22nd Rabbit Creek - 2025 Wrap up

 Well, another windy day has come and gone for orienteering at the lovely Rabbit Creek Ranch. The rain kindly stayed away for participants, and it was only slight wet for me the day before while course setting. The wind made it a bit cool for picnicing (should have expected that after last year), but I didn't hear of anyone blaming the wind for being blown off course. 

By the time I was finished setting the course, I felt like I might have made it too easy and based on the tight grouping at the top of the advanced course, maybe I did. There are still improvements to be made on the map, but I'm glad it was a good adventure for everyone. I had fun continuing to explore the area.

Thank you to Karen for being the first on the course, making sure control 44 didn't blow away, and for picking up a few controls at the end. Thank you to Ted for picking up the further out controls. Thank you to John for the company spending a day just wandering around the hills with me field checking, even when I didn't really have a plan. Huge thanks for our host Bill, for provding a lovely setting for the 22 years at Rabbit Creek and pizza. Thank you everyone for coming from near and far and for sharing  snacks and good conversation!

Unfortunately I must have scared off the wild horses as I drove in and set one last control in the morning, as they had been standing in the middle of the road when I first arrive.

  

Hope to see you June 21 outside of Idaho City for Whoop 'em Up and or in the McCall area June 29th for a Bear Basin Score-O.

 ~ Kirsten 

April 19, Albertson and Morrison Parks Spring Meet

Nice sunny spring weather was perfect for the orienteering courses set around Albertson and Morrison parks past Saturday.
We had 29 brave souls trying new areas added to our Greenbelt maps.

Here are course results:
Advanced (2) 6.7 km 50 m 26 C
1 Ted Smith 55:48
2 Brian-Christy-Sc Wyldrop-Morris 3:10:37

Sport (3) 4.4 km 50 m 16 C
1 Carol Baumbauer 51:25
2 Ken Fugate 1:06:07
3 Britini-Keth Gates 1:07:49

Intermediate (11) 4.7 km 50 m 21 C
1 Kirsten Severud 57:55
2 Aaron Dasset 1:07:33
3 Peter Aumann 1:07:51
4 Kelly-Jeff Harvey 1:25:10
5 Leslie-John Perez 1:38:01
6 Jerry Haack 1:38:16
7 John Murray 1:42:42
8 Carrie-Vicki Magnuson 1:53:03
9 Joe-Cassie Swan 2:04:33

Peter Friedewald mp (honorable 55:49)
Heather-Tavi-Mat Kohn-Steele dnf

Beginner (3) 1.8 km 7 C
1 Edith Friedewald 26:50
2 Kala Riddle 56:33

Path Bryant dnf

All split time are posted, follow this Winsplits link. See where you may have lost time and how well you did in comparison to best times.

Our next meet is May 18th with traditional Rabbit-O in Owyhees! Potlack after the finish. Hope to see you all enjoying outdoors!

Cheers,
Sergey

Fort Boise Street Challenge Meet Write Up

Fort Boise Street Challenge Meet Write Up

Thank you to all who joined CTOC on Saturday March 22 for the Fort Boise Meet.  We had a great group of 30+ new and seasoned orienteers choose their own adventures on this sprint version of a Street Challenge.  Though the weather gave us a true taste of Boise spring (rain, wind, sunshine), my History major heart was especially happy when Leslie shared, that as a native Boisean, even she learned something new when consulting a control location's plaque.  It was a pleasure to host you all and I encourage everyone to learn more about the great sport of Orienteering and join as a Meet Director to see the magic that happens behind the curtain.

Shout outs for this meet from me personally go to: 

Sergey for his perennial assistance and patience on finalizing map details.  Thank you for your attention to detail and ability to teach us all more.

Our local Scout troop youth and adults who braved the rain and successfully found all 20 controls and then helped load up the meet gear into my car.  They were handsomely rewarded with cookies and donut holes.

Ted S. for his help securing the pop up tent as the wind decided to pick up after biking to the meet start and literally sprinting the entire course.

My brother and nephew (Jon and Tev) who were visiting from East Tennessee and put in an excellent showing for their first O Meet by coming in 3rd overall. Way to do the Magnuson family proud my boys.  They were rewarded with slow cooked pulled pork.

