Team DarkGlobe - Adventure Racing - Training Exercise

Team DarkGlobe

Adventure Racing Team

Lost Lake Navigation / Bushwhacking Training Exercise

Event: Bushwhack to Lost Lake
Date: June 29, 2003 (Sunday)
Time: 9:00 am
Duration: 5 - 6 hours (estimated)
Directions: See parking map below
Parking: Free parking at the end of Ballantree Road
Required Equipment: Proper footwear and clothing
for bushwhacking and trail walking, the 10 essentials
of trekking.

Start: Water tank at the end of Ballantree Road
Objective 2: Plateau
Objective 3: Knoll
Objective 4: Knoll
Objective 5: Lost Lake
End: Water tank at the end of Ballantree Road

Parking Map - Click Map to Enlarge

Free parking is available at the end of Ballantree Road.
See red star at top / middle of map.
We will meet here at 9:00 AM on Sunday, June 29, 2003.

Wide Area Topographical Map - Click Map to Enlarge

Course is between the Cypress Mountain Road and
the South / West Bank of Capilano Lake

Medium Area Topographical Map - Click Map to Enlarge

Course consists of the Start point, 5 objectives, then
the return to the Start Point.

Local Area Topographical Map - Click Map to Enlarge

Start Point: Water tank about 50 meters past the end of
Ballantree Road. After parking and meeting at the end
of Ballantree Road, go past the gate, keep right on the
trail and you will arrive at the water tank. The water tank
is surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barbed
wire. You must go around this fence. No fence climbing
is allowed.
Objective 1: Bushwhack uphill to the plateau.
Objective 2: Bushwhack to the vehicle track, along the
vehicle track, then more bushwhacking to objective 2.
Alternatively we can bushwhack all the way to objective 2.
Or veer to the left to find less steep ground to objective 2.
Objective 3: Bushwhack to vehicle track, follow vehicle track
to end, then bushwhack to the knoll where objective 3 is
located. Alternatively we can bushwhack all the way to
objective 3.
Objective 4: Bushwhack and follow creek to Lost Lake.
Objective 5: Bushwhack down the hill to the water tank and
communications tower. Crossing to the west side of Brothers
Creek is not allowed.
Return to Start Point: Bushwhack, or follow trails, back
to the Start Point. Walking on, or within 20 meters of any paved
road is not allowed.

Medium Area Trail Map - Click Map to Enlarge

Trails will most likely not be available, other than the
vehicle track, from the start point to Lost Lake.

Local Area Trail Map - Click Map to Enlarge

From Lost Lake (Objective 4) to the water tank, (Objective 5)
the trail from Lost Lake to the intersection with the Baden
Powel Trail may be followed. From this point the trail
South may not be followed as it crosses to the West
side of Brothers Creek. Crossing to the west side of
Brother's Creek is not allowed.
From Objective 5 it would be easy to walk or run the
paved road. However: walking on, or within 20 meters
of any paved road is not allowed.
Additional Notes:

Supplied by Tom Jarecki on June 17, 2003
I ran through the course today in 2 hours 33 minutes using “fuzzy” navigation (that means I didn’t care if I was off by 50 m in any particular direction at any time as long as definite locations such as water tanks and lakes were found precisely).
The starting water tank is surrounded (except at the entry road so you actually have no idea that you’re surrounded) by a 6 foot chain link fenced topped with barbed wire. I noticed this as soon as I scaled the small cliff on the direct bearing line to the second checkpoint – there was the fence to my right and in the near distance in front and to the left. I decided to continue and figured I could surmount the fence – thanks to a tree fall I did but otherwise, or for less brave folks, the fence is a tough barrier. To avoid trouble you may want to require participants to bypass fenced areas and to not jump fences.
From start to Lost Lake it is fairly rugged terrain on the uphill with a couple of really steep sections. Points 2, 3 and 4 aren’t easy to be sure about other than by trusting your altimeter since there are a lot of little knolls and plateaus all along that ridgeline. That said you can identify them with care. I guess I should have carried some surveyor’s tape and marked the locations, but without a gps I couldn’t really be sure about my placement either. Lost Lake is an excellent end point for the uphill since it can be found precisely.
Downhill to the water tank (point 6) is a mixture of following trails opportunistically (by which I mean I don’t follow a trail unless it is within 5 degrees of my bearing line) and crashing downhill through the brush and fairly open forest in places. Very sweet. Precise navigation will find the water tank, but it is easy to miss if you’re 50m or more off track. Brothers Creek acts as a decent handrail but again without an altimeter it would be tough to know exactly where you are. The final traverse to the start point is also a good test and a useful place to use an offset.
In sum, I would classify this area as intermediate/advanced navigation since there are very few catch features or handrails and the terrain is fairly rough. I would expect a group to double my time so event duration should be pegged at 5 hours. I wouldn’t forbid the use of roads or trails (other than pavement I guess, but what would that gain anyway?) but would restrict the use as for my description of opportunistic use. There are a lot of trails through the area including one to Lost Lake from the south and the Baden Powel and Trans-Canada trails lower down near the power lines. They don’t detract from the navigation except if you have someone who is very familiar with the area – then they could cheat by knowing by the trail segment where they are. Again, restricting trails to only opportunistic use should prevent this from happening.
Thanks to Tom for the excellent information above.