Palisades ROGAINE
Sunday March 25, 2018
Mississippi Palisades State Park

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Meet Director: Mike Reese
Course Setter: Patrick Coneff

Schedule:
8:45am   Registration opens
9:40am   Maps distributed
9:55am   Briefing and instructions
10:00am   Mass Start
2pm   Course Closes -- you must be back by 2pm - score penalties apply
2pm   Control Pickup

Cost: Preregistered: $20 per team/individual (1 map, extra maps $3 each)

Day-of-event: $30 per team/individual

 


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Registration is open thru March 21st. Note -- this event is not included in the season pass. EVERYONE ATTENDING THIS EVENT MUST REGISTER.

Details:
CAOC's 2018 Palisades ROGAINE (Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance) will offer everything you expect and more. You can participate in this event as an individual or as a team. Either way you will experience crisp, clean air as you travel through the forest and atop majestic bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Expect to see bald eagles soaring above the river. And, of course, there are the hills. Bring your climbing legs!

Our start/finish location will be at the shelter just inside the South Entrance. Our custom-made map of the park is highly detailed. Your success will depend on keeping map contact while making smart route choices. Are you ready?

We invite all Midwest orienteers, adventure racers and outdoor enthusiasts to come share in the beauty of Mississippi Palisades State Park and the challenge of a ROGAINE!

 

Course Setter's Notes:
This is a "score-o" type event where you are given a specified amount of time to visit control points (in this case, four hours) in any order that you choose. Each control has a point value associated with it. Your final score will be the sum of all the points you accumulate for visiting the controls. We will use our electronic e-punch system. We will have plenty of e-punches for those who don’t have their own (rental included in your meet fee). Point score ties are resolved by finish time. There will be a penalty of one point deducted for every minute or fraction thereof for which you come in after the 4-hour cutoff.

There will be a lot of control points this year. They will be placed in locations ranging from quite easy to ones requiring advanced orienteering skills. We have designed our course to accommodate novices who would like to come out and enjoy the great scenery and vista views while hiking around this great park, as well as, those advanced orienteers looking for a challenge and desire to “clear” the course. Although a sweep of all the control points may be possible, the winner is usually determined by the orienteer who selects an efficient order of controls and uses their time wisely. Plan smart!

One note about our map is that most of the woods are marked as open woods (“white”). That is generally correct, especially this early in the year. However, this is northern Illinois so you can expect patches of thorny vegetation. You will experience some thorny patches as you transition from open area into the woods. We suggest you consider this with regards to choice of clothing. Some of the open areas have sections that are more “rough open”. Also, some of the open areas on the eastern part of the map have cultivated fields for food stock for the deer. These cultivated sections will be muddy this time of year.

Equipment Notes:
Bring a cell phone. Reception is spotty but works in much of the park. This small additional weight is worth the extra measure of safety. We will provide the organizer’s cell phone numbers to participants, in the case of any emergency.


There will be water at the start/finish and some on the course too. We suggest you may want to bring your own hydration (a camelback style bladder or water bottle tucked in a backpack). Bring some easy to eat food (energy bars, etc), 4 hours traipsing up and down the hills of Mississippi Palisades will tax your energy stores. Of course we will have some food/snacks at the start/finish location both during and after the race.


Watch the weather forecast and dress appropriately. Beware of overdressing too as climbing the many steep hills will generate a lot of heat. Think about layers. It is always a good idea to bring a change of clothes/shoes to drive home in, as well. Don’t be surprised if your event clothes get abit dirty and stinky. And, you can probably count on your shoes getting muddy.


The above are only suggestions. This is rough terrain. You should make informed choices about equipment based on your own experience or other expert advice.

Directions:

Some general directions follow. Better yet, look on a map and use your orienteering skills!!

The South Entrance to the park is along Illinois Hwy 84 about three miles north of downtown Savanna, IL. Some general directions follow. Although, we imagine that Google will guide most of you there. But, once you arrive, we expect you to use your good, old-fashioned map reading skills to navigate the park.

From the Chicago Area: Take I-90 to Hwy 20 in Rockford. Follow Hwy 20 west to Hwy 76 and turn south. Take Hwy 78 to Hwy 52/64 and go west to Savanna. Hwy 52/64 joins Hwy 84 and passes through Savanna. Approximately 4 miles past downtown Savanna is the North entrance to the park. You may also take I-88 west to the Route 26 exit at Dixon. Follow Hwy 52 which joins Hwy 64 and leads into Savanna where you pick up Hwy 84 along the river.


From the Quad Cities (and points west in Iowa): Take I-80 to IL Hwy 84 (just on the other side of the Mississippi River bridge) and take it north to Savanna. Approximately 4 miles past downtown Savanna is the North Entrance to the park.

From St. Louis: Get to the Quad cities and take I-80 to IL Hwy 84 and take it north to Savanna. Approximately 2 miles past Savanna is the main entrance to the park. Enter and park at the Ranger house to the right.

From the North: Get to Galena and take Hwy 20 South/east to Hwy 84. Take 84 south approximately 15.5miles (through Hanover) to the park entrance.

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