 24-hour fun as members of 26 teams. Rain and cold nighttime temperatures added to the adventure. A central aid station offered hot food and shelter through the night, and all of the 24-hour division teams took advantage of them.

The 24-hour event was won by Team Eastern Europe (Pēteris Lediņš of Latvia and Murray Maitland of Canada, both currently living in the Seattle area). The Mixed winners were Racing with Giant Dirty Avocados, a combo of Bay Area's premier adventure racing teams, Racing with Giants and Dirty Avocados, with a certain ultrarunner thrown in. The Women's division was won by Team Proceeding On, two superstar superveterans: Sharon Crawford from Colorado and Natalia Deconescu from Illinois, both current and former Masters World Champions in orienteering.

Because of the weather, and partly because the course was overplanned, most teams didn't come close to reaching all checkpoints. Even the best teams had navigation difficulties at night—as is evident from the event's RouteGadget. We learned the lesson, and are pretty confident about hitting the predicted winning times and getting the course difficulty correct in 2014.

Press coverage of the 2011 event.

Travel and Accommodations

The directions to the start/finish are here. The closest airports with scheduled passenger service are in Fresno and Modesto. San José and Monterey airports are about two hours away.

Packet pickup will be at Sports Basement Campbell on Friday, and on site on Saturday. There will be no camping at the start/finish on Friday night. There are no facilities at the start/finish; the closest ones are at the freeway exit 4 km away.

Orienteering USA has negotiated discounted rates with its sponsor, Choice Hotels. The closest Choice property is the Quality Inn in Madera, about 1 hour of driving from the start/finish. At the time of this writing, members of Orienteering USA were offered rates as low as $63.75 per night, plus tax. In order to obtain these rates, you must book through the Choice Hotels site and enter Special Rate ID 00228560 in the "Select Rate" drop-down menu. By making your booking through the Choice Hotels website and referencing the Orienteering USA partnership code, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering and rogaining.

A much closer hotel is the Best Western Apricot Inn at the freeway exit, about 4 km from the start/finish. At the time of this writing, the best rate was $79.20 per night, plus tax.

We recommend Hertz, an Orienteering USA partner, for car rentals. By booking through this link, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering. Our discount code will be displayed on the reservations page.

Entry and Registration

Get Lost in... 2013 T shirt designWe have a limit of 200 participants, dictated by the permit. We expect this event to sell out.

We offer high-quality long-sleeve tech shirts to all individuals and team members who enter before the last deadline. One shirt per individual and two shirts per team are included in the base price; additional shirts are $10. Pictured is our 2013 rogaine series T shirt.

All food during and after the event is included in the registration price, as is SPORTident rental for each team member.

Registration is open. Team members may enter together (be entered by the same person), or separately. If you would like to go with a team, but don't know your teammates' names yet, you can enter yourself and other members can join the team at a later time.

As with all events by Get Lost!!, fees for teams are capped. Three, four, or five people enter at the team price; each team member gets a map. The price for a team is determined when the last member joins it; additions after the deadline increase the team fee—unless you select the flex-team option, which is slightly more expensive. The extra fee accounts for the work and the cost associated with providing supplies and insurance to participants at the last moment. Team member substitutions are always free.
The fees are:
4-hour events Individual Team           Flex Team   Cal-ARA Flex
Enter and pay on or before Tuesday 05 August $40.00 $75.00 $67.50
Enter and pay on or before Monday 18 August $59.00 $114.00 $102.60
Enter and pay on or before Monday 25 August $69.00 $134.00 $120.60
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 26 August $84.00 $164.00 $147.60
 
8-hour events Individual Team           Flex Team   Cal-ARA Flex
Enter and pay on or before Tuesday 05 August $65.00 $120.00 $108.00
Enter and pay on or before Monday 18 August $79.00 $154.00 $138.60
Enter and pay on or before Monday 25 August $89.00 $174.00 $156.60
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 26 August $104.00 $204.00 $183.40
 
24-hour events Individual Team           Flex Team   Cal-ARA Flex
Enter and pay on or before Tuesday 05 August $139.00 $269.00 $299.00 $269.10
Enter and pay on or before Monday 18 August $159.00 $309.00 $339.00 $305.10
Enter and pay on or before Monday 25 August $179.00 $349.00 $399.00 $359.10
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 26 August $209.00 $409.00 $368.10

The flex team option is intended for teams that don't know their exact numbers well in advance. The option locks in the price, and also includes one shirt per team member regardless of the number of people in a team. If you register at the standard, non-flex team price, and additional team members join after a deadline, they will pay extra according to the price level in effect at the time. With the flex option, teams can add members up to the maximum of five without price changes.

Team member substitutions are free for all registration options. All California ARA teams automatically receive the flex option.