Melanie W. as this is her "last" meet with CTOC before she moves to the Moab area.  I have been so lucky to get to learn from her and enjoy the company of her entire family (including sweet Penny) over the years.  We all celebrate your massive contributions to the sport and our club.

Below are the results from the meet:

Name	Start	Finish	Total Time	Controls	Place
Ted S.	11:30	11:58.50	28.50	20	1
Sergy V.	10:00	10:38.43	38.43	20	2
Jon and Tev M.	10:11	10:56.58	45.58	20	3
Melanie W.	10:27	11:20.45	53.45	20	4
Doug L.	11:06	12:00.50	54.50	20	5
Britni and Keith	10:38	11:51.55	1:13.55	20	6
Bill L.	10:06	11:20:18	1:14.18	20	7
Jeff and Kelly	10:44	12:00.00	1:16.00	20	8
John and Leslie	10:30	11:48.00	1:18.00	20	9
William and Tim M.	9:40	10:58.22	1:18.22	20	10
John H.	10:02	11:26.00	1:24.00	20	11
Cassandra and Joe S.	10:16	11:45.30	1:29.30	20	12
Will Shecterly	10:13	11:43.45	1:30.45	20	13
Christy and Scott	10:09	11:49.00	1:40.00	20	14
Team Better	10:26	12:16.50	1:50.50	20	15
D Team	10:26	12:18.50	1:52.50	20	16
Masha	10:04	10:31.42	27.42	15	17
Ryan, Samantha, Stryder, Athena R.	9:59	11:10.45	1:11.45	5	18

Our next meet will be held on Saturday April 19 in the Kathryn Albertson and Ann Morrison Park areas.  See Meetup for meet details and RSVP instructions.  

Staring in May, CTOC events will start to migrate out of town to some of Idaho's beautiful and diverse landscape with our annual Rabbit Creek Meet and Potluck near Murphy, Idaho.

Hope to see you all at a meet soon!

February Meet at Esther Simplot

Despite the cold and snowy conditions at Esther Simplot Park last Sunday, we were thrilled to see both newcomers and seasoned orienteers join us for our very first meet as meet directors. We couldn't have asked for a better turnout in such wintry conditions. Luckily, the temperatures were just cold enough to keep the snow from turning into slush and rain. 

We received some great feedback on our maps that spanned 3 parks and even a Taco Bell! 

A quick shoutout to all the newcomers who joined us, including Toby, the fastest dog on the beginner course! 

A huge thank you to everyone who braved the winter weather to participate! We appreciate the support and enthusiasm—it made our first hosting experience a great one. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next meet, and we can't wait to host another one in the future!

Here are the results:

Beginner:

Paul & Jasper Bolick                    0:17

John Hill                                       0:19

Aaron & Asher                              0:21

Jane & Marvin Sparrell                0:30

Sport:

Cynthia Gibson & Lori Porecca        0:59

Chrissy & Andy Hoobing                  1:03

David Byrd                                        1:05

Marcella Mink                                   1:06

Intermediate:

Peter Aummann                           0:56

Kirsten Severud                           1:03

Carol Baumbauer                         1:17

Alecia Murray                              1:18

Samuel Murray                            1:55  

Joe & Cassie                                1:59

Christy & Scott                            2:07

Darla Rhude & Kim Tsude          DNF

Advanced

Ted Smith                                1:03

David Murray                          1:22

Doug Lemmot                         1:43          

                   

December meet in Ann Morrison park

We luckily sqeezed between morning and late afternoon rains this past Saturday for an outing in Ann Morrison park!
Happy smiles, fun courses, and some sweet rewards - this is the most rewarding experience for a meet director and all particpiants.
Definitely those control clue sheets are usful in urban orienteering :) I was happy to see few families with kids braving the terrain and parl corners.