Although we publish an individual price for the 8-hour and the 24-hour events, everyone who participates in the 8-hour and the 24-hour divisions is required to be a member of a team. The individual price serves as the base for individual discounts, and the team price is the maximum a team would pay.

If you are unable to attend the event, our fees are fully transferable to future events. If prices change in the future, we will give you a complimentary entry into a category that most closely approximates your original entry.

Discounts!!

On top of these prices, we offer the following discounts:

Bay Area OC member registering her/himself $5.00
Orienteering USA member registering her/himself $5.00 4 and 8 hours, $10.00 24-hr events
GL!! volunteer registering her/himself free 4-hour entry
No shirt(s) $10.00 individual, $20.00 team
Family/junior (at least one participant age 20 or under) $20.00 per team

The BAOC and Orenteering USA discounts only apply to individuals, not teams. For example, a registration for two people who are both BAOC members will cost less than the team price. A three-person team is always best off taking the team deal.

These discounts are taken and combined automatically by the registration system. Make sure to indicate the team association, individual participant's club membership, and the correct (or at least approximately correct) ages for the team members.

Extras!!

Shirts in excess of two per team   $10.00 each (if not using the flex option)
Shirts at the event   $19.00 each

We accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and DiscoverWe accept credit cards and bank transfers online through PayPal, and cash, checks, and credit cards on site.

Go register!!

Event-Day Information

These notes are more or less final.

1. Safety

A. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

If there is an emergency, call 911 and also notify the Safety Coordinator. Contact info is on the front of your map.

B. REQUIRED AND SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT

REQUIRED: Bottles or other containers able to carry at least 0.5 liters of water per team member; Appropriate clothing, including a brightly colored item; SPORTident electronic card (ONE PER PARTICIPANT); Watch; Whistle; Two flashlights per team if doing the 24 hours.

SUGGESTED: Cellphone; Compass; First aid kit; Food/energy snacks; Salt tablets; Space blanket; Bike map holder.

AID: Four water-only stations on the course with plain bottled water.

C. HAZARDS

TARGET SHOOTERS: Wear a bright item of clothing at all times. Announce your presence immediately and loudly when you see them. Areas of possible impact are marked on the map; stay out of them during daytime.

HEAT EXPOSURE: Stay well hydrated. Look out for signs of heat stroke in your teammate, such as absence of sweating, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, and confusion.

HYPONATREMIA: Take salt pills or eat salty food starting at 3 hours into the event at the latest. 200–400 milligrams of sodium ion per hour are advised. Drinking only plain water depletes sodium in your body. Other electrolytes may also help prevent cramps.

CLIFFS: Do not attempt to go through areas where contour lines are less than the width of a contour line apart from one another, especially at night.

DOWNED POWER LINE: An unmapped power line passes within one foot (30 cm) of the ground in several places. The sole wire is most likely powered; do not touch. Pick a place where the wire is high enough above the ground, and go under it.

MOUNTAIN LIONS: Present. Appear as large as you can, and walk slowly away from the cat or wait for the cat to move on.

D. TIME LIMITS
 4-hour events:     12:00 noon
 8-hour events:      4:00 pm
24-hour events:      9:00 am
E. INTENTION SHEET

Each team and individual participant must mark their intended route on a copy of the competition map. This so-called intention sheet will be collected at the briefing 20 minutes before the start. Teams and participants who do not provide an intention sheet will not be allowed to start. It is not critical that the team follow this plan, however the intention sheet will give us a good idea where to look for a team should it become missing.

F. TEAMMATES STAY TOGETHER

All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and must punch at checkpoints together in order to claim credit. Not staying together will yield disqualification.

G. SEARCH PROCEDURES

Fifteen minutes after the respective time limit expires, we will generate a list of teams and individuals who have not reported back from the course. We will take into account the download information and all cars/shuttles still missing passengers. If the list is not empty, we will first attempt to reach the participants' cellphones and then their listed emergency contact numbers.

If these attempts are unsuccessful, we will retrieve the missing participants' intention sheets, and use them to narrow down the areas to search. We will then dispatch event staff to query SPORTident stations in this likely area. Past experience shows that these workers are quite likely to discover the missing team(s). If the missing participants are still not found, the stations will be read out to further narrow down the search area.

Full-scale search will commence as soon as this information is generated, and will be directed by the event's Administrative Director or by authorized emergency personnel.

H. CELL PHONE COVERAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS

There is cellphone coverage for AT&T and Verizon; you have to be within a direct line of sight of the freeway, atop a ridge or on the easternmost east-facing slope. Such areas comprise a non-negligible part of the course, however in general coverage cannot be relied upon.

I. MEDICAL PERSONNEL

There will be a dedicated EMT stationed at the start/finish who will operate a medical aid tent. The EMT can reach an injured person on the course if necessary.

2. Weather update and directions

High of 93 °F (+34 °C), low of 62 °F (+17 °C), cloudless. The hottest time of the day is between 2 pm and 6 pm. It is quite pleasant before noon. A constant breeze is felt on ridgetops; canyons feel hotter.

Unlike previously stated, and contrary to posted signs, camping will be allowed at the site starting on Friday afternoon. We may not be there; pick a spot for yourself within sight of the bathroom. There is no running water; most of the stuff you may need, including water, electrolyte beverages, and sunscreen, is available at the freeway exit.

Directions to the site have not changed. Driving time from the freeway exit is about 4 minutes.

Contrary to what was announced before, there will not be packet pickup at Sports Basement. You are more than welcome to visit the store for all your last-minute rogaining needs. If you plan to do so, contact us beforehand for your 10% discount code.

3. Terrain (notes from the previous event; new note about cliffs at the end)

It is perfect rogaine terrain! textbook kind. No trees.

(a) Friendly: There are no bad anythings. No poison oak, no cholla, no walled-off canyons. You can go pretty much anywhere in any direction. The ground is soft and the grass is extremely short. Some of the ground cover is dried-up mud, not grass, it will be just a tad slower, but in general you can really hammer in this terrain if your physical fitness allows. I'd expect elite rogaine teams to be running 80% of the time in the 8 hours, and close to half the time in the 24, with the exception of the steepest uphills. There are a few sandy/loose slopes, but you can spot them from quite afar and it's obvious that they are not a good route choice, both on the map and in the terrain.

(b) Technical: How technical? Well. On my second CP, I was 100% confident, checked off all the reentrants, they all matched in both direction and shape, got to the CP, the spur looked just like what I'd thought it should look, maybe not exactly the right shape but I wrote it off on the map. On to the third CP, went about 230 more meters and then bam. The major drainage that opened up didn't look anything like what I had expected. The stuff away in the distance still matched up, but with a shift. Shift? ?? took me a few minutes to convince myself.

Fortunately there were enough large features in the distance to be quite sure. Trodded back to the CP, and then navigated to the correct location... 450 m and one ridge away! an about 20-minute error in competition conditions. I kept on guard for the rest of my placing session.

No trees doesn't mean it's easy! Panoche is just like the more technical orienteering terrains, just scaled up. Use attackpoints to find your attackpoints, as they say, and be very careful going downhill, watch all those splitting ridges.

There are a small number of areas where cliffs block the shortest route. In general, if contour lines are close together (are less than the width of the contour line apart), you should assume that there is a cliff. If the contours are far enough apart, there definitely is no cliff. Some of the cliffs are passable, some are scary. None of the cliffs are shown on the map, and the exact known areas will be pointed out at the pre-event briefing (at the time of this writing, two of the CPs are in any way affected). If you are going up the slope during the day, the cliffs will be obvious.

4. The map

The map is an otherwise unaltered USGS 1:24k quad, with shaded relief by ESRI. It is printed at 1:30,000, with 40 ft. (12.2 m) contours.

Relief representation is in general excellent, down to the tiniest bends in contours. Flat ridgetops present perhaps the worst accuracy; it looks like the photogrammetrist may have seen things at a slight angle, so tops of small knolls may be 10 m–20 m off.

The road network is in general adequately represented. The worst accuracy is right by the start/finish, where a chunk of a major road is missing on the map. There are some roads marked "4WD" on the map that are hard to notice anymore in the terrain. Some of the "4WD" roads, however, are as of now major and passable to low-clearance vehicles. In general, there are more roads in the terrain than shown on the map.

Fences are not explicitly shown on the map, other than fences that comprise the boundary of the land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Those familiar with USGS maps know that dashed lines outlined in red that are approximately a mile apart represent section boundaries. A majority of those, but not all, have a physical fence in the terrain. The fence may not exactly follow the mapped section boundary, but is usually pretty close, within 20 m or so. There are many more fences in the terrain in addition to the section lines.

The boundary of BLM property is vague. We had three sources to compare, two official BLM maps and USGS, and our observations in the terrain; they all disagree. Boundary fences in the terrain, where they do not follow section lines, may be quite a bit off what the BLM thinks, usually in the private landowner's favor. The majority of the boundary, however, is not marked in the terrain in any way. And sometimes, you cross a very well maintained fence and still remain on BLM land.

Where we could see the physical boundary fences in aerial photos, we showed them on the map. Where we couldn't, we drew the boundary to the best of our understanding. You are requested to stay out of private property. However, private property is rarely if ever posted. It is allowed to travel on roads that are shown on the map and go through private property.

The map is printed to magnetic north. The northlines are exactly one mile (1.609 km) apart. The map also has a one-kilometer UTM grid. The map is on two 13" × 19" sheets. Plastic map cases will be provided.