Here are results:

Beginner (4) 2.4 km 8 C
Pl Name Time
1 Carol Baumbauer 26:51
2 James-Asker-Sand Beattie 38:28
3 Jerry Haack 40:44
4 Sara+3Ms Reed 1:00:50

Advanced (3) 8.2 km 25 C
Pl Name Time
1 Ted Smith 1:01:10
2 Dustin Thomas 1:04:10
3 Bill Leahy + daughter 1:32:16

Sport (3) 5.1 km 12 C
Pl Name Time
1 Peter Aumann 46:34
2 Carol Baumbauer 1:04:43

Kim-Roy Tsuda-Rhude mp (not in order)

Intermediate (9) 4.9 km 14 C
Pl Name Time
1 Hella Beattie 41:01
2 Eric Thomson 46:12
3 Scott Gilmore 48:45
4 Kirsten Severud 53:51
5 John Murray 1:09:39
6 Heidi Thomas 1:14:51
7 Cristy Morris 1:41:10
8 Jim+Cynthia Birne 1:48:10
9 Donna Pitzer 1:59:56

Split times, WinSplits Online.
As I mentioned during the meet one control (#35) was not synchronized and its clock was +1 hour. Subtrtact one hour from its time to get this control split.

We are defining next year event schedule, see at the right. Expect monthly meets in and out of Boise.

Let me know if I may misspelled your name so I may correct. Hope to see you all at our meets!

Cheers,
Sergey

Lucky Peak Untouched by Fire

We had a good crowd and a windy but beautiful orienteering day out at Lucky Peak on Sunday Oct. 22. It was fun to see a lot of newcomers along with oldtimers. My apologies for putting a big hill at the end of the Intermediate Course, but those who are complaining should know that the Advanced course had that hill at the beginning plus another big hill at the end. 

I enjoyed the solitude and distraction of setting courses on Saturday, which was even more lovely than Sunday. Nothing clears my head like a day of setting orienteering controls. 

Here are the results! There were a couple of interesting tight races. I hope everyone survived the cheat grass in their shoes and socks. 

Beginner

    Rachel and family         0:49

Sport

    John Murray                   1:23

    Isabella Mcdonough       1:24

    Elizabeth and family      2:00    

    Michael Hoag                 2:01

Intermediate

    Kirsten Severud            1:06

    Helle Beattie                 1:40

    Scott C                          1:42

    Ted Smith                     1:43

    Clint Thomson              1:51

    Christy & Scott             3:32

    Donna Pitzer                 DNF

    Bingo C                        DNF

    David Byrd                   DNF

Advanced

    Liam Murray                1:26

Thanks to Innes and Kirsten for helping me pick up controls. I look forward to seeing you all again at Julia Davis in December, if not sooner.

Sincerely,

Melanie

Gold Rush for Real Gold

I don't know if anyone noticed that there was real gold under foot of all who came to Gold Rush South meet this past Sunday. One of the controls was even set near active gold mine!
Very tough and chanllenging courses were set on the gold hills near Idaho City, with plenty of hard running up and down. I think in places it was spectacular!

Results:
Intermediate (6) 4.0 km 14 C
Pl Name YB Club Cl. Time
1 Kirsten Severud Int 2:07:49
2 Andy Hill Int 2:38:46
3 Innes Wright Int 3:11:32
4 Melanie Wright Int 3:12:04

Elijah Hill Int mp
John Murray Int dnf

Beginner (3) 1.8 km 7 C
Pl Stno Name YB Club Cl. Time
1 Scott Gilmore Begi 22:56
2 Wes Tischler Begi 32:45

Cynthia Standley Begi mp

Sport (3) 4.0 km 14 C
Pl Stno Name YB Club Cl. Time
1 Wes Tischler Sport 1:48:47

Scott Gilmore Sport mp
Christy Morris Sport dnf

Splits are posted on Winsplits.

Hope to see you all engoying courses at the Lucky Peak meet October 20th!

Cheers,
Sergey

Ponderosa Park Results

We lucked out with a very nice day at the park, somewhat humid, rather mosquito-ey, with a rain shower thrown in, but mild temperature and verdant green woods. The picnic shelter with nearby beach and amenities was a great place for the meet center with access to the center of the peninsula for the courses. The forest is rather dense at the park with some areas that have been cleared of brush in recent logging which left quite a bit of deadfall but good visibility. The courses were very challenging with a definite higher level of difficulty than usual for the advanced course. Some of our local search and rescue unit members joined in with CTOC regulars to try the courses. The Ford family was first to return with a great time through the intermediate course. When Bill Leahy came in he expressed that he was grateful for the rain shower which cooled him down and cut the humidity, spurring him on to victory. All the participants gave the courses a good effort but several at some point found a control that just was a bit too tough and called it a day. 

Thanks to all who came out and especially Ted, Andy, and Ole for control pick up. Ted was happy to find the control that had been his nemesis on the course during control pick up, after receiving some helpful coaching from VCSAR member Brad. Andy went out to claim some of the controls he had missed earlier and was nearly foiled by a mama deer who was apparently blocking his view of one of the controls while defending her fawn from the human intruder. Additional thanks to Andy and Bill for the pictures.

Advanced 6.3 km 

Bill Leahy 2:17 

Brad Wenger 2:47 

Ole Bergset 2:52 

Ted Smith DNF 

Andy Hill DNF 

Intermediate 4.7 km 

Ford family (3) 1:23 

John Murray 1:51 

Bill Pilcher 2:37 

Jerry Stewart 3:20 

Bill Colpo DNF 

Cliff Steele DNF 

Novice – no takers

Deer hiding control 11 Advanced, shallow depression

Bill's dog Birdie helping at 9 intermediate

Morels

Intermediate

Advanced

Karin Didisse, Meet Director

The Winds a Blowin’ at Rabbit Creek

 

Large group of Wild Horses

While it was a beautiful day, the winds made their presence known. The weather made for great conditions on the course, but a little brisk for hanging out for the delicious potluck afterwards. Thank you to everyone that brought items to share.

Many of our 20 some orienteers said they enjoyed the runnability of the day’s maps. New LiDAR data let us expand the map into areas further north into some beautiful and runnable country. John and I spent a day in the field, but additional field work would be helpful to bring the map up to standards. (If anyone wants to really wander aimlessly, you might be able to help with map updates. Future note – do not do GPS dependent field work during a Geomagnetic Storm  - it may lead to inaccuracies in the data.)

There were a few wildlife sightings, but luckily no close calls. Snakes were seen, as were the wild horses known to roam the Owyhees. The wildflowers where going strong, although they had faded a little since the week before.

 Advanced (6.26 km)

1	Sergy	9:49	10:49:30	1:00:30
2	Bill	9:50	11:16	1:26
3	Belén	10:15	11:43	1:28
4	Ted	10:52	12:24	1:32
5	Alecia	10:20	12:08	1:48
6	Samuel	10:25	12:55	2:30

Rayless Shaggy Fleabane

I was going to give Sergy a minute off his time for moving a control to what he perceived as the correct location, but on picking up controls, I disagreed with his placement (control #2 on INT and ADV), as did at least one other orienteer. However, that still gives him the winning time on the advanced course. Nice to have a few new names showing up on the advanced source list. 

 Intermediate (3.97 km)

Torin, Angela, & Jackson	9:47	10:53	1:06
Karin	10:50	12:03	1:13
John M	10:23	11:46	1:23
Eloise (& David)	10:30	12:06	1:36
John & Leslie	9:54	12:08	2:14
Christy & Scott	9:41	12:10	2:29
Jerry	9:51	12:35	2:44
Cat & Becky	9:53	12:24	DNF

Shaggy Fleabane

There was a great showing on the intermediate course as well with many experienced orienteers reporting successes on the course.

 

Sport  (2.01 km)

Royal Beardtongue (Penstemon)

Alex & kids	9:39	10:43	1:04
Nicolas & Mone	10:08	10:42	0:34	Out of Order
Emilie & Anton	10:11	11:24	1:13	Out of Order

 It was great to have some young ones out and they all seemed up for the challenge of a 2km sport course. 

Alex and kids joined us from Cascade Orienteering again! Nicolas, Emilie, Mone, & Anton joined us on their second orienteering adventure and first out of town event.

Thank you to John for his work on the map and help with course design– despite some misunderstandings during map creation. Thank you to Ted, John, and the Ford family for helping to pick up controls! Thank you to a number of experienced oreinteers for feedback on the map design.

Orienteers coming into the finish

Thank you to Bill and Dee for their wonderful hospitality and raspberry pie! What a beautiful corner of the world!

Sunset over the Owyhees