5. The course

There are 66 checkpoints totaling 3600 points. The total straight-line distance to collect all of them, and to visit all water stations and the remote aid station, is between 105 km and 110 km. The start/finish is in the northeast corner of the area.

Contrary to what was announced before, there will not be reflectors at checkpoints. In many cases your next checkpoint is visible from your previous one, you just have to know where to look. At night, simply scanning the hillside with a light would give away the next checkpoint's location.

Each and every checkpoint has been verified with GPS. There is a very small chance of vandalism; the area is officially closed to motorized traffic, however there is some vehicle traffic daily of private landowners and utility personnel. No hikers or cyclists were seen in the two weeks of placing checkpoints.

6. Aid and Water

There is a bathroom at the start/finish with no running water. Water will be provided at all times on Saturday, and until the end of the event on Sunday, at the start/finish.

There will be three water stops on the course that are not at checkpoints. In the terrain, there is no checkpoint flag or SPORTident station, only a water container, cups, and a trash bag. You may discard your trash in the trash bag.

There will also be a remote aid station. In effect, the event center will move to the remote aid station after the finish of the 8-hour divisions, and move back in the early morning. This is done because the start/finish is in the corner of the area. The remote aid is in the center. Participants in 24-hour divisions will be able to come to the remote aid, eat, and rest without carrying a significant distance penalty.

Food will be served according to the following schedule. Snacks will be served at the start/finish for the finish of the 4-hour divisions, and lunch, for the 8-hour finishers. At 18:00 (6 pm, two hours after the finish of the 8-hour divisions) food service at the start/finish will stop and the start/finish will become unstaffed. Finish SPORTident units will be available for those who quit early, however their scores will not be tallied until Sunday.

At 19:00, dinner service will start at the remote aid station and continue through 3:00 am on Sunday. At that time, the remote aid will become unstaffed. Water will be available at the remote aid station at all times during the event.

Food service will resume with breakfast at the start/finish at 4:00 am, and continue until 11:00. We can deliver some of your equipment to and from the remote aid station, but we will not set up your tent.

7. T Shirts

We regret to say that we were not able to order shirts for this event because of the very low order quantity. Your options will be to receive one of our 2013 shirts, a refund, or, if there desire is there, for us to continue through with the shirts and for you to receive one in the mail.

8. More on the Second Amendment

Panoche Hills are historically one of the few places in the Central Valley of California where law-abiding Americans can practice their firearm-handling skills. In some way, we are in "their" territory. They should be expecting us; we placed signs throughout the area well before the event. Target practice zones comprise a small portion of the overall event area. They are well defined and are shown on the map.

Target practice areas are on both sides of the main road (Panoche Road, a county highway), which is in a major valley. Shooting is always away from the road and towards the closest hillside. If you are traveling on Panoche Road, you will be safe. If you are more than one ridge away from the road, you will be safe; the inside of the Public Lands is closed to motorized traffic and we have never seen a target-practicing party hiking into the area on foot.

We have not seen anyone practicing after dark, however some parties start right after sunrise.

All individuals who we talked to appeared conscious of their safety and safety of others; we have seen parties with designated safety lookouts. Although only a small number of checkpoints and possible routes between them may be affected, those who wish to be as safe as possible will not cross the main road during daytime. This means that participants in the 4-hour and 8-hour divisions will stay on the east side of the road. The course is planned in such a way that doing so is beneficial anyway.

However, there is simply not enough terrain for the 24 hours on the east side. Participants in the 24-hour division who wish to be as safe as possible will cross the main road (in both directions) during nighttime. The remote aid station is on Panoche Road, so it makes perfect sense to start out in the east, possibly come to the remote aid, cross over to the west after dark, get some checkpoints there, then cross back into the east before sunrise (possibly hitting the remote aid again) and finish.

Regardless of your plans, wearing a bright orange vest, or some other bright clothing, is a good idea. If you see a target-practicing party, it is a good idea to maintain verbal contact.

9. Wildlife

There is virtually no wildlife to be observed during the day other than birds. Not a single rattlesnake was seen in two weeks. The hills become alive by night; we've seen mice, rabbits, several kinds of foxes, and a coyote. A curious fox followed one of us for several kilometers.

Watch out, the poison oak!We maintain a discussion board for all our events on Attackpoint. Popular among map and adventure-sports athletes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries, the site is the one to go to for the latest navigation-sport news, schedules, discussion, and gossip.

Forum for the Panoche Hills rogaine.

We also post updates to our Facebook pages:

Facebook event for the Panoche Hills rogaine.
Orienteering USA Rogaine Rogaining Worldwide

Created: 26 May 2014
Last updated: 23 September 2014, ver. 006

© 2013, 2014 Get Lost!! Running, Racing, Inc.

HTML